Who is Jesus? According to Matthew 13:

Jesus is a great teacher.  He teaches with wisdom and great deeds of power. In Matthew 13 we find him teaching about the kingdom of heaven.   He recognizes that at some point evil will be removed from the earth.

Jesus claims to be a prophet. He uses parables to teach so that those who are to hear do hear the message and those who are not to hear remain hard of hearing.  Yet, he wants his disciples to understand so that they can record and pass down his message. He reveals to them the secrets that have been hidden since the beginning of the world.

Jesus walks among the people and uses agriculture as an illustrative tool. He teaches the crowds (strangers) along the shoreline, his disciples in a private home, and his family and neighbors in the synagogue.

Jesus is part of a family that includes brothers and sisters.

Big Idea: Jesus walks among the people teaching and prophesying about the kingdom of heaven.

Profound Identity

• Jesus left the house (Matthew 13:1).
• Jesus sat by the sea (Matthew 13:1).
• Crowds gathered around Jesus after he found a place to sit along the shoreline (Matthew 13:2).
• In response to being surrounded by crowds, Jesus separated himself by getting into a boat nearby (Matthew 13:2).
• Jesus chose to sit in the boat while the crowd gathered on the beach (Matthew 13:2).
• Jesus taught the crowd in parables (Matthew 13:3).
• Jesus begins to teach by commanding the crowd to "Listen!" (Matthew 13:3).
• Jesus used a parable drawn from agriculture to teach a lesson (Matthew 13:3-9).
• Jesus tells the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:3-9).
• Jesus begins and concludes his parable with the directive to "Listen!" (Matthew 13:3, 9).
• After addressing the crowd in parables, Jesus was approached by the disciples for an explanation for his approach to teaching (Matthew 13:10).
• Jesus spoke in parables because the secrets of the kingdom of heaven had not been given to everyone (Matthew 13:11).
• Jesus taught the same message in a variety of ways. He responded to the disciple's question about teaching in parables, by responding in a variety of ways (Matthew 13:11-17).
• Jesus knew that not everyone would understand. In fact he purposely taught in such a manner that not everyone would understand (Matthew 13:13).
• Jesus quotes Isaiah in responding to the disciples question regarding his teaching style (Matthew 13:14-15).
• [I think that in Matthew 13:17 Jesus is pointing to the fact that many people had waited for the day when they would see and hear the Messiah and now that day has arrived and the disciples are blessed by the opportunity.]
• Jesus acknowledges that the disciples see, hear, and understand (Matthew 13:16).
• Jesus explains the meaning of the parable to his disciples, he begins by saying "Hear" (Matthew 13:18).
• Jesus speaks the "word of the kingdom" (Matthew 13:18).
• Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to the one who sows good seed in the field (Matthew 13:24).
• Jesus uses parables to teach about the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 13:29, 24, 31, 33).
• Jesus teaches that the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that grows into a large and fruitful tree (Matthew 13:31-32).
• Jesus compared the kingdom of heaven to yeast (Matthew 13:33).
• Jesus taught several parables about the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 13).
• "Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables; without a parable he told them nothing." (Matthew 13:34).
• Jesus fulfilled Psalm 78:2 (Matthew 13:35).
• Jesus speaks in parables - as God speaks in parables (Matthew 13:35).
• Jesus proclaimed what had been hidden since the foundation of the world (Matthew 13:35).
• After teaching how the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed and yeast, Jesus left the crowd and went into a house (Matthew 13:36).
• In private the disciples asked him to explain the parables (Matthew 13:36).
• Jesus says that the "Son of Man" is the one who sows good seed/children of the kingdom in the world (Matthew 13:37-38).
• Jesus recognizes that the Son of Man has authority to command the angels (Matthew 13:41).
• Jesus speaks of the value of the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 13:44-50).
• Jesus speaks of causes of sin, evildoers, and evil being separated away from the righteous and the then being thrown into the "furnace of fire" (Matthew 13:41, 43, 49-50).
• Jesus checked the understanding of his disciples/his listeners (Matthew 13:54).
• Jesus treated his disciples as scribes (Matthew 13:52).
• Jesus taught in parables (Matthew 13:53).
• When Jesus completed his work in a place he left it (Matthew 13:53).
• Jesus traveled to his hometown (Matthew 13:54).
• Jesus taught the people in the synagogue of his hometown (Matthew 13:54).
• Those in his hometown who heard Jesus recognized that he had wisdom (Matthew 13:54).
• Those who heard Jesus teach in his hometown, recognized his deeds of power (Matthew 13:54).
• Jesus' human father was a carpenter (Matthew 13:55).
• Jesus' mother was Mary (Matthew 13:55).
• James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas were Jesus' human brothers (Matthew 13:55).
• Jesus had human sisters (Matthew 13:56).
• The people in Jesus' hometown wondered where he had gained all of his wisdom and power (Matthew 13:54, 56).
• Jesus giftedness offended the people in his hometown (Matthew 13:57).
• Jesus recognized himself as a prophet (Matthew 13:57).
• Jesus recognized that prophets do not receive honor in their own country or home (Matthew 13:57).
• Jesus felt unhonored in his hometown and with his family (Matthew 13:57).
• Because of people's unbelief, Jesus did not do many "deeds of power" (Matthew 13:58-59).
• Jesus did not do many deeds of power in his hometown, because of the people's lack of belief (Matthew 13:58-59).

Additional Thought:

I recognize that I've barely touched answering the question "who is Jesus?" according to this the 13th chapter of Matthew.

Prayer:  Jesus, I want to be a part of your kingdom and I want to help your kingdom to grow.  Teach me how to do so. Amen.

This blog entry is one of a series of entries in my quest to go chapter-by-chapter through the New Testament answering the question "Who is Jesus?"