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In plain terms, the first and last parables form a pair because they teach about a common theme.

The parables in Matthew 13 are arranged in a chiasm (also known as an introversion or epanados), a structure wherein similar ideas are repeated but in reverse sequence. We see the close connection in the parables’ deliberate structure, which few take into consideration.Īs with the rest of God’s creation, His Word displays an order and beauty in its organization. However, despite the change in audience, the last four parables still connect to the first four, providing positive instruction to the disciples and now the church. This suggests Jesus was turning His focus to a different aspect of the reign of God: the spiritual nation that would bear the fruits of the Kingdom-that is, the church. Whereas Jesus spoke the first four parables to the folk of Judea and Galilee-explaining two of them to the disciples-He told the last four parables solely to the disciples ( Matthew 13:36). Luke 13:10-20 contains two of the four-the Parable of the Mustard Seed and the Parable of the Leaven-and in that account, Jesus plainly gave them in response to the nation’s existing, degenerate belief system.

However, Christ spoke the first four to the multitudes ( Matthew 13:2, 34, 36), and the setting suggests that His public teaching better suited the degenerate state of the physical nation than the growth of the yet-to-be-established church. Matthew 13 contains eight parables of “the kingdom,” and commentators generally interpret them all with the church in view. Yet, as He prophesied in the Parable of the Wicked Vinedressers, “the kingdom of God will be taken from and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it” ( Matthew 21:43). However, up to and during Christ’s ministry, His reign included some of the descendants of Abraham. The church is the chief realm where God’s reign is evident today. As shown in previous articles, the phrases “kingdom of God” or “kingdom of heaven” can have a variety of applications, all dealing with the dominion of God-past, present, or future.