Matt 13:1–17 — The Secrets of the Kingdom

Matthew 13 is the third major block of Jesus’ teaching in this Gospel. The first is the Sermon on the Mount in chapters 5–7. The second is the mission to Israel in chapter 10, where Jesus sends the apostles to extend his ministry by proclaiming the kingdom and performing miracles in his name. Although that mission initially focuses upon the lost sheep of Israel, Jesus also looks ahead to the gospel’s spread among the Gentiles and the persecution his messengers will face.

Now, in the third discourse, Jesus describes the kingdom of heaven through parables. Matthew deliberately highlights five major teaching blocks, each ending with a formula such as, “When Jesus had finished these sayings.” Two more remain after Matthew 13: teaching about discipleship and the church in chapter 18, and teaching about the temple’s destruction, the end times, and Christ’s return in chapters 23–25. Matthew gathers these discourses to instruct the church in the teaching of Jesus. Mark emphasizes the rapid movement of the narrative, while Matthew gives particular prominence to these extended bodies of doctrine.

The Kingdom Explained More Deeply

The parables of Matthew 13 follow the mission to Israel in chapter 10 and Israel’s largely unbelieving response in chapters 11–12. Individual Israelites came to Jesus in humble faith, received healing, and became disciples. The majority, however, did not receive his gospel. That unbelief reached a malignant form when the Pharisees attributed his exorcisms to Beelzebul and approached the unpardonable sin of knowingly, persistently, and blasphemously rejecting the Spirit’s testimony to Christ.

Jesus now takes his disciples aside and explains more deeply the kingdom he has been proclaiming. Until this point, his miracles and teaching have given them glimpses of its nature. These parables bring the picture into greater focus.

Israel expected the Old Testament promises to culminate in a glorious national restoration: an earthly kingdom in the land, a rebuilt temple, and God dwelling visibly among his people. Jesus teaches that the kingdom is not arriving in that bold, political, and external form—at least not at this stage. Its present form is spiritual and inward, grasped only through the illumination of the Holy Spirit and faith. It comes through the preaching of the gospel and the believing response of sinners. This is how the Old Testament promises begin to be fulfilled, and Isaiah himself predicted that it would happen this way.

Jesus had already made this point when John the Baptist, confused by his imprisonment, asked whether Jesus was truly the coming one. John expected the kingdom’s fullness and power. Jesus answered with the language of Isaiah 35: the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor hear the good news. These physical healings were outward signs of inward gospel realities. Cleansing a leper pointed to cleansing from sin. Giving sight pointed to the gift of spiritual vision. Casting out demons pointed to transfer from Satan’s kingdom into Christ’s. Raising the dead pointed toward spiritual resurrection.

The Kingdom in Two Stages

The kingdom unfolds in two stages. First comes its hidden and inaugurated form. It is like a mustard seed that appears small but grows into a great tree, or leaven working invisibly through dough. During this stage, the gospel receives a mixed response. Many reject it, while the elect remnant receives sight, life, and entrance into the kingdom by faith.

The second stage is the eschatological consummation. The Son of Man will send his angels to gather out of his kingdom every cause of sin and every lawbreaker, and the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s kingdom. The present hidden mixture will give way to final separation and visible glory in the new creation after Christ’s return and the day of judgment.

Jesus teaches his disciples to expect this pattern. They must not be surprised by widespread unbelief, nor should they overlook God’s saving work among those who believe. The kingdom may appear as a small seed during Jesus’ earthly ministry, but after his ascension it will grow throughout the world. Its full glory will be revealed only at the end.

The Seven Parables of Matthew 13

Matthew sets the scene in verses 1–2. Great crowds gather, so Jesus enters a boat and teaches the people standing on the shore. The picture already suggests two audiences: the crowds on the beach and the disciples near Jesus, to whom he will speak privately.

The chapter contains seven kingdom parables. The first is the sower, followed by the wheat and the weeds, the mustard seed, the leaven, the hidden treasure, the priceless pearl, and the net. The final parable again emphasizes the present mixture and final separation: the net gathers good and bad fish, which are divided only at the end of the age.

Two parables—the sower and the wheat and weeds—receive private explanations. The chapter also contains three broader teachings about parables: Jesus’ explanation in verses 10–17, Matthew’s quotation of Psalm 78 in verses 34–35, and the picture of a scribe trained for the kingdom who brings new and old treasures from his storehouse. Jesus commends disciples who study as scholars of the kingdom and learn to understand the relationship between the old revelation and its new-covenant fulfillment.

All seven parables concern the kingdom. The first speaks of “the word of the kingdom,” while the others begin with some form of “the kingdom of heaven is like.” Together they disclose what Jesus calls the secrets of the kingdom.

Why Jesus Speaks in Parables

The disciples ask, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” Jesus replies, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.” The contrast is between the disciples near Jesus and the unbelieving crowds outside. As Mark 4:34 says, Jesus did not speak to the crowds without a parable, but privately explained everything to his disciples.

Mysteries Now Revealed

The word translated “secrets” is difficult to render fully. The King James Version and New American Standard Bible use “mysteries,” but that term can suggest something obscure or incomprehensible. The ESV and NIV use “secrets,” which avoids that problem but may lose the sense of wonder that accompanies the discovery of a previously hidden truth.

Matthew 13:35 captures the point: “I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.” These truths were hidden but are now revealed. They are not intrinsically incomprehensible. Jesus says that it has been given to his disciples to know them. They are doctrines that Christ discloses and teaches, producing delight and wonder in those brought into his confidence.

