And the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and told him all things, both what they had done, and what they had taught. - Mark 6:30
Rhoda Jackson
Matthew 13:24, "Another parable He put forth to them, saying: "The Kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field...... He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom..." (v 37).
In Matthew 13, Jesus is telling a Parable to His disciples and He begins it by saying in verse 24, "The Kingdom of heaven is like...." The parable of the wheat and the Tares is in the context of understanding the Kingdom of heaven. In Matthew 6:10, Jesus tells us to pray for His Kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. The Kingdom of heaven is to be found in the earth and is to fill the whole earth (Isaiah 9:6-7; Dan 2:35). This parable teaches us how the Kingdom of heaven is revealed in the earth through His sons.
Jesus said in v 37, "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man". Jesus is the Sower, sowing good seeds in His field. In verse 38, He then tells us what the 'field' is and who the 'good seeds' are, "The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the Kingdom". Jesus sows sons of the Kingdom in the world. The world is His field. The field is a place of planting, growing and harvest. Jesus wants His field full of "His planting" (Isaiah 61:3b).
Jesus came not only to save us from our sins but to 'sow us' in the earth. We have heard often the saying, "Jesus came to seek and to save" but we also need to consider that Jesus came "to save and to sow".
Sons of the Kingdom are sons who are already in the Kingdom. Jesus tells us in John 3:3-5, that we must be born again to see and to enter the Kingdom of God. Sons of the Kingdom that are sown into the world, are those who have already been born again and are already living in the Kingdom, growing up in all things into Christ (Ephesians 4:14-15). Their citizenship is in heaven (Phil 3:20), they are Kingdom of God orientated, seeking first the Kingdom of God. (Luke 12:31).
Matthew 13:26, "But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop...."
Sons of the Kingdom are sown into the world to grow and produce a crop. A crop is the fruit and multiplication of a seed, and as each individual seed grows and is fruitful and multiplies there will be an abundance in the earth! Psalm 72 is a prophetic Messianic Psalm, that speaks of this abundance in the earth. Verse 7, says, "In His days, the righteous shall flourish...."
The context of this Prophetic Psalm is "in His days". What days is this referring to? Verse 8 tells us that it is the days when "He shall have dominion also from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth". Verse 15 tells us that it is the days when "He lives" and "prayer shall be made for Him continually and daily He shall be praised". The days of Messiah are speaking of when He is risen and seated far above (Eph 1:20-21). We are in those days now, where Christ is ruling and reigning "until all His enemies are made a footstool for His feet" (1 Cor 15:25).
It is in this context that In His Days, "There will be an abundance of grain in the earth, on the top of the mountains; its fruit shall wave like Lebanon; And those of the city shall flourish like the grass of the earth". What an awesome picture of the Kingdom of God. Where is this 'abundance of grain' coming from? Sons of the Kingdom who have been sown into the world and have produced a crop. Hallelujah!
The time for sowing sons of the Kingdom in the earth is now! Being born again into the Kingdom of God is only the beginning. Jesus gave the commission to "Go and make disciples of all nations" (Matt 28:18-20) because He wants to grow you and sow you in the world. All of creation is waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God. You were saved in this hope (Rom 8:19,24).
It is through discipleship that these 'seeds' are made ready to be planted in the world. Jesus spent three years with His disciples (His seeds), teaching them and training them in all that He did and taught. He prayed to the Father for them before He went to the Cross, "I do not pray that you should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil one" (John 17:15). Why was Jesus praying in this way? Surely He would want them to be in heaven with Him? Jesus prayed this way because the seeds were ready to be planted in the world. The Kingdom of Heaven comes on earth through sons of God planted in the world! Jesus then gave them the commission to 'Go and make disciples of all nations..." (Matt 28:18-20). Why? Because there are many more sons to be planted in the earth and the way we are made ready is through discipleship.
In the nation you are in, the City, the Town, the Street and, yes, and even in your homes, Jesus wants you to be planted as a Son of the Kingdom. How is the earth filled with the knowledge of the glory of Yahweh (Hab 2:14)? It is through you and I being planted as mature Sons in the world, revealing the glory of the Father, "then the righteous shall shine forth as the sun in the Kingdom of their Father" (Matt 13:43).
This has been our experience, as we knew when God was moving us to where we live now, that He was planting us as sons of the Kingdom in a new neighbourhood. We felt His mantle of authority on us, to see His Kingdom come. We have witnessed our neighbours coming to Jesus and the whole spiritual atmosphere changing in the area in which we live.
