READINGS IN MATTHEW'S GOSPEL (6)
READINGS IN MATTHEW’S GOSPEL (6)
JT Before we come on to this chapter, which may be rightly called a parabolic chapter, there is just one word to say about the end of chapter 12. It seems that there is a slight reflection on Mary, the Lord’s mother there, and it may be as well for us to face it and inquire why it should be. The same thing appears in John 2 where the Lord’s mother refers to Him as if she were directing Him to do something and complaining as to things not being done. It is only a question now of whether it is seemly for us to refer to it, but I think it is, and needful too, because she is perhaps unduly thought of and exalted. Although she is a wonderful person, she is not a divine Person; she is just a creature, and the Lord is pleased to make certain reflections, and it is a question for us to inquire why that should be. We should be guarded too, ourselves, lest any of us should fall into the same error of exalting ourselves at the expense of Christ or of divine things. In John’s gospel she undertakes to say to the Lord, “They have no wine”, as if the Lord did not know, and that gives rise to a right inquiry as to why a person such as Mary, great though she was, should, in any way, indicate a reflection on the Lord, because there can be no reflection in any degree at all on any action or doing of Christ.
Ques Is it not a remarkable thing the way the enemy has seized on this, and established the idea in the great Romish system, that Mary is greater than the Lord?
JT Just so. That is just the very thought that is in mind, lest any of us should in any way fall into [p. 184] that error.
EAL The Lord seemed to cover that Himself earlier in our book, where He said, “Thou shalt do homage to the Lord thy God, and him alone shalt thou serve”. He was careful to bring that in at that time.
JT That was in answer to the devil, and, of course, what we are saying about Mary has not to be compared with him in any sense. But at the same time what has just been said is quite right. It is here in Matthew, and it is also in John. In John 2 it was a marriage time, and Jesus was invited to the marriage and so was Mary, and Mary undertook to say to Him, “They have no wine”, and the Lord answered immediately, “What have I to do with thee, woman?”. It would be a very humbling thing that the Lord should say that to her, but still it was needed as a correction, because women are apt to say things like that; not that one would speak of women very much in that sense, but they should be on their guard not to allow themselves to say anything derogatory in any way to divine things, or about divine Persons, or even about the brethren.
JTJr It says of Levi according to Deuteronomy 33: “Who said to his father and his mother, I see him not, and he acknowledged not his brethren”. Is that the principle the Lord is setting out here? The natural side is to be rightly in its place so that it may make no intrusion on the levitical service.
JT I am sure it is quite apposite at the present time to bring all this up, especially as to Levi, but above all as to the Lord, and as to Mary His mother after the flesh.
JSE Does all this come forward to assist us in our regard for the Lord as to who He is in Himself, and is it not significant that He is never presented to us as actually addressing Mary as mother?
JT Well, the Lord is not quoted as saying anything to her directly; others have said something of [p. 185] her, that His mother and His brethren waited outside to see Him, but the Lord, as you quite rightly say, never called her mother. Still He inferred that she was His mother, in a sense, and so we are right enough in thinking that He did regard her as His mother, and indeed the angels said wonderful things about her in Luke.
GMS Are not the two sections of Christendom exposed in verse 55 of chapter 13? One section says He is the carpenter’s son; the other says He is Mary’s son.
JT Yes, quite so. In Luke, she is beautifully subject: “Behold the bondmaid of the Lord; be it to me according to thy word”. It is right to bring out the position of Mary and how subject and simple she is, in that sense, according to Luke.
PL Does the new generation to which the Lord refers in verses 49 and 50 warrant the parabolical ministry of chapter 13, and is that ministry on the one hand to confirm what is genuine, and, on the other hand, to baffle imitation?
JT To confirm what is genuine and to baffle imitation — I would say that is just the truth.
Ques Do you think that this matter is intensified in that there were several of them in it? It says, “his mother and his brethren”, as though they were standing together.
JT Just so. John’s gospel would enlarge a little on that, too. It says, “After this he descended to Capernaum, he and his mother and his brethren and his disciples; and there they abode not many days”, John 2: 12. And again in Luke it says, “he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and he was in subjection to them”, Luke 2: 51.
