Parabolic timing

Typically, the parable of the tares and wheat has been understood as a description of church history. Jesus is the owner sowing the field, the devil sows tares into the church (like Judas), and for that reason the church remains a “mixed multitude” until the end of the age. The parable of the mustard seed is a parable about the history of the church as well. Jesus has only a handful of close disciples during His lifetime; the kingdom is a mustard seed in the time of Jesus. But over the centuries the mustard seed becomes a tree in which the birds find shelter. During Jesus’ ministry, the leaven is put in the loaf, and through the history of the church the loaf is permeated until it is entirely leavened.

I think there’s something to that. The history of the church does follow these patterns. We can even say that these stories reveal a movement that recurs over and over in the history of the church. Luther was a mustard seed, but from Him came a great tree. Missionaries sent to 19th-century Africa put leaven in the lump of Africa , and since that time the leaven has been leavening the whole lump. It is not yet wholly leavened, but we are on the way. Whenever a field is planted with wheat, the devil spreads his own seed, and the two grow up until a harvest. These are mysteries of God’s dealings throughout the ages.

But for a couple of reasons I think Jesus is talking primarily about the history of Israel that climaxes in His own ministry. That is, we tend to read the parables as if Jesus’ ministry is at the beginning of the parables. He’s the Son of Man sowing seed; He’s the one planting the mustard seed; He’s the one who puts the leaven in the lump. He’s the beginning of the story, and the rest of the story is what happens after Jesus. I’m suggesting that we think about Jesus as the END of the story instead.

Why think that? First, think about the conclusion to the story of the wheat and tares. The story ends with a harvest when the wheat and tares are separated from one another. Jesus has already observed that Israel is ready for harvest: “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest” ( 9:37 -38). In the next breath, Jesus is giving authority to the Twelve to be harvesters within Israel – both gathering in the wheat and dividing between wheat and tares. The harvest for Jesus is not in the distant future, but is already beginning in His ministry. He comes at the end of the story rather than at the beginning.

Second, there are parables where this is very obvious, where everyone recognizes that Jesus is the end of the story rather than the beginning. The most obvious of these is the parable of the vineyard and the tenants. An owner leases his vineyard to tenants, and then sends His servants to collect rent. The tenants abuse the servants and chase them away. Finally, at the end of the story, the owner sends his son, whom the tenants kill in hopes of seizing the vineyard for themselves. Obviously, this is about Israel rejecting the prophets sent to her; the Son’s coming is the coming of Jesus, and comes at the end of the story, and is followed by a judgment that crushes the rebellious tenants to dust. I’m suggesting that we think about reading the parables of Matthew 13 in the same framework.

Finally, 13:34 -35 shows that Jesus is retelling the story of Israel , not foretelling the story of the church. Matthew pauses to explain, again, why Jesus teaches in parables, saying that Jesus’ teaching fulfills what he calls the “prophecy” of Psalm 78. The quotation in verse 35 is from the opening of Psalm 78. The “parable” or “dark sayings” of Psalm 78 are not prophecies but histories: “which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us” (v. 3). Psalm 78 describes the exodus, Israel ’s rebellion in the wilderness, the Lord’s provision of water, manna, and meat in the desert, the incident at Shiloh when the Philistines captured the ark. It’s about Yahweh’s wonders for Israel , and Israel ’s forgetfulness of Yahweh, and of Yahweh’s work in Egypt and the wilderness. But it ends with Yahweh awakening from sleep, driving His enemies away, building His sanctuary, and choosing David to shepherd Israel . The Psalm is about Yahweh’s intervention in the history of rebellious Israel and His goodness in giving them a faithful shepherd.

Matthew’s quotation of Psalm 78 suggests that the “parables” Jesus is telling are the hidden things of Israel ’s history, the secret that Yahweh will justify and deliver Israel not for their own obedience, but for the sake of His own name. The secret that Yahweh will not leave Israel bereft, but will justify the ungodly.