Jesus Burning part 2

We come to Matthew 13, where Jesus is speaking to his discples in parables and explaining what they mean.  Jesus tells a parable about a field that was sown with wheat but grew some weeds along with the wheat. At the time of the harvest, the weeds are pulled and tied into bundles to be burned. He explains this in verses 40-42.  "As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The son of man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

In verses 47-50, Jesus tells his disciples "The kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into a lake and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets but threw the bad away. This is how it will be in the end of the age. the angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

 These two parables seem pretty clear. The first part is the metaphor told in a parable, the second is the reality behind the metaphor. In both parables, the angels are throwing bad people into a fiery furnace. After the weed parable, Jesus himself sends out the angels. It's kind of amusing that my study bible says these parables show it's not the job of the servants of the kingdom to do the separating of good from bad, it's the owner's job. In other words, Jesus gets to decide who burns, not people.These parables are not found in the other gospels.

In Matthew 18, we find the parable of the unmerciful servant. A servant was forgiven of his debt to the master but did not extend forgiveness to his fellow servant. Jesus ends the story by saying, "In his anger his master turned him over to be tortured until he should pay back all he owed. This is how my heavenly father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from the heart." The penalty for not forgiving a debt is torture. This parable is not found elsewhere.

In Matthew 22, Jesus tells the parable of the wedding banquet. The people who were originally invited to the banquet refused to come and killed the king's servants. The king destroyed them then had his servants invite people from the streets, good and bad. When the king came in to the banquet, he saw someone who was not wearing wedding clothes, so he had him bound and thrown out "into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." A pattern is developing. (This parable is also found in Luke 14, in a different setting and without casting anyone into outer darkness.)

In Matthew 24, Jesus tells an end times parable about a servant who abused the other servants while the master was away. He ends the parable by saying, " The master of the servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Hmm. This parable is not found elsewhere. (Correction: this parable is also found in Luke 12:42-48)

More to come.