AAT It says in John 19: 26, “Jesus therefore, seeing his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, says to his mother, Woman, behold thy son. Then he says unto the disciple, Behold thy mother”. The expression “mother” and “woman” are brought together there by the Lord.
JT The allusion there would be to John himself, the Lord giving John that remarkable place and according him such a distinction as that. He is not referring to Himself at all there. He regards Mary as John’s mother, so it says, “from that hour the disciple took her to his own home”.
AAT Yes. I noticed how the scripture brought the two expressions together.
JT So that that matter is clear, I hope, to all the brethren. It is well that it should be, and especially because of what obtains in the system alluded to. I do not feel like speaking much about that system, but it is to be spoken of because what that system sets out is a discredit to the whole testimony, the whole service of God, and the brethren ought to be wholly clear of it.
Ques Was Mary adjusted in John 2 when she said: “Whatever he may say to you, do”?
JT Quite so. She is making suggestions for the servants. There is not very much in it; but still there it is. She more or less corrects herself.
Ques Would you say something about the Lord’s expression, “for whosoever shall do the will of my Father who is in the heavens, he is my brother, and sister, and mother”? Does the Lord use the opportunity to point out that a new generation was coming to light, morally akin to Himself, as doing the will of His Father, and He claims them in kinship with Him? I wondered whether we were left with that impression that there was something there.
JT Yes, just so. But the question is who these persons are. The Lord says, “Behold my mother and my brethren; for whosoever shall do the will of my Father who is in the heavens, he is my brother, and sister, and mother”. You mean that there is a new generation in those that the Lord [p. 187] speaks of there, and I think you are quite right in that. There is a new generation, and, by inference, we might say, we belong to that generation.
PL And do such furnish now, constitutionally, a trustworthy depository for this parabolical ministry and all that is to follow?
JT Quite so, and the Lord was able to speak freely to them at that time; He was able to speak to them with deep mutual feeling: “Behold my mother”, He says, “and my brethren; for whosoever shall do the will of my Father who is in the heavens, he is my brother, and sister, and mother”. That is a beautiful thing that the Lord should thus speak to His disciples in that sense.
PL And does it establish the principle of pleasurable selection on the part of the Lord in regard to those to whom He gives light in these days?
JT Just so. ‘Pleasurable selection’ is a fine phrase, I would think. We ought to be glad of phraseology that adorns the Scriptures. The Lord is Himself alluding to the brethren — even ourselves — those that do the will of God. The greatest thing morally, we might say, is the doing of the will of God, whoever we may be. Of course, we might easily follow up this thought in the other gospels, but there is not time. We should proceed now with the gospel of Matthew.
Ques Are you going to say something now on those sections of the chapter which would be a help to us; a kind of basic outline of the truth that underlies this?
JT Well, the next thing is the idea of parables — parabolic service. Verse 10: “The disciples came up and said to him, Why speakest thou to them in parables? And he answering said to them, Because to you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of the heavens, but to them it is not given; for whoever has, to him shall be given, and he shall be [p. 188] caused to be in abundance; but he who has not, even what he has shall be taken away from him. For this cause I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear nor understand; and in them is filled up the prophecy of Esaias, which says, Hearing ye shall hear and shall not understand, and beholding ye shall behold and not see; for the heart of this people has grown fat, and they have heard heavily with their ears, and they have closed their eyes as asleep, lest they should see with the eyes, and hear with the ears, and understand with the heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them”, and so forth. Now this is a very important section, because it really points to the great apostasy that is coming in. The book of Revelation would indicate that Christendom as such is going to vanish. The real Christians will go up in the rapture, but Christendom itself is about to vanish — a most solemn thing, and this section points to it. The whole chapter, indeed, is the doom of Christendom, in that sense. Christendom will not last, and God is dealing judicially already with it in certain things that are coming to light.
PL Is that presented in a prophetic way, though, of course, bearing on Israel, “And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and snared, and taken. Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples”, Isaiah 8: 15, 16?