"But Jesus answered them, saying, "The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain" (John 12:23-24). Jesus said this, knowing He was going to the Cross. Sons of the Kingdom are sown into the world through death. "Foolish one, 'what you sow is not made alive unless it dies" (1 Cor 15:36). Jesus died the death on the Cross once for all (Rom 6:10). However, it is only when a seed dies and is buried that it can produce much grain.
We need to die. The death that we need to die is not speaking literally but it is choosing to die with Christ and be buried with Him through baptism. "Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore, we were buried with Him through baptism..." (Rom 6:3-4).
While 'we are alive' we are of no use in the world, it is only when we choose to die to ourselves, that we become useful to Jesus and He can sow us in the world. It is "no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me" (Gal 2:20). As long as we are living for ourselves, albeit, 'doing God's work', we will remain alone. We need to surrender ourselves to Jesus and do the Father's work, as Jesus did, and we will never be alone. "And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him" (John 8:29).
"The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified". How is the Son glorified? He tells us in the next verse. "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain." (John 12:23-24). He is glorified as sons of the Kingdom are sown into the world.
Receiving the forgiveness of sins is a time of 'justification', being discipled in the Word is a time of 'sanctification' and being sown in the world as mature sons is a time of 'glorification'. We are saved for glorification, "Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified" (Rom 8:30).
"That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified" (Isaiah 61:3).
"Also your people shall all be righteous; they shall inherit the land forever, The branch of My planting, The work of My hands, That I may be glorified" (Isaiah 60:21).
"...Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You" (John 17:1). Why was Jesus glorified? So that He would glorify the Father. Jesus has not only justified us but He has also glorified us, so that we will bring glory to the Father. He has put the riches of His glory in us (Col 1:27), so that we will manifest His glory in the earth. Jesus sows sons of the Kingdom in the world because He wants His glory to be revealed in the world. The time of sowing is a time of glorification, a time that sons glorify the Father.
"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples" (John 15:7-8). How is the Father glorified? It is through bearing 'much fruit' that the Father is glorified. In the parable of the Wheat and the Tares, why did Jesus sow sons of the Kingdom in the earth? It was to see them produce a crop. Sons of the Kingdom glorify the Father by bearing much fruit.
Jesus was sown into the world to bring forth a crop, "many sons to glory" (Heb 2:10). The Fruit that Jesus is looking for and the fruit that glorifies the Father is many sons to glory. A seed produces after its kind. As sons of the Kingdom are fruitful and produce sons of the Kingdom, who in turn, produce more sons of the Kingdom, multiplication happens and before long, sons are filling the earth. The time of glorification is a time of seeing many sons come to glory. This is how the Father is glorified.
"I have glorified you in the earth. I have finished the work which You have given me to do" (John 17:4). Jesus glorified the Father in the earth. The sowing of sons is in the earth. The glory of God is to fill the earth.
Jesus glorified the Father in the earth by, 'finishing the work', He was given to do. Jesus, as the Son of God, was planted in the world and the work that He did glorified the Father. As sons of the Kingdom, we also, are to 'do the work' that Jesus did. Jesus said:
1. "I have Manifested Your Name" (John 17:6). Jesus manifested the Name. He is "The express image of His Person" (Heb 1:3). Jesus said in John 8:58, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM". When you see Jesus, you see the Father (John 14:9). Jesus manifested the Name, by revealing the Father in everything He spoke and did. He lived and breathed God. "Great is the mystery of godliness, God was manifested in the flesh" (1 Tim 3:16).
"Having His Father's name written on their foreheads" (Rev 14:1). Sons planted in the world reveal their Father. They carry the revelation and testimony in them that, "God was manifested in the flesh", because "Christ is formed in them" (Gal 4:19). Everything they say and do reveals Christ to the world, "Daily...teaching and preaching Jesus the Christ" (Acts 5:42). He who receives you, receives Jesus and the Father who sent Him! (Matt 10:40) There is a 'manifestation of the sons of God', that all of creation is waiting for (Rom 8:19). Sons who are planted in the world are to manifest the Name.
2. "I have given them the words you have given me" (v.8). Jesus gave the words, which He had received from the Father, to the apostles. He was the Word made Flesh to them (John 1:14). His words are spirit and they are life (John 6:63). Jesus prayed for those who would believe in Him through the words of the apostles. The apostles' words were no different to Jesus' words, the word is one. Those who receive and believe His word become one in God, "I in them and You in Me, that they be made perfect in one". It is through the ministry of the Word that God is revealed to us, "For the LORD revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the Word of the LORD" (1 Sam 3:21). Sons of the Kingdom, planted in the world, have the Word of God abiding in them (John 15:7) and speak the Words of Christ, revealing Christ. He who has the doctrine of Christ has God - both the Father and the Son (2 John v9). Sons planted in the world only speak the word.
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