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Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

2002-07-23 — So we went around and round today about whether I’m the pearl or the merchant. I think I’m going with the merchant, the thought of being an oyster callous doesn’t much appeal to me. Now, as to the treasure hidden in the field, there I’m willing to see it differently. I’d like to think I know something from a hole in the ground.

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BIBLE PASSAGE — He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. “Have you understood all this?” They answered, “Yes.” And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”

— Proper 12, Series A

comments

  1. Fritz Schmitt — ago #

    Avail thyself of the discussion thread concerning this passage on Pericope, if you haven’t already. Also, Voelz is the one who covers this in the Lectionary at Lunch series that Concordia, St. Louis puts out; available at your friendly neighborhood iTunes.

  2. Philip Stringer — ago #

    It seems to me that we often look for ourselves to be the center of attention in Jesus’ parables…. could it be, instead, that it’s not about us at all?…… that Jesus is the object of value, and the Holy Spirit the one who acts to reveal him? So, by the work of the Spirit, Jesus becomes a place of safety and rest for us, our daily bread and the treasure that fulfills/satisfies our every need—Through Jesus, God makes life joyful. Perhaps we are not in the parable at all— or at best, we are the soil, the bowl and the field— the stage upon which the glory of God unfolds so that others may have rest and be fed and find joy.

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Copyright 1999 - 2004 James Wetzstein, except the bible of course. All rights reserved.