Matthew 13

Summary. The main question a Christian should ask when reading this chapter is, “What is heaven for me?” Many people come in the parables of this chapter, and heaven is being compared to their own lifestyle and beliefs. Heaven is so large but, at the same time, so small. We can’t figure out the size of heaven; it is beyond our understanding. But for us, ultimately, heaven should be the Lord Jesus Himself. There are eight parables portrayed in this chapter by the Lord Jesus, along with explaining why He speaks to people in parables. Also, at the end of the chapter, we are shown why the people in the Lord Jesus’ hometown rejected Him. This passage of the Bible should be a lesson for all. Like those people who lived during the Lord Jesus’ time and saw His family on earth and stumbled in His earthly family, today, people continue to believe that in order for the Lord Jesus to be the Son of God, Mary must be holy and remain holy. So, people went along and manipulated the facts of the Bible to keep Mary holy. However, the people in the Lord Jesus’ hometown are witnesses to the fact that Mary lived a normal life after the Lord Jesus’ birth since they “took offense at Him.” However, we should believe from our hearts that the Lord Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary, He is the only begotten Son of God, and Mary is only a blessed woman. The Lord Jesus does not give us a clear definition of heaven since we need to find heaven for ourselves, and each one of us is different. All parables in this chapter give us various perspectives on how to find and serve the Lord Jesus. 1) The parable of the sower tells us that if we want to be sons of the kingdom of the heavens, we need to listen to and meditate on the Word of God, confess our sins, and receive the grace of God through the Lord Jesus. 2) The parable of the weeds tells us that the church is mingled (wheat and weeds) until the end times, and we need to study and meditate on the Word of God to be able to know the difference between the truth and error in the church. 3) The parable of the mustard seed tells us that the kingdom of the heavens is so small that it can live in our hearts and so big that all believers can live in it. 4) The parable of the leaven shows that the kingdom of the heavens cannot be seen by the human eye, and the kingdom of the heavens is alive and can grow. 5) The parable of the hidden treasure tells us that if one covers their knowledge about the kingdom of the heavens, then that person is doing the evil’s work. 6) The parable of the pearl of great value shows us how a true Christian should be. We must be willing to give up all our earthly treasures for the heavenly treasures and share the knowledge of the kingdom with others. 7) The parable of the net tells us that the Lord has thrown His love to all mankind, and He wants everybody to become children of the kingdom of the heavens. 8) The parable of the new and old treasures tells us that a true Christian must be taught by the Bible through the Holy Spirit for a complete understanding of who the Lord Jesus is.

[1] In that day Jesus having gone out from the house, He sat by the sea.

[2] And were gathered together to Him great multitudes, so that He entered into a boat, sat down, and all the multitude stood on the seashore.

Comments Matthew 13:2 Here, all the people in the crowds hear the Lord Jesus’ voice miraculously when He teaches them. For the Lord Jesus, there is no space and time. The space is bent (folded) together in one point so there is no distance for the Lord Jesus’ voice to travel so all hear Him at the same time. Because the Lord Jesus’ Word is the living Word, when He teaches, His Word is alive, and everyone hears it at the same time. No one can say, “I’m first to hear, or I’m last to hear.” This is the same way throughout the Bible when the Lord Jesus teaches multitudes of people (See also Matthew 5:2).

[3] And He spoke to them often in parables, saying, Behold, the sower went out to sow;

[4] and in his sowing, some indeed fell along the way, and the birds having come devoured them;

[5] and other fell upon the rock, where it had not much soil, and immediately it sprang up, because of not having deepness of soil;

[6] and the sun having risen, it was burned; and because of not having root, it was dried up.

[7] And others fell upon the thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them;

[8] and others fell upon the good ground, and yielded fruit, some indeed a hundred, and some sixty, and some thirty.

[9] The one having ears, let him hear.

[10] And the disciples having come, said to Him, Why do Thou speak to them in parables?

[11] He answered and said, Because to you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of the heavens; however, to them it has not been given.

