🌱 Mifano ya Biblia — Sehemu ya 8: Mifano ya Ufalme🌱 Parables of the Bible — Unit 8: The Kingdom Parables

UtanguliziOrientation

Katika Sehemu ya 7 tulijifunza mfano wa mpanzi, mfano unaotufundisha jinsi ya kuisikia mingine yote. Mathayo 13 unauweka mfano wa mpanzi kwanza katika mkusanyiko wa mifano saba juu ya ufalme wa mbinguni, kisha unaongeza mingine sita: ngano na magugu, punje ya haradali, chachu, hazina iliyositirika, lulu ya thamani kubwa, na juya. Mathayo anaipanga kwa uangalifu. Sura hii inakuja mara baada ya viongozi wa dini kumshtaki Yesu kwamba anatoa pepo kwa Beelzebuli (Mathayo 12:24), na tangu hapo Yesu anaanza kuifundisha makutano kwa mifano.In Unit 7 we studied the parable of the sower, the parable that teaches us how to hear all the others. Matthew 13 places the sower first in a collection of seven parables about the kingdom of heaven, and then adds six more: the wheat and the tares, the mustard seed, the leaven, the hidden treasure, the pearl of great price, and the dragnet. Matthew arranges them carefully. The chapter comes right after the religious leaders accused Jesus of casting out demons by Beelzebub (Matthew 12:24), and from this point Jesus begins teaching the crowds in parables.

Mifano hii inajibu maswali ambayo bila shaka wafuasi wa Yesu walikuwa wakiuliza. Ikiwa ufalme wa Mungu umekuja kweli, kwa nini uovu bado unakua kando ya wema? Kwa nini ufalme unaonekana mdogo hivi? Na je, unastahili gharama ya kumfuata Yesu? Majibu ni rahisi na yenye kina: ufalme unakua ukiwa umechanganyika na uovu mpaka wakati wa mavuno; unaanza ukiwa mdogo lakini unakuwa mkubwa; nao unastahili kila kitu tulicho nacho.These parables answer questions Jesus' followers were surely asking. If the kingdom of God has really come, why is evil still growing alongside good? Why does the kingdom look so small? And is it worth the cost of following Jesus? The answers are simple and profound: the kingdom grows mixed with evil until the harvest; it begins small but becomes great; and it is worth everything we have.

I. Ngano na Magugu: Kukua Pamoja Hata Wakati wa Mavuno (Mathayo 13:24–30, 36–43)I. The Wheat and the Tares: Growing Together Until the Harvest (Matthew 13:24–30, 36–43)

Mkulima alipanda mbegu njema katika shamba lake, "lakini watu walipolala, adui yake alikuja, akapanda magugu katikati ya ngano, akaenda zake" (13:25). Magugu hayo huenda yalikuwa yale yanayoitwa kwa Kiingereza "bearded darnel", gugu linalofanana karibu kabisa na ngano mpaka masuke yanapotokea. Watumishi walipoyagundua, waliuliza kama wayang'oe. "Hasha," bwana alisema, "msije mkakusanya magugu, na kuzing'oa ngano pamoja nayo. Viacheni vyote vikue pamoja hata wakati wa mavuno" (13:29–30). Wakati wa mavuno magugu yale yangetengwa na kuchomwa moto.A farmer sowed good seed in his field, "but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way" (13:25). The tare was probably bearded darnel, a weed that looks almost exactly like wheat until the heads form. When the servants discovered it, they asked whether they should pull it up. "No," the master said, "lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest" (13:29–30). At harvest time the darnel would be separated and burned.

Yesu anaeleza kwamba Yeye ndiye mpanzi, "lile shamba ni ulimwengu; zile mbegu njema ndio wana wa ufalme; na yale magugu ndio wana wa yule mwovu," adui ni Ibilisi, na mavuno ni mwisho wa dunia (13:37–39). Uovu haujaondolewa katika mji hata mmoja, wala hata katika nyumba moja duniani. Hata miongoni mwa wale kumi na wawili wa Yesu, mmoja alimkana na mwingine akamsaliti.Jesus explains that He is the sower, "the field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one," the enemy is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age (13:37–39). Evil has not been driven out of one town or even one home on earth. Even among Jesus' twelve, one denied Him and another betrayed Him.

Wanafunzi makini wanapaswa kuona swali moja la tafsiri. Yesu anasema shamba ni ulimwengu, si kanisa, na mfano huu unafundisha kwamba Mungu hatawatenga wenye haki na waovu katika nyakati hizi. Katika historia ya kanisa mfano huu wakati mwingine ulitumiwa kudai kwamba kanisa halipaswi kamwe kuwaadibisha washiriki wake. Wafasiri wengi hujibu kwamba vifungu vingine vinaagiza wazi nidhamu ya kanisa (Mathayo 18:15–17; 1 Wakorintho 5), kwa hiyo mfano huu si marufuku ya kurekebisha. Ni onyo dhidi ya kujaribu kufanya kile ambacho Mungu peke yake anaweza kufanya: kuhukumu mioyo na kufanya utengano wa mwisho. Gugu linaweza kutambuliwa tu na yule anayetazama ndani. Nilipokuwa mvulana nikipalilia mahindi, wakati mwingine nilikuta gugu likimea kando kabisa ya bua la mhindi. Nikijaribu kulikata gugu, mara ngapi nilikata mhindi pia!Careful students should notice an interpretive question. Jesus says the field is the world, not the church, and the parable teaches that God will not separate the righteous from the wicked in this age. In church history the parable was sometimes used to argue that the church should never discipline its members. Most interpreters answer that other passages clearly call for church discipline (Matthew 18:15–17; 1 Corinthians 5), so this parable is not a ban on correction. It is a warning against trying to do what only God can do: to judge hearts and make the final separation. A tare can only be recognized by one who looks on the inside. When I was a boy hoeing corn, I would sometimes find a weed growing right next to a stalk. Trying to cut the weed, how many times I cut the corn too!

Magugu hayakui ulimwenguni tu bali pia ndani ya kanisa na ndani ya kila moyo. Mwanamke mmoja katika kipindi cha mazungumzo cha televisheni aliwahi kueleza kwamba alikuwa na uhusiano wa muda mrefu wa siri na mwanamume aliyeoa. Mtu alipoliibua swali la maadili, alipinga, "Mimi ni Mkristo, lakini maisha yangu binafsi na dini yangu havihusiani hata kidogo. Mungu anataka niwe na furaha." Magugu yanaweza kusema lugha ya ngano. Hata hivyo kinyume chake pia ni kweli. Yesu alipokutana na mwanamke kisimani huko Samaria, maisha yaliyoonekana kuharibika bila tumaini, aliona kitu