Greeting Members and Friends
It time once again for our weekly Sunday School preview so thanks for joining me and welcome back. The Summer Quarter entitled “Justice in the New Testament” focuses on ways God demonstrates His justice and ways His people should follow His example. The June unit is entitled “God is Just and Merciful” and has four sessions from the gospels of Matthew and Luke. This Sunday’s lesson is entitled “Parables of God’s Just Kingdom” or “You Reap What You Sow”.
This lesson examines a few parables Jesus used to illustrate the kingdom of heaven. A parable is a kind of riddle that must be probed to understand the meaning or answer the parable is intended to convey. In the first parable in the lesson, Jesus tells of a man who planted good seed in his field and an enemy later comes and sows weeds in the same field. Later, when the wheat appeared so did the weeds. His servants wanted to remove the weeds, but he forbade them because he was concerned they would damage the wheat while rooting out the weeds. So he let them both grow and during the harvest he would separate them then.
The disciples didn’t understand the meaning of this parable or riddle so Jesus explains it in Matthew 13:34-43 which is part of the daily reading. I encourage you to take time and read it. The other two parables each mention something small that has a great effect in proportion to its size. A mustard seed is very tiny but can produce trees large enough for birds to rest in. Leaven or yeast in a small amount able to cause the whole lump to rise. Jesus didn’t explain these, but both of them seem to indicate the growing influence and reach the gospel will have on the world although it starts with Him and a few disciples.
The bible says Jesus use of parables were a preferred method of teaching. No one really knows the meaning of the parable like the one who tells the story. A person can say what he or she thinks it means, but unless the parable teller confirms our belief of the meaning, we can’t be 100 percent sure we understand. This is why to fully and truly understand the kingdom of God a person must continuously seek God for the answers to the mysteries of life and the kingdom of God. This is achieved by daily prayer and devotion, attending teaching sessions like Sunday School, Bible Study and BTU and worshipping God in Spirit and in truth.
It is God’s desire to give His people the answers to the questions of life. Therefore, God has hidden the way of life so that only those who seek truth and life, His people, will find it. Well, that’s all for this week’s preview. Be sure to join us in Sunday School this week for a fuller discussion of this lesson and the general topic of Justice in the New Testament. So, until then
Grace and peace
Pastor Jordan