Comments Matthew 13:11 Within the crowds, the purpose of coming to listen to the Lord Jesus is different. Some are coming to find mistakes and point them out. Some are coming to find weak points and point them out for people to have no faith in the Lord Jesus. To those, the secrets of the kingdom of the heavens have not been given. But some are coming with a clean heart and want to hear the Lord Jesus before deciding to believe or not. To those, the Lord will give the understanding of the secrets of the kingdom of the heavens.

[12] For whoever has, to him will be given, and he will have abundance; now whoever has not, from him will be taken away even what he has.

Comments Matthew 13:12 “For whoever has …” This portion here refers to the spiritual world. Keep yourself in the Word of God, and more spiritual blessings will be given to you; spiritual blessings for this life on earth are understanding the Word of God and faith in the Lord Jesus, peace with God, and joy that you can feel deep inside your soul. If we have these spiritual blessings on this earth, when we depart, these spiritual blessings will be transformed to be used for our life after death. The peace of God comes only to those who have a clean heart. The heart that is like a child’s heart will be the heart that comes closer to the kingdom of heaven, and joy comes to those who have real faith in the Lord Jesus.
“Now whoever has not …” This portion is opposite from the one above. This part relates to the pleasures of the world that you think you have. Those pleasures will be taken away if you do not want to receive the pleasure of knowing the Word of the Lord. Nothing in this world is worth knowing more than the Word of the Lord.

[13] Because of this I speak to them in parables; because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.

Comments Matthew 13:13 This passage refers to those who have rejected the miracles and the words of the Lord Jesus. Many of them feel they have sinned but reject completely the Lord. Their eyes have seen what many didn’t have a chance to see. Yet, if they themselves cannot benefit personally, they reject and try to limit the power of God. The prophecy is speaking about self-centered people; they see the Lord Jesus and hear the Lord Jesus but reject Him. Blessed are those who come after and, by just hearing and not seeing, believe in the Lord Jesus.

[14] And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, saying: In hearing you will hear, and will not understand;
And seeing you will see, and will not perceive.

[15] For this people’s heart has grown dull,
And their ears barely they have heard,
And their eyes they have closed;
Lest by chance they might see with their eyes,
And they might hear with their ears,
And they might understand with their heart,
And might turn again,
And I might heal them.

[16] However, blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear.

[17] For truly I say to you, that many prophets and righteous desired to see what you see, and did not see; and to hear what you hear, and did not hear.

[18] Then hear you the parable of the sower:

[19] Everyone hearing the word of the kingdom, and not understanding, the evil one comes and snatches away that having been sown in his heart. This is the one having been sown by the way.

Comments Matthew 13:19 “Everyone hearing the word of the kingdom and not understanding.” This verse refers to everyone on earth who has a chance to hear about the Lord but never thinks about the Word of God. For them, the name of the Lord has no meaning. They hear the Word and let it pass by them. They never think of the Word and ask to understand what they hear but just forget it immediately. If you hear the Word or read the Word, you need to show interest and curiosity in the Word of God and meditate upon the Word of God (See: Matthew 7:7-8, Luke 11:9-10). The Lord expects us to seek, ask, and knock, and then He will open our hearts to the understanding. The people in the church need to do this as well; just reading the Word is not enough.

[20] Now the one having been sown upon the rock, this is the one hearing the word, and immediately with joy receives it;

[21] but he has no root in himself but endures for a while; but tribulation or persecution having come on account of the word, immediately he stumbles.

Comments Matthew 13:20-21 These are the ones that receive the Word and think they understand, but they never bring the teachings to practice. You can hear and read forever, but if you do not practice the teachings of the Word, the Word will never make roots in you. To practice it requires that you pray and meditate on the Word of God that you have heard or read and believe the teaching that God is Trinity (Three in One: The Father, the Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit). The Lord Jesus is God and Man at the same time, and He is our Holy Teacher, but also the Lord Jesus is the begotten Son of God. Also, to practice is to believe in who Jesus is for humans. He is the door and the only way to the Father and the Holy Spirit. The Lord Jesus is the mediator between humans and God the Father and the Holy Spirit, and He is the center between this world and the unseen world. For anyone to follow the Lord’s teaching requires faith.

