Jesus keeps the parables coming today, jumping from one to the next with hardly a breath between them: a mustard seed that grows into a shrub, yeast in the dough, a hidden treasure, a pearl of enormous value, a net that catches all fish. After all that, he ends by asking the question, “Have you understood all of this?” Now, who said Jesus didn’t have a sense of humor?
It is understanding that King Solomon asks for in the reading from 1 Kings, over and above the trappings of this world–a long life, riches, the demise of his enemies. With humility–admitting that he is “only a little child”–Solomon seeks wisdom to discern between right and wrong, good and evil–a monumental and, even at times, impossible–task.
Jesus’ string of parables in Matthew 13 all say something about the kingdom of heaven. Jesus doesn’t speak in parables just for fun or to annoy his audience, he does so to provide us with some understanding of what God’s reign looks like. The mustard seed, the yeast, the hidden treasure and the pearls–they all proclaim good news of joy and growth. A single seed that becomes a huge shrub, providing shelter for birds. A small amount of yeast that transforms unleavened bread into a hefty loaf. A hidden treasure and pearls that compel the one who discovers them to sell all that she has. The kingdom of heaven is prolific, transformative, and brings so much joy that we are liberated to leave everything behind.
So why couldn’t Jesus have just left it there? That would’ve been a good ending, a perfect happily ever after. Instead, Jesus just can’t help himself and drops a final parable of doom and gloom that doesn’t seem to fit with the others. A net that catches fish of all kinds, including the bad ones. Then comes the furnace of fire, the weeping and the gnashing of teeth. How do we reconcile these two very different images of God and God’s kingdom?
It’s the same question that Martin Luther struggled with mightily. He felt his spirit crushed by things he read in the bible–descriptions of a vengeful and wrathful God. He was tortured by guilt that resulted from feeling like he was never good enough to receive God’s love and mercy. For Luther, the answer was found in Jesus’ death and resurrection. On the other side of that universe-altering event, we need not live in fear of judgment but in the joy of salvation that through Christ, God has conquered sin and death.
Our God is a God of law and gospel, justice and mercy. But at the end of the day, we live soaked in the waters of baptism and the promise that in Jesus’ death and resurrection, all creation has received redemption and salvation. Nothing–not even ourselves, not even death–can separate us from God’s love. It’s no wonder Luther was such an admirer of St. Paul. The reading from Romans beautifully captures the good news that pulls us out the hole of our own sin and brokenness.
“If God is for us, who is against us?” Paul writes. “Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
It is because of this love that we have already received the joy, prolific growth, and immeasurable value of the kingdom of heaven. This love liberates us to let go of our shortcomings, to stop getting hung up on the question, “do you understand all this?” What we do know and understand is that in the midst of brokenness and suffering, God is with us, actively bringing about our salvation. What we do know and understand is that God has claimed each of us as his own. What we do know and understand is God’s love empowers us to start living new kingdom-of-heaven lives--sowing miniscule seeds in hope, putting our trust in the joy and wisdom that comes from God, and becoming instruments of God’s mercy and justice. What will this new life look like for you?