Page 76 - TH130 Kingdom of God A4 Final

The Kingdom of God

men, to bring to them the life and blessings of His kingdom” (“Gospel
of the Kingdom,” 68). He notes further that the Kingdom “comes to
men today as disciples of Jesus still take the Gospel of the Kingdom into
all the world.”

Parables of the Kingdom

One way that Jesus taught about the kingdom of God was through
parables. He often began His parables with the phrase, “The kingdom
of heaven is like.…” Parables that begin in this way (and the ones
grouped with them) are known as the Parables of the Kingdom. Most
of these Kingdom parables are found in Matthew 13 and Mark 4. Jesus
told these parables to teach about the mission and character of His
kingdom (Matthew 13:10–11). The Parables of the Kingdom are listed
in Table 7.1.

A major theme of the kingdom parables is harvest. In Table 7.1 the
first, second, third, and tenth parables deal with harvest. Three other
important parables containing a harvest theme are:

• The Eleventh Hour Harvesters (Matthew 20:1–16).
• The Tenants (Matthew 21:33–43; Mark 12:1–12).
• The Unfruitful Fig Tree (Luke 13:6–9).

Table 7.1—Jesus’ Kingdom Parables

Parable Harvest Theme Matthew Mark Luke
The Sower X 13:3–23 4:2–20 8:5–15

The Weeds X 13:24–43
The Mustard Seed X 13:31–32 4:30–32 13:18–19

The Yeast 13:33 13:20–21
The Hidden Treasure 13:44
The Pearl 13:45–46

The Net 13:47–51
New Treasures and Old 13:52

The Lamp on a Stand 4:21–25
The Growing Seed X 4:26–29

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