What are these secrets? One is the sovereignty of God in salvation: God grants faith and spiritual sight to his elect, while those without that gift cannot perceive the gospel. Another is the kingdom’s two-stage form—presently inaugurated and hidden amid a mixed response, later consummated in visible glory.

A further mystery appears in Matthew 16. Peter confesses Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God, and Jesus tells him that flesh and blood did not reveal this truth; the Father did. Yet Peter still cannot understand that the Messiah must go to Jerusalem, suffer, die, and rise on the third day. The cross is itself a secret of the kingdom: the glorious Messiah establishes his reign through suffering and atonement.

The Parables Reveal and Conceal

Jesus continues, “To the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” The person who “has” is receptive to Christ’s gospel and believes. Such a disciple receives still greater insight into the kingdom. The person who “has not” rejects Christ and loses even the religious understanding already possessed. In Israel’s case, rejection of Jesus meant losing even the limited benefits of the Judaism to which the people clung.

The parables therefore have a dual purpose. For believers, they reveal truth and grant deeper spiritual understanding. For unbelievers, they conceal, intensifying blindness and bringing judgment upon rejected light. Jesus’ method illustrates the doctrine that faith results from divine election: “To you it has been given to know.” Knowledge of the kingdom is a sovereign gift of grace.

The form of Jesus’ teaching corresponds to its content. The kingdom itself comes in a hidden form, and Jesus teaches it through stories whose spiritual meaning remains hidden unless God grants understanding. Secrets concealed through the ages are now revealed to the elect.

Isaiah’s Prophecy Fulfilled

Jesus explains, “This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.” He then quotes Isaiah 6:9–10. This is more than applying a general Old Testament principle to an unrelated circumstance. Jesus says, “In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled.” Isaiah’s words anticipated Israel’s response to the Messiah: the people would witness Jesus’ mighty works without perceiving the spiritual reality those signs revealed.

Isaiah has already played a major role in Matthew’s explanation of Jesus. Matthew 11 echoes Isaiah 35 when Jesus points to the blind seeing and the lame walking. Matthew 12 quotes Isaiah 42 concerning the chosen servant upon whom God places his Spirit. Now Isaiah 6 explains the unbelief surrounding Christ’s ministry.

The quotation’s structure emphasizes the heart. It forms a chiasm: heart, ears, eyes; then eyes, ears, heart. The people’s heart has grown dull, their ears scarcely hear, and their eyes are closed, lest they see with their eyes, hear with their ears, and understand with their heart. True seeing and hearing require a fundamental change of heart.

This is regeneration. God takes a heart dead in sin, makes it alive, and gives it new affections and the ability to perceive gospel truth. Apart from this sovereign work of the Spirit, unbelievers do not merely oppose the gospel; they lack the spiritual capacity to receive it. As Paul says, the natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God and cannot understand them because they are spiritually discerned. Rational arguments can remove misunderstandings, but they cannot create faith. The Spirit must open blind eyes.

Blessed Eyes and Ears

Jesus does not end with blindness and judgment. He turns to his disciples: “But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.” Isaiah 6 also ends its judgment oracle with hope for a holy remnant. Although most remain hard, God preserves people who hear and believe.

The emphasis falls upon “your”: blessed are your eyes, the eyes of the disciples. This blessing belongs alongside the Beatitudes. Faith in Christ is itself a gift and blessing from God, as is the further doctrinal insight by which believers grow in their understanding of his kingdom. Jesus will later say to Peter, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.”

Jesus adds, “Many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” Old Testament saints truly received the gospel, but in promises, types, shadows, and prophetic idiom. They anticipated the kingdom; Christ’s disciples live in the time of fulfillment and behold the solid reality for which the saints longed.

Evangelizing the Lost and Teaching the Saved

Jesus’ example teaches us that there is a time to evangelize the lost and a time to instruct the saved. Jesus preached the gospel openly to the crowds, but he also met privately with his disciples to explain the parables and teach them the secrets of the kingdom.

When the church gathers for worship, it is not primarily conducting an evangelistic crusade or an exercise in apologetics. It continues the pattern of the disciples meeting with Jesus. Christ is present among his people through his Word, teaching them the doctrines of his kingdom.

Unbelievers and inquirers are welcome. They should not be turned away, for the church is not a secret society and Christian doctrine is public. Yet unbelievers are not the primary audience of Christian worship. Some approaches to “evangelistic worship” seek to eliminate every form of insider language so that visitors never feel a distinction between the church and the world. If every element is designed chiefly to avoid offending outsiders and to answer their objections, however, the sheep will not be fed. Jesus himself distinguished the disciples from the crowds and desired his followers to grow in knowledge.

Geerhardus Vos wrote that the author of Hebrews believed in “the efficacy of doctrine as a means of grace.” Hebrews certainly contains warnings addressed to Jewish Christians tempted to return to a non-messianic form of Judaism. Yet most of the letter unfolds profound theology: Christ’s high priesthood, his once-for-all atonement, his entrance into the heavenly sanctuary, and his continuing intercession. The author devotes an entire chapter to Melchizedek, an enigmatic figure mentioned only briefly in Genesis 14 and Psalm 110, because doctrinal understanding strengthens God’s people.

Jesus likewise wants his disciples to know the secrets of the kingdom and rejoice in them. We should delight in the blessedness of living in the time of fulfillment. That delight grows as the church teaches the doctrines of Scripture and believers learn to savor, relish, and glory in the truths Christ reveals.