“The Kingdom of Heaven According to the Metaphor Man”

July 30, 2023

Matthew 13:31–33, 44–51

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.’ When Jesus had finished these parables, he left that place. ***

This string of parables Jesus tells his disciples makes me recall high school English class and Mrs. O’Brien’s unit on figures of speech. I remember this because the feeling of being puzzled remains to this day. It was a challenge for me to grasp metaphors. It didn’t make sense to describes an object or action in a way that isn’t literally true, but helps explain an idea or make a comparison.

Jesus was always making comparison. Mr. Metaphor we could call him as he said sinners are like lost sheep, the word is like seed sown on different soils, the kingdom of heaven is like a wedding feast. He said over and over again “the kingdom of heaven is like …” telling his followers about sheep and shepherds, brides and grooms, wheat and weeds. Metaphor overload.

Jesus rarely came right out and said what he meant. That fact has frustrated Christians for centuries. He spoke indirectly, making comparisons between ordinary and holy things, cracking our noggins and everyday understanding of things to invite us to explore them all over again.

In this passage, Jesus launches a volley of comparisons. The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, yeast mixed with flour, a buried treasure, a fine pearl, a net cast into the sea. Jesus ticks them off as fast as the smile burst setting on your camera. The kingdom of heaven is this and it is that. It seems like Jesus doesn’t want us to ask questions, think too much or get stuck on any single one, but be dazzled by the variety of things the kingdom of heaven is like.

When he finished, he asked his disciples: “Have you understood all this?” His disciples answer yes — but we know better. It seems impossible they have grasped all those comparisons.

Perhaps the disciples said yes because they did not want to admit their ignorance and disappoint their teacher. I wonder if they felt like I did when failing to grasp figures of speech in Mrs. O’Brien’s class. But there is another possibility.

What if we hear “have you understood all this” not seriously but as humor? Could Jesus have asked this question not as a pop quiz, but a playful admission that any teaching about the kingdom of heaven could be grasped by the human brain?

What if we pictured this scene as a carefree group of friends on a mid-summer day, sipping cool beverages and enjoying the breeze and the shade of a large tree. Amidst playful banter, one of them looks to the sky and poses a lofty shift in the conversation. “What do you think the kingdom of heaven is like?”

After a reflective pause, Jesus starts to speak. Well, it’s kind of like . . . or maybe it’s like . . . but then again, it might be better described as . . . After trying out his series of metaphorical experiments, he turns to them and says, Clear as mud, eh? Yeah, sure, they all agree. “Have you understood all this?”

The whimsical nature of the conversation should not diminish the importance of the images. Even if Jesus is just trying out possibilities to envelop the boundless realities of the kingdom of heaven through the finite limitations of human language, there is great value in the images he chooses. Engaging our own imaginations, we can learn multitudes from every metaphor Jesus grasps for in these verses.

The mustard seed — it looks small, but it does not stay that way. Mustard seeds are often considered a nuisance plant like dandelion or creeping Charlie, but if allowed to become large enough, they can become useful and provide a safe home for nature’s friends. The yeast a baker uses does its miraculous, silent work of transforming flour into tasty food. The kingdom of heaven is in the ordinary, everyday, even unwanted aspects of life. The kingdom of heaven is surprising and stealthy and subversive. The kingdom of heaven provides food and shelter.

Jesus continues to play with the images. The kingdom is like a hidden treasure that someone finds only to hide it again. In order to gain the treasure this person sells everything to buy the field. Why hide the treasure in the field again? Why not just take the treasure? Because the kingdom is not a thing like a treasure. It is everything that finding a treasure can do to a person. The kingdom of heaven inspires devotion, commitment, sacrifice, and clearly some unreasonableness.

The kingdom of heaven is like a net with a huge catch of fish of every kind which is sorted in order to keep the good and toss out the bad. Now there’s something about the kingdom of heaven that requires sorting — not everything belongs there. But the parable of the wheat and weeds cautions us that the question of what belongs is not for humans to decide right now but for God to decide at the end of the age.

These parables do much more than explain what the kingdom of heaven is. They show us a God who did not require knowing certainty, but welcomed everyone who was unafraid to admit they did not understand and found instead a divine gift of never being expect to.

Images:

The Lord of the Parable by Jorge Cocco altusfineart.com/

Erik Tange FineArtAmerica.com