JT Very good. That is exactly what is in mind. It is the terribleness of the doom of Christendom. I can only use the word doom, and it is most solemn.
JTJr Speaking against the Spirit in chapter 12 would lay the basis for the apostasy indicated in chapter 13.
JT Quite so, the basis for it. Take any section of the world; take Roman Catholicism by itself, such as in Italy and France and Spain and Ireland, well,
[p. 189] that is where the basis of all this is laid. The doom of Christendom is laid in it. It is a most solemn thing to think of. And then take any other section, such as Protestantism as it is in Germany, or in this country itself, or England. The doom of the whole thing is manifest to those who have eyes to see. It is most solemn, but we should face it and be sobered by it.
VCL Would you say that the positive side is conveyed in the suggestion of the word ‘mystery’, as though we are now put on our mettle to see if we can understand what the Spirit is conveying in a positive way?
JT Quite so, so it says, “The mystery of piety is great”. That is on the positive side, and it is a most blessed thing to think of. But see how things are going; see what is happening, the barefaced way in which things are happening, such as, for example, Christian Science — a terrible thing — going on openly in the midst of Christendom.
PL Do you mean that something of the Lord’s tears over Jerusalem in the pending doom that would result, should be found with us?
JT Just so. Christian Science is greatly increasing in America, I am sorry to say, and possibly in this country and in England. It is right that we should think of it, and be with God about all these things.
AR Would you say then that Christendom is guilty of the sin against the Holy Spirit?
JT Just so. That is what we get here. I had hoped to speak about that in time. Speaking against the Holy Spirit is an awful thing to think of; the consequence of it is not said as to the Father, nor as to the Son; it is said of the Spirit only.
MAW Is it significant that Paul brings in the same quotation from Isaiah 6, in speaking to the [p. 190] apostate Jews at the end of the Acts, and brings in the matter of the Holy Spirit there too?
JT Quite so, and so he says there, “this salvation of God has been sent to the nations”. That is a judicial act towards the Jews, that God was sending the gospel to the gentiles, and “they also will hear it”, it says. A remarkable thing! The word was against the Jews, and it might be worked out, too, to see that it is against a certain class of people at the present time, who say they are Jews but are not.
JP In 2 Thessalonians the apostasy is coming in “because they have not received the love of the truth”.
JT Just so. That is set over against the first epistle which is so beautiful in its bearing.
Now we must proceed in the sections. We have touched on verse 13, and what might be said is that the section comprising verses 13 to 15 is all judicial. Then we have verses 16 to 23, and it is the good ground now that we are directed to. The only ground that really yields for God is the good ground. However much profession we may make, only the good ground will yield for God. Verse 24 commences the next section, in which we have the devil’s work, following on the sowing of the good seed. So that we have to wait for the result in this great parable section. “Gather first the darnel, and bind it into bundles to burn it; but the wheat bring together into my granary”. The wheat implies the real saints of God at the present time, and one can say heartily and happily that there is a goodly number of them here today, because God is greatly honouring these meetings. I do not hesitate in saying that; whether it be in Edinburgh or London or in many parts of America or Australia, or elsewhere. There is the great work of God going on, and we all want to be in it, and these meetings are to strengthen [p. 191] us and make us real in it. We are heavenly, because we belong to heaven; the assembly is heavenly, and she is seen in Revelation 21 as coming down from God out of heaven.
PL Does the first of these sets of three parables bear on the outward position? They refer to what is vulnerable, do they not? But the last three suggest what is impregnable, that is on the divine side. First, the darnel, and the mustard tree, and the leaven. The enemy has invaded all that, but the last three refer to the treasure, and to the pearl, and finally to the ingathering from the sea. Do they represent the kingdom from the divine side — impregnable?