[22] Now the one having been sown among the thorns, this is the one hearing the word; and the care of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

Comments Matthew 13:22 These are those that hear and know what the Word says, but since they enjoy more the pleasures and riches of this world, they choose not to follow the Word. Also, here we have those who feel lazy to read the Word and those who feel that the Word is for the old times and older people only. If they follow the Word, they see themselves not fit for society and for today's living. So, they choose to ignore the Bible.

[23] However, the one having been sown on the good ground, this is the one hearing the word, and understanding; who indeed brings forth fruit, and produces, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

Comments Matthew 13:23 “The one having been sown on the good ground.” The good ground refers to those who confess their sins and believe in the mercy of God to forgive, and they accept His grace to cleanse their hearts. Those who accept the forgiveness of the Lord will be transformed, and the people around them will notice the change. Their duty is to tell others about the mercy and grace of the Lord and sow the seed of trust in the Lord in their hearts. These people will act as disciples of the Lord.
“Who indeed brings forth fruit, ... some thirty.” This refers to the heart of those who received the grace of God, and it relates to their commitment and willingness to tell others about the forgiveness of the Lord. You don’t need to enumerate for the public to know all the sins the Lord forgave, but you should tell people about the true mercy of the Lord to forgive sins according to the Bible.

[24] Another parable set He before them, saying, The kingdom of the heavens is likened to a man having sown good seed in his field,

Comments Matthew 13:24 “A man” refers to the Son of Man, the Lord Jesus.
“Sowed” refers to the Word of God. The Lord Jesus is sowing the Word into the world; and where it is sown, if it grows, that one becomes the son of the kingdom (the good seed). The Word is the food that the seed uses to grow to become a good seed.
The “good seed” refers to the sons of the kingdom, who are all the true believers in the Lord Jesus. These are all the believers in the Lord Jesus that come out of the elect (the Jews) and of the free-will people (Gentiles). The elect (the Jews) themselves have the free will to become a believer, but for some, during the Lord Jesus’ ministry on earth, the Lord appointed them to be His disciples. The Lord created specific circumstances in their lives, so they had no choice but to follow Him. After the Holy Spirit was sent upon the earth, on the day of Pentecost, all believers come to have faith in the Lord Jesus by free will. The Holy Spirit does not force anybody to become a believer. It is our free choice to call upon the name of the Lord Jesus and become sons of the kingdom.
“Field” refers to the world, which is the Lord’s. The Lord is the creator of all things.

[25] but while men are sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away.

Comments Matthew 13:25 “Men” refers to the sons of the kingdom (true believers in the Lord Jesus).
“Sleeping” refers to laziness regarding doing the work of God and praying.
“His enemy came and sowed tares also among the wheat.” This passage relates to other passages in the Bible where it shows that the evil one can make himself look like the children of light (2 Corinthians 11:12-15) or they can dress in sheepskins (Matthew 7:15-20). The sons of the dark penetrate among the children of God by making themselves look alike to them; however, they change the meaning of the Word of God and trick many negligent children. The children of God walk astray because of their own negligence; they need to stay in prayer and must use the knowledge of the Word to justify what the eyes see, and the ears hear. Pray and ask the Lord to open the eyes and ears to see and hear, and then the heart will hear the Lord, and you will be able to distinguish between the truth and the lie. The Lord has given us the shield, His Word, and we must use it and be ready (See: Ephesians 6:10-20).
“And went away.” The evil one knows very well that what they sow grows fast and covers the wheat; to do evil, you do not need any practice, but doing good needs hard work. The evil one uses the human nature to fight against the Lord. They do not need to be around to see the results, so they go away, back to their place. If humans do bad and do not use the Word to help them think before they sin against God, the Lord will be upset with them, not with the evil one. The evil one sowed the weeds, but it is the sons of the kingdom’s fault for ignoring the Word and allowing the weeds to grow. The Lord Jesus has done the hard work for us already. He came and was crucified for our sins, rose again, and won the battle against the evil one for us. Just believe and reap the benefits. We need to think of eternity.

