Message Theme & Verses: Treasure Hunt! Matthew 13
We have been learning a lot about Jesus by reading stories about what He did. It is awesome to see how powerful He is in healing people physically and spiritually. It is amazing to see His power over demons and nature as He calms the storms on the seas and inside the hearts of people. Today, we will learn about Jesus in a different way.
All of the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John tell stories about Jesus. The first three also include stories that Jesus told. These stories are called parables. We will see that Jesus used these stories in two ways. One way was for His followers and there was another purpose for those who would not follow Jesus. Stories can often help us understand or remember important truths.
Tomorrow, the kids will focus on just one parable, the story of the hidden treasure. Today, we will read a few of Jesus’ parables from Matthew 13. Sometimes Jesus is teaching the same lesson through different stories. Each time, Jesus is teaching the people something about the Kingdom of God. Jesus uses examples from everyday life that the people will understand. Sometimes, after telling the story to the crowd, Jesus gathers His disciples and explains the meaning to them. Let’s see if we can understand the parables the Jesus tells in Matthew 13.
Read Matthew 13
The disciples asked Jesus why He told parables. What was His answer? (11-17. Jesus used parables for two purposed. For people of faith, Jesus told parables to reveal the secrets of heaven. Jesus came to reveal what God is like so the people could know Him. For other, the parables have a different purpose. Jesus quotes Isaiah and shows how God uses the words of the prophets to harden the hearts of those who reject God. This is similar to the way that God uses preaching. In 1 Corinthians 1:21-24 it says “For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” God opens the eyes, ears, and hearts of those He is saving while the wicked remain hard hearted. Even today, the people who God has called will respond positively to the Good News of Jesus, but many will think that it is foolish and may even laugh at us for believing.)
The first parable Jesus told was about the seeds and at first His disciples did not seem to understand. He explains the parable in verses 18-23. What was Jesus teaching in this parable? (Jesus was using seeds as a symbol of the Gospel. The sower planted the seeds in all kinds of soil, just like Christians are supposed to tell everyone about the Good News of Jesus. The different soils are the hearts of different people. Some will be overtaken by Satan. Some will not be able to keep their faith in hard times. Some will love the world and their sin too much to follow Jesus. But some will hear God’s word, repent of their sins, have faith in Jesus, and obey Him. We don’t know who has soil in their hearts prepared by God and so we spread the seeds of the Gospel everywhere and to everyone, praying that God will save them.)
Jesus tells two short stories about the mustard seed and the leaven. We do not get Jesus’ explanation of these. What do you think they mean? (These were a surprise to the people. Many people thought Jesus would be a warrior king and set the Jews free from their Roman rulers. They didn’t understand that Jesus came to free His people from their slavery to sin. Jesus was explaining that God’s Kingdom starts small and then will grow to cover the whole world. This helps us to trust God even when we don’t see big results. God is faithful to His promises and will save every person He chooses to.)
What is the meaning in the parable of the weeds? (Jesus was showing in this parable that until Jesus returns the world will be full of both righteous believers and the wicked who reject God. Even in our churches are people who claim to love God, but only have evil in their hearts. Do you remember from our lesson on sheep, what the Bible calls people like this? Matthew 7:15)
Our lesson for the kids tomorrow is the parable of the treasure. It is only one verse long. What can you tell us about verse 44? (The meaning is the same as the parable of the pearl. We are able to know when something has great value. Both men found a treasure that was worth everything they had. They traded all of their possessions to get the treasure. What is this treasure?)
These last two questions are from the kid’s lesson. We should go over them to make sure we understand.
What does it mean to say Jesus is our treasure? (It means that we love Jesus more than anything else. We love Him more than everything else put together. It means that we are willing to give up everything else to be with Jesus. We would trade our house, clothes, food, intelligence, good looks, talents, dreams, and even family just to be with Him. The Apostle Paul said it best in Philippians 3. He was encouraging a church to have faith and joy even in suffering. He told them to rejoice even when things are difficult or if they were suffering. He said that he used to love the things of the world. He especially liked it when people said that he was really smart and respected him. But now, he isn’t even worried if people shame him. He said that everything he used to think was so important is now like garbage to him because knowing Jesus is so much better. Yup, just like garbage. He would be okay if he just threw it out. A new car is like the wrapper from a Fudgie Bar. Fancy clothes are like dirty diapers. Being the best at basketball is like a broken old slipper. Paul didn’t need any of these things any more because knowing Jesus made him completely satisfied and full of joy.)
What makes Jesus the greatest treasure? (Many people want to be with Jesus because they think He can give them things. They say, “I want to be healed.” or “I want to be rich. “I want people to like me. I want new clothes. Jesus is powerful, He can give me those things. I want to live forever. I want to go to heaven. I want to have a good life before I go to heaven.” These might all be good things. It is good to want to go to heaven, but heaven is not the treasure, Jesus is. Remember Jesus made you and He loves you. It is so good to be with someone who loves you. Think about hugging your Mom. She made you and she loves you. It’s so nice to cuddle up with her and feel safe and loved and valuable. Moms think their kids are great treasures. But Moms also sin and their love is not perfect. Sorry moms! Jesus’ love is perfect. His love is better than anyone’s. Only Jesus can satisfy our greatest need for love. Only Jesus can make us truly happy. God’s plan is for us to be with Jesus forever, worshiping Him with perfect joy. Being with Jesus is worth everything. Ask God the Father to make Jesus your greatest treasure today!)
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