JT I think the idea of the gospel field is in mind, but then we have to go on a little more to get the full bearing of the whole passage, because we want to come down to the end of the section read, and to return again to what you are saying. We have another parable, that is the woman with the three measures of meal, and everything leavened; and then again, “All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and without a parable” — notice that — “without a parable he did not speak to them”. We are exposed, as it were, by the use of a parable, if we are not real; so that “all these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and without a parable he did not speak to them, so that that should be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the world’s foundation”. So these verses are to be grouped more closely. And then again, in verse 36, we have the idea of the house. It says, “Then, having dismissed the crowds, he went into the house”. Now we have to consider and see what the word ‘house’ means there, as over against what He has been dealing with. There is a change in the Lord’s position; He goes into the house; and it adds “his disciples came to him” and so forth. They came to Him in chapter 5, as you will remember, on the mountain, and the Lord gave that wonderful teaching on the mountain, but then He went down to the plain again, and now again He has gone into the house, and it says, “His disciples came to him, saying, Expound to us the parable of the darnel of the field. But he answering said ...” So now we have to come to the Lord explaining things, and how beautiful it is to listen to Him explaining things. That is what we are trying to do today; very poorly it may be, but still there it is, the idea of explaining things. We are to explain things to one another, so as to be clear about them, and not foggy or dark.
WmH He seems to speak of the last three similitudes that Mr. L. called attention to in the house also, as if that were a secret.
JT They are really leading up to the assembly, so we might continue with this section just to get the idea of the assembly. In verse 44 the word ‘field’ is the key-note, because it is really a gospel touch, and then in verses 45 and 46 we come to admiration — admiration in divine things, which is a very scarce thing. We are so little taken up with them, but there is such a thing as admiration in divine things. Matthew has it, but I think John has more of it.
HFN It was a great source of help to oneself when you linked the treasure up with the ministry of the twelve in the Acts of the Apostles, and the pearl with the ministry of Paul. Would you still say that?
JT I would say that is quite right, for Paul comes to the fine things of Christianity, as we may call them. There are things that are, as it were, ordinary, but then there are especially fine things, glorious things, in the sense of material and texture; they are fine and to be admired by the eye. It [p. 193] requires a spiritual eye, of course, and it refers to what belongs to the assembly; the greatness and glory of the things that are in the house, within, as it were, in the assembly where we are secluded within with one another and with the Lord. What a wonderful thing it is, that it should be our portion to have the greatest things, the very finest things. The millennium will not have these things to the same extent that we have them. The assembly has the fine things of Christianity, of eternity, you might say.
AB In verse 44 you have referred to the Lord’s joy in His present possessions.
JT We have in the types, in Abraham and Isaac, people, you might say, of great means to get things and to be in the enjoyment of them, and so it is in the verse alluded to in this chapter. “The kingdom of the heavens is like a treasure hid in the field”. There are people of this world who can get anything they want in the way of show and texture and magnificent materials, and so forth; they can get anything they want. Well, that can be turned round to a spiritual sense, and I believe that is suggested in verse 44.
AB I was alluding to what you have said at one time, as to the Lord’s joy in finding the possession, following on what you were speaking of. It is what He has now, His joy in the assembly at the present time.
JT And so what we have in the house in Luke 15 — everything is of the best.
JSE I feel that this matter of the treasure and the pearl as coming in this gospel in the house is particularly for ourselves, that we might have a better understanding of the Lord and what He is after.
JT The Lord Himself is occupied with these things. “Like a treasure hid in the field, which a [p. 194] man having found has hid, and for the joy of it goes and sells all whatever he has, and buys that field”. That is, he values the worth of it, and he would have it. We know something about people of the world and the way they view things; they must have the best; they are only thinking of that. So it is we can transfer the thought to spiritual things; that there must be the best, and the best belongs to the assembly; everything that is the best belongs to the assembly.
VCL And is it not significant that in the house the suggestion is made of great cost, as though that would underlie the appreciation the disciples would have of the value?
JT It is a question of whether we have become acquainted with these great and costly things, because there are costly things. Of course, we think of what it cost the Lord Jesus to secure what we have; to secure ourselves, indeed, for He has us too, and then the assembly which is the very best thing that you can get in the whole universe, next to divine Persons Themselves.
AH Would you say a word as to verses 51 and 52 in view of what you have remarked?