[26] And when the plant sprouted and produced fruit, then appeared the tares also.

Comments Matthew 13:26 This verse refers to the spiritual world. “The plant sprouted and produced fruit” shows that the Lord is teaching the sons of the kingdom. The ones who study and meditate on His Word have knowledge of the teachings of the Lord. They go out and have children and teach their children the Word, but their children do not study and meditate. Because of this, their children go out and mingle with the tares, and they get confused and lose the teachings of their fathers (“then appeared the tares also”). The tares are fast growing. They are not children of God, but you will not see this until you can see the fruits they produce. But by that time, the damage had already been done. This happens in many churches these days when false preachers bring false teachings and damage the church of God. Watch out because the tares are smart and tricky, and they know how to manipulate the Word of God.

[27] And the servants of the master of the house having come said to him, Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? From where then does it have the tares?

Comments Matthew 13:27a “The servants of the master of the house having come said to him, Sir, ...” Here the house (or household) includes all things that have been created, the seen and unseen (earth and heaven). The servants are the angels of the Lord and all the prophets of the old times, including the prophets that do not have their names written down. Sir (or Master) refers to the Trinity of God (the Father, the Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit).
“From where then does it have the tares?” This passage shows that the servants are watching things on earth. The servants can see down to a limited area appointed to them, but they cannot look everywhere. Also, the servants do not have the ability to get involved unless they have permission from the Lord (See Matthew 17:3; Mark 9:4). This shows the limitation of all angels; all servants act according to the orders from the Lord only.

[28] And he said to them, A man, an enemy did this. And they said to him, Do you desire then that having gone forth we may gather them?

Comments Matthew 13:28 The meaning here is that the servants want to go down and separate the tares (or weeds) from the wheat. They want to move the tares, plant them elsewhere, and help them. But the servants cannot help them; it's not their job.

[29] But he says, No; for fear that by chance gathering the tares, you would uproot the wheat with them.

Comments Matthew 13:29 This verse shows that the meaning of gathering the tares (or weeds) mentioned in verse 28 is uprooting and replanting them. But, the plants (wheat and tares) have tangled their roots together, and if you move one, you impact another one as well. It doesn't matter how careful you would be in the uprooting process; avoiding damaging the other plant is impossible. Thus, it is better to let them grow together. When the harvest time comes, there is no need to be concerned anymore because the tares themselves will be cut off, which is marked and separated in bundles to be burned (See verse 30). No damage will be done at that time since the Lord Himself will do the work.

[30] Let both grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest, I will say to the reapers, Gather up first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them; and gather together the wheat into my barn.

Comments Matthew 13:30 This parable, in fact, talks about the time when the Lord will judge His house (See 1 Peter 4:17). Until the end times, the church will continue to mingle as it is described here (wheat and tares). But the clean-up will start first in the church of God. There are two eras before the end time judgment. The first one is the “grow together” era, which is the church era and is the period of time from the first coming of the Lord Jesus on earth until His second coming. The second era is the “harvest time” era, also known as the millennium time (See Revelation 20:4-6). Each era is a long time for humans. Many of us will live our lives, and the church era will not end. The human time and the angel time are not the same length. As it is written, a day of the Lord is like a thousand years of human time (See 2 Peter 3:8). The time of the Lord and humans is not alike. During the “harvest time” era, there will be a falling away for those who do not watch themselves and do not use the Word in their daily lives. It will be the last fight of the evil against those who are not watchful. There will be those who will be using the name of the Lord for their personal gain. The Lord will clean up His church during this time in a visible way on earth and in the spiritual world (many events described in the Bible during the millennium time happen in parallel between these two worlds). The Lord will judge them from the inside, not from their outside appearance. Those that look righteous outside but have nothing right inside will be bundled together and thrown out. During the millennium time, as shown in Revelation 20:4, the Lord will establish the millennium kingdom, and He will judge the people left on earth after the tribulation time. In those times, the sinful nature of humans will make the believers sin even with Satan being bound in chains.
“Gather up first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them; and gather together the wheat into my barn.” During the “harvest time” era, the Lord would clean up the church in a visible way; one day, people would wake up and just see only dead around.

