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Matthew 13:38 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
Jesus calls says that "the good seed" are "the sons of the kingdom." But does this not contradict what He said in the first parable—that the seed was the Word of God or the knowledge of God? No, because the word "seed" has been modified in both of these occasions. What is a seed? An apple tree produces apples, and in the middle of an apple is a bunch of little seeds. What does the seed do? The seed is the means by which an apple tree reproduces itself, and by it the tree expands its domain, as it were. We have to substitute kingdom for apple tree to understand the analogy here. In the parables, Jesus gives the disciples the symbols' narrow meanings. He says, "The seed is the word" and later it is "the sons of the kingdom." This is not a contradiction, for the overall meaning is the same. The seed is the product of the plant, and the seed is also the means by which the plant is reproduced. Now with this meaning, the meaning of seed fits both the word of God and the sons of God; both the word and the sons are means by which the Kingdom grows, expands, and reproduces. In this particular parable, the good seed represents the members of God's church, and the members of God's church are the means by which the Kingdom will grow throughout the whole earth. Christians are just the kernels, the beginnings, the "itty bits" that God starts with.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Parables of Matthew 13 (Part 1): The Mustard Seed
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