Matthew 13 Summary - Quick Bible Study

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MATTHEW 13 SUMMARY IN 5 MINUTES

• WHEN:

  • The birth of Jesus probably occurred around 4 B.C..

  • From Luke 3:23, we know Jesus began His ministry when He was about 30 years old.

  • This would place the events of Jesus’ ministry roughly between 26-31 A.D..

• CHARACTERS:

  • Jesus - The Messiah, the Son of God, and the Master Teacher.

  • Disciples - They listened to Jesus as He taught in parables.

  • Citizens of Nazareth - The people of Jesus’ hometown who rejected Him as the Messiah.

• WHERE:

  • Jesus taught the crowds using parables while sitting in a boat on the Sea of Galilee.

  • After teaching, He went to His hometown, Nazareth.

• OUTLINE:

  • THE PARABLE OF THE SEED AND THE SOWER (13:1-13:23):

    • While at the sea, Jesus told the people a parable about a farmer who spread seed on the ground which landed on 4 types of soil.

    • Some of the seeds grew well, but others didn’t, depending on the type of soil.

    • The disciples asked Jesus why He taught in parables.

    • Jesus responded, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but to them it has not been given.”

    • Jesus told them the seed was the word of God.

    • The different soils represented the condition of the hearts of those who heard God’s words and their willingness to obey them.

  • THE PARABLE OF THE WHEAT AND THE WEEDS (13:24-13-30):

    • A man sowed good wheat seed in his field.

    • While he slept, his enemy sowed weeds in his field.

    • The farmer told his servants to let the weeds and the wheat grow together.

    • At the harvest, the wheat would be brought into the barn and the weeds would be burned.

  • THE PARABLE OF THE MUSTARD SEED (13:31-13:32):

  • THE PARABLE OF THE LEAVEN (13:33-35):

  • EXPLANATION OF THE PARABLE OF THE WHEAT AND THE WEEDS (13:36-13:43):

    • The disciples asked Jesus to explain the story of the wheat and the weeds.

    • The man who sowed good seed was the Son of Man.

    • “The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels.”

    • At the end of time, the wicked will be destroyed with fire, like the weeds.  

    • The righteous will be rewarded and gathered to be with God.

  • THE PARABLE OF THE TREASURE (13:44):

  • THE PARABLE OF THE VALUABLE PEARL (13:45-46):

  • THE PARABLE OF THE FISHING NET (13:47-13:52):

  • JESUS REJECTED BY THE PEOPLE OF NAZARETH (13:53-13:58):

    • Jesus headed to Nazareth and taught the people in His hometown.

    • The people were astonished at His teaching, but doubted He could be the prophesied Messiah.

• BIG PICTURE:

  • God doesn’t always spoon-feed us the truths He wants us to discover.

  • He has always had an expectation that men will seek Him out and find Him.

  • That expectation was communicated through Jesus’ teaching. Jesus expected His listeners to consider, meditate on, and to think critically about His words.

• APPLICATION:

  • In light of the way Jesus taught, consider our teaching methods in the church.

  • Do we feel the need to spoon-feed truths to people?

  • Perhaps we expect too little of our audiences?