Brief notes on the Second Coming of the Lord
There are two eras before the end time judgment. First is the church era which started with the Lord Jesus’ first coming to earth (His birth on earth) and will end with the second coming of the Lord Jesus to earth; the second era is the harvest time era or the millennium time era which will start with the second coming of the Lord Jesus to earth and will end with the final destruction of this earth. At harvest time era, the Lord will gather the wheat into His barn, and the end time judgment will start. Before the second coming of the Lord Jesus to earth, there will be the tribulation period. This tribulation period is a time of judgment coming from the Lord upon this earth before the Lord Jesus returns.
The coming of the Lord Jesus to earth will happen in three stages.
1. The first stage is when the Lord is still in heaven, and this stage is marked by the beginning of the tribulation period on Earth.
2. The second stage is when the Lord comes into the air, and this stage is marked by the rapture of the church. The rapture of the believers takes place during this second stage of the Lord coming into the air and will take place sometimes in the middle of the tribulation period itself.
3. The third stage will be when the Lord Jesus Himself will touch the Earth. The Lord will touch the Earth sometime after the tribulation period. At this time, the millennium time era on Earth will start. The Earth itself at this time will look much different; the Lord will spare only a small portion of the Earth for the left-over people, but the rest of the Earth will not be livable. (See Isaiah 13:6-13)
At the end of the millennium time era, this earth will be transformed by the fire from God, and the parallel earth will come. The parallel earth will swallow the melted earth because the new things will be formed on this parallel earth, and all believers will get the heavenly bodies and dwell there (the parallel earth is not heaven; it just looks like this earth but not the same). We can now think of the parallel earth as a spiritual earth, but for that world where this parallel earth exists, it is a heavenly material earth. In John 14:3, the Lord Jesus refers to the parallel earth that we are talking about here when He says: “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I am coming again, and will receive you to Myself; that where I am, you may be also.” The word has told us that the earth is transformed and does not disappear; as the Lord has been transformed, but His flesh body contains the earth because the Bible tells us that nothing that the Lord has created will disappear completely.

[31] Another parable set He before them, saying, The kingdom of the heavens is like a grain of mustard, which having taken, a man sowed in his field;

[32] which indeed is smallest of all the seeds; however, when it is grown, it is greater than the garden plants, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the heaven come and perch in the branches of it.

Comments Matthew 13:31-32 The kingdom of heaven is a kingdom, and it has all things in the kingdom. The kingdom of heaven is as small as a mustard seed, but it can grow large. It is large beyond what humans can imagine but also too small for the eye to see. The kingdom of heaven is so small that it can live in our hearts, and so big that all believers can live in it.

[33] Another parable spoke He to them; The kingdom of the heavens is like leaven, which having taken, a woman hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.

Comments Matthew 13:33 The Father created the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven is alive, and it can grow bigger and bigger. The kingdom of heaven is like a child for the Father who created it, and it can grow and never stop growing. “Hid” here has the meaning that the human eye cannot see the kingdom of heaven. “Until it was all leavened,” tells us that when the end time (the judgment) is over, all have been arranged in the end; the heaven will not grow further; when the last soul will be judged that it means “it was all leavened” (grown to the maximum of it by the will of the Father).

[34] All these things spoke Jesus in parables to the multitudes; and without a parable spoke He nothing to them,

[35] so that might be fulfilled that having been spoken through the prophet, saying,
I will open My mouth in parables;
I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world.

[36] Then having dismissed the multitudes, He went into the house; and His disciples came to Him, saying, Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.

[37] He answered and said, The One sowing the good seed is the Son of Man;

[38] and the field is the world; and the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil;

[39] and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels.

[40] As therefore the tares are gathered and burned up in fire; thus, it will be in the end of the age.

