Fresh Look at Matthew: End of Matthew 13

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Matthew 13 ends with three parables and a rejection notice.  There may be a deeper meaning to the parables of the field and pearl, but they seem straightforward.  The kingdom of heaven is worth more than any human or natural object and people should and will give all for it.  The dragnet is somewhat like the wheat and tares; the kingdom of heaven is not just the church, so the idea of there being bad “ones” in it is enigmatic.  Perhaps some will claim to be part of the kingdom but really aren’t.  They are false claimants.
The people of Nazareth may have suffered from corporate low self-esteem and didn’t want one of their own to get above his raising, but in this case their social blinders, like the Pharisees’ religious pride blinders, kept them from belief.  What are our blinders, the filters, that keep us from seeing Jesus and the kingdom?
Thought on prayer for the morning.  We pray for God to change people’s hearts when it is mostly our own that should be.  We may be praying for others to change so our own lives will be easier rather than for that person’s temporal and eternal good. 

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