Does a watched loaf rise?

Still reading parables about the kingdom of heaven and our place in it, tomorrow's study looks at weeding crops, watching seeds, flying birds and raising loaves, but what's our place in it all?

(31) Still Sowing Parables

When Jesus told the parable of the sower, he was preaching to sowers. Even fishermen sowed seed and grew their own small crops, and everyone knew the value of a good harvest. But nature wasn’t the only thing working against good harvests. Sometimes then, as now, people could destroy each other’s livelihood. Read Matthew 13:24-30.

1.       Tares were a plant that initially looks like wheat, then grows taller and produces poisonous seeds. If the wheat is God’s good crop, what might look like God’s work, then become “taller” and produce poisonous fruit today?

2.       There were laws against sowing or harvesting tares because they were such a problem for the Roman world’s food supply. Can you imagine a situation where someone might poison a neighbor’s crop today—literally or figuratively?

3.       Why might Matthew be the only one to remember and write down this parable?

4.       Before you reread Jesus’ explanation of the parable, how do you think it might apply to how we deal with Christians whose priorities or practices differ from our own?

5.       Read Matthew 13:36-43. Which message is more important:

a.       that the bad guys will go to hell,

b.      that the righteous will shine, or

c.       that it’s hard to tell who’s who until harvest time?

6.       Some readers interpret this parable as meaning there are inherently evil people in the world who cannot be saved, because tares can’t turn into wheat. What do you think?

7.       How do we interpret the interpretation? Are we wheat, tares, land, sower or harvesters?

Still on the subject of growing things, Jesus goes on to teach about:

1.       Mustard seeds: Read Matthew 13:31-32, Mark 4:30-32, Luke 13:18-19. Who doesn’t call the mustard seed the “smallest seed”? Why might that be? (And is it the smallest seed?)

a.       Read Ezekiel 31:6, Daniel 4:11-12. What would Jesus’ listeners think of—old scriptures, plants in their neighborhood, growth, the gathering of birds, the importance of Israel, the end of the world…?

b.      How do we interpret those birds gathering in the tree?

2.       Seeds in general: Read Mark 4:26-29. If the other parables had people thinking about “end times,” what might this one tell us?

a.       How do you feel when you “scatter seed” and can’t see the fruits?

3.       Sharing/measuring the crop: Read Mark 4:24-25, Matthew 7:2, Luke 6:38. We’re more accustomed to the Matthew and Luke passages (both related to judgement). How does verse 25 fit in?

Bread “grows” too, with the aid of leaven. Read Matthew 13:33, Luke 13:20-21. Later the disciples are told to beware the leaven of the Pharisees – Read Matthew 16:6, Luke 12:1-3.

1.       What might God want us to “beware” of today?

2.       What might God want us to “use” as leaven today? Or

3.       How might God want us to let ourselves be used? Are we meant to watch, weed, wait…?