[41] The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all causes of sin, and those doing lawlessness,

[42] and they will cast them into the furnace of the fire; there will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.

[43] Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. The one having ears, let him hear.

Comments Matthew 13:36-43 The first stage of the millennium era is when the Lord sends His angels to gather the tares together to burn them up with fire; this period of time does not end in one earthly day. The length of time is unknown for humans; it is the Lord’s time. And then, His chosen ones will be left to glorify the Lord, and He will rule them as the King of all. The chosen ones will be the ones that stay and glorify the Lord; the words from their lips will be only to glorify the Lord, and no useless words will be spoken in that time because they are in front of the Lord. Sin will not happen in that time because the tares have been destroyed. In this passage, when it talks about “the end of the age,” it does not refer to the Judgement Day. The Judgement Day in the Bible refers to the judgment of the souls of the non-believers. Only the believers that will go with the Lord Jesus will get heavenly bodies (the parallel earth that comes; this is where His believers will go, which is why their lips cannot say useless words). Still, the tares are already bundled up before the Judgment Day, and at the Judgment Day, these will be cast into the furnace of fire (the hell) together with the non-believers.

[44] The kingdom of the heavens is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man having found, hid, and from the joy of it, goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

Comments Matthew 13:44 “The kingdom … hidden in the field”. This parable refers to the understanding of the Word of God. The Lord brings the knowledge into the path of the chosen ones. As in the parable of the wheat and the tares (weeds), here we also have two kinds of people. The chosen ones will take the treasure (the knowledge of the Word) and share it with others. But the ones that are mentioned here, which are joyful and cover it up, are the ones that are happy that they have found a way to fight against God and make His work on earth collapse. These are the ones that serve the evil. Meditate on these words: found, joy, and hid (“which a man having found, hid, and from the joy of it ...”) to understand the meaning of this parable.

[45] Again, the kingdom of the heavens is like a man, a merchant seeking beautiful pearls,

[46] and having found one very costly pearl, having gone, he sold all things as many as he had, and bought it.

Comments Matthew 13:45-46 In this parable, a man, a merchant, is the true Christian, and the very costly pearl is the faith in the Lord Jesus and the knowledge of the Word of God. A true Christian searches for the truth and finds it, and by the grace of God, he receives faith and knowledge that he treasures greatly. He looks forward to using his faith, does not hide it, and wants people to know about the great treasure he found. He is willing to lose all his earthly treasures to keep his heavenly treasure. Comparing the parable of the very costly pearl with the parable of the hidden treasure, we see two different kinds of people. The Lord gives a chance to both of them. One chooses to value the treasure he finds, while the other chooses to cover up the treasure he finds.

[47] Again, the kingdom of the heavens is like a fishing-net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind,

Comments Matthew 13:47 The fishing-net is the love of the Lord. The Lord has thrown out His love to all mankind. He wants everybody from every faith to come back to the Lord and become His people. But we are like rebellious children; we feel the love of the Lord and want to take all the goods of His earth but do not want to come to recognize the One who gives the goods. Humans just take but do not come to worship the One who created them.

[48] which, when it was filled, having drawn up on the seashore and having sat down, they collected the good into vessels, and the bad they cast out.

Comments Matthew 13:48 Until the end times, the Lord gives His love to people, but then, at the end times, the Lord will take those who do not come to Him and throw them away from Him. There will not be many coming, but when the Lord will choose the “good kind” into His kingdom, then all the others will know that it is too late. The Lord continues to call people into His kingdom until the end times. The net will never be overfilled, and no matter how many come, all will have a place prepared for them in the kingdom of heaven.

[49] Thus will it be in the completion of the age: the angels will go out, and separate the evil from the midst of the innocent,

[50] and will cast them into the furnace of the fire; there will be the weeping and the gnashing of the teeth.

[51] Have you understood all these? They say to Him, Yes.

[52] And He said to them, Because of this, every scribe discipled into the kingdom of the heavens is like a man, a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure things new and old.

