The Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 13:24-43)

"The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field" (Mt 13:24).

1. How did Jesus explain The Parable of the Weeds (Mt 13:24-25, 30, 36-39, 40-43)?
2. How is the kingdom of heaven like a man who sows good seed (Mt 13:24, 3, 19, 37; 4:17)?
• Are you like the "the man who sowed good seed" (Mt 13:24, 37)? How (Lk 9:60; 1 Cor 1:22-23; 2:2, 2)?
  
3. Do you "write off" some people as a "weed" (Mt 13:28)?
   
• Do you judge and decide who is "in" and who is "out" (1 Sam 16:7; Jn 7:24)?
• How do you respond to "weeds"? Do you extend grace and patience to them (Mt 13:29)? Trust in God's final judgment (Mt 13:30, 40-43)?
• What about "weed-like" people (Mt 10:16; 11:29; Phil 4:5; Eph 4:25; Col 3:9; Ps 15:1-2)?
4. What does the patience of the landowner [not pulling weeds immediately (Mt 13:29)] show about God (2 Pet 3:9; Rom 2:4; 1 Cor 13:4)?
• How does this give hope amid evil and injustice in the world (Mt 13:42-43; Dan 12:3)?
5. Why would Jesus compare the kingdom of heaven to a tiny mustard seed that becomes a large tree (Mt 13:31-32)?
• How does this contrast with human empires or dramatic conquests (Zech 9:9)?
• Does small, slow and seemingly insignificant church work encourage you (Zech 4:10)?
6.  What does the kingdom of heaven being like yeast/leaven reveal about how the Kingdom spreads (Mt 13:33; Gal 5:9; Eze 36:26-27)?
• How is the Kingdom "leavening" you?
7. Why did Jesus speak in parables (Mt 13:34-35)? 
• How or why do they reveal truth to some while concealing it from others (Mt 13:10-17; Dan 2:22; 1 Cor 2:7, 10, 12)?

The Kingdom of Heaven:

1. Good and bad coexist until the final judgment (Mt 13:24-30; 36-43).
2. Humble inconspicuous beginnings that keep growing (Mt 13:31-32).
3. Imperceptible influence impacts and transforms the whole (Mt 13:33).
4. Divine mysteries revealed through simple stories (Mt 13:34-35).