I’ll Say It Again… – Jesus

As I read through Matthew 13, I was struck by the overall theme. Jesus kept repeating over and over the focus on the kingdom.

– Parable of the weeds – 13:24-30

– Parable of the mustard seed – 13:31-32

– Parable of the yeast – 13:33

– Parable of the weeds explained – 13:26-43

– Parable of the hidden treasure – 13:44

– Parable of the pearl – 13:45-46

– Parable of the net – 13:47-50

Here are some thoughts about this:

Jesus spent lots of time trying to focus people’s attention on the kingdom. He wanted them to have a kingdom view, a kingdom mindset and he wanted them to understand it clearly. He said it in different ways, but I don’t think he was concerned about saying new things until this one important aspect was hammered in. It was what Jesus was about – the kingdom of heaven. And he thought it was important enough to keep making sure people had it.

It reminds me of another place in scripture – Luke 15 – where Jesus repeats himself on a theme of finding lost things. The lost coin, the lost sheep and the lost son – all found again! Jesus hammers home the important part of his work – lost people. They matter to him. And here are three examples of how hard we should work to find them. To what lengths we should go to seek them. And what lavishness we should show to rejoice after finding them.

Combining these specific repeating moments in scripture gives us a glimpse into the priorities of Jesus. Those priorities should also be ours.

Be a kingdom of heaven minded person. Share the hope of Jesus with the lost.

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