Comments Matthew 13:52 This parable refers to a true disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is like a scribe trained for the kingdom of the heavens. A true disciple of the Lord Jesus is taught by the Bible through the Holy Spirit for a complete understanding of the link between the Old Testament law and the New Testament grace, which is in the Trinity of God (God the Father, God the Son Jesus, and God the Holy Spirit). The blind faith of the Old Testament and the free will faith of the New Testament, the old one controlled by the obedience to the law and the new one controlled by the grace and faith in the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus is the Lord of the obedience to the point of dying on the cross. He is the last sacrificial lamb for the Father; that is why the old law ended with the Lord Jesus' death on the cross. At the same time, when the old law ended, the new law started through the blood of the Lord Jesus that He shed for the old law. The old law was wiped clean by the blood of the perfect sacrifice; that is the first step to the new law. Think of the feet of the Lord Jesus; one foot was in the old law, and He made a step into the new law with the other foot, so through Him, we are able to cross from sacrifice to grace (See Acts 15:9-11, Hebrews 8:6-13).

[53] And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these parables, He departed from there.

[54] And having come into His own region, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, From where to this, this wisdom, and the miraculous powers?

[55] Is not this the carpenter's Son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers, James, and Joseph, and Simon, and Judas?

[56] And His sisters, are not all with us? From where then to this, all these things?

Comments Matthew 13:54-56 This passage shows the way the people in the Lord Jesus’ hometown think of Him. For them, in their eyes, the Lord Jesus was just a simple man. They used the earthly family of the Lord Jesus to judge Him. His mother, father, and His siblings all made mistakes the same way as everybody, so the people could not see the Deity of the Lord Jesus as the Son of God. In these people’s eyes, if He is the Son of God, Mary cannot have other children, and the Lord Jesus’ siblings become the main issue. Since they have seen Mary pregnant by Joseph and having other children after the Lord Jesus, they cannot accept that He is the Son of God. They use the Lord Jesus’ earthly family to make people not believe in the virgin birth. Their logic is that if Mary had a child with the Holy Spirit, then Joseph cannot touch her and have children. The holiness of the virgin birth becomes impossible for them since Mary had other children with Joseph. Mary is not holy but a blessed woman; she is blessed because the Lord chose her to carry the Lord Jesus in her womb, but she is just a human and lived as a human. After she gave birth to the Lord Jesus, she had a normal human life, as every woman should have, and she had to do her duty as a wife to Joseph. You cannot worship her; she was a blessed woman, but not more than that (See Luke 1:48). She couldn’t perform any miracles, and there is no record in the Bible that she ever performed any miracles. The people in her hometown saw her having more children, but God had only one Son, and it is written that the Lord Jesus is the begotten Son of God (See John 3:16, and 1 John 4:9).

[57] And they were stumbled at Him. But Jesus said to them, A prophet is not without honor, except in the region, and in His household.

Comments Matthew 13:57 Even if they could not find fault in the Lord Jesus, but the fault they picked out to be the offense was His earthly family. No human is perfect; every mistake the Lord Jesus' earthly family made was what they used to discredit His work. They received the miracles the Lord Jesus did, but they did not receive His teachings. All the living Word spoken to them by the Lord Jesus was filtered through the deeds of His earthly family. He was not accepted in His hometown because of the imperfection of His earthly family.

[58] And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.

Comments Matthew 13:58 In the Lord Jesus’ hometown, there was only negative talk about Him, so the Lord Jesus did not do many miracles because of the doubt people had about the Deity of the Lord Jesus.

Life and Faith Applications. 1) The Lord Jesus speaks in parables to us in order to make a selection between the ones who come to Him with a clean and sincere heart and those who come to find mistakes and accuse His work. 2) Heaven for us should be the Lord Jesus Himself: believing in the Trinity of God and the grace of God to forgive our sins; also, we need to search and find a way to serve the Lord Jesus. 3) We are to believe that the Lord Jesus is the only begotten Son of God and is born of the Virgin Mary. As the Bible says, Mary is not holy but was only a blessed woman; therefore, she cannot perform miracles for us. There is no record in the Bible that she ever performed any miracles.