JT The expression “brings out of his treasure” in verse 52 is to be noted. It says, “For this reason every scribe” — notice the word ‘scribe’ — “discipled to the kingdom of the heavens is like a man that is a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old”. There is some importance to be attached to a scribe here, as if God would distinguish divine writings, or persons who are writing about divine things. If you go back to J.N.D.’s writings I am sure such are in mind, and, of course, Paul’s writings. The Lord is never said to write Himself, except on the ground, but Paul did write, and others, as we said, including Mr. Darby. So we are dealing now with writings, and the [p. 195] thought of a scribe discipled to the kingdom of the heavens. There is peculiar greatness to be attached to a scribe in what he writes down spiritually.
JSE Is that because he is accurate?
JT I was thinking of that. Accuracy is a great matter in writing; I am glad you mention that, because there is much writing, of course. Take any of the ancient writings and recent writings, Greek writings, Roman writings, English writings and German writings. Much is made of writings and the persons who write, but there is nothing at all in them, compared with what we are saying now. The scribe, as we have it here, is a peculiarly accurate writer, for he is dealing with the things of God; lie belongs to God and is dealing with divine things and he would not harm them. He would not write in a careless way. He would write as they should be written. Therefore the idea of writing becomes of great importance in that sense. So much of it has come in, and it is coming along yet, and we thank God for it, because the brethren need food and they need spiritual refinement, and the writing helps to accomplish that.
JSE For us is it acquired in the school of Tyrannus? I was thinking of Paul separating the disciples and taking them on in those surroundings, so that they might be accurately instructed in the truth.
JT Good; but we might read that. “But when some were hardened and disbelieved, speaking evil of the way before the multitude, he left them and separated the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus”, Acts 19: 9.
That is the idea; the school is there. Although we do not say schoolmaster there is such a thing as that in it. There is demand for accuracy and correctness; there is demand for it, divinely so, because we are apt to be so careless even in the Lord’s things.
[p. 196] The word therefore that we are just speaking of is to stress with us the idea of accuracy and refinement, because heaven will be of that character, we may be sure. It will be according to God, and to Christ and the Spirit.
GMS In connection with accuracy, is there anything to be said about the present tense used in connection with the kingdom of the heavens like a treasure, and the past tense in the second parable? The first parable is “For the joy of it goes and sells all whatever he has, and buys that field”. But then in the next parable, “Having found one pearl of great value, he went and sold all whatever he had and bought it”.
JT Well, the whole passage hangs together, I would say, and illustrates what has been spoken of, accuracy in divine things.
PL “A workman that has not to be ashamed, cutting in a straight line the word of truth”, 2 Timothy 2: 15.
JT That is it; “cutting in a straight line the word of truth”. It is a great thing to cut the word of truth accurately.
AA Do you see the feature of accuracy in Acts 18: “And Aquila and Priscilla, having heard him, took him to them and unfolded to him the way of God more exactly”?
JT Very good. They are Paul’s companions; persons whom he lived with, so that we can understand what accuracy there would be as they had Paul with them. So it is with ourselves, we ought to do things well if we are to do them at all, write things accurately if we write them at all, and speak things accurately if we speak at all. We have the idea of the speaking of the Lord Himself.
Ques Might I ask, if there is something hidden here which the Lord would eventually disclose to Peter, in chapter 16? Is the suggestion in chapter 13, the treasure and the pearl, what is hidden here for [p. 197] the moment? The Lord is not disclosing what it is actually. He puts another name on it, but we could say it is really the assembly. Is that it?
JT Why do you refer to chapter 16?
Rem I was thinking of “Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona, for flesh and blood has not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in the heavens. And I also, I say unto thee, that thou art Peter, and on this rock I will build my assembly, and hades’ gates shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of the heavens”. There is something that the Lord seems to disclose to Peter now, that He had not done before; does it underlie chapter 13?
JT Well, I think Peter is coming into it, only he was to be superseded in time, I would say, by Paul in regard to these fine matters. It is the fine matters that Paul brings forward in the power of the Spirit, because you get all the excellencies of Christian teaching — the chief ones, the fine and glorious ones — in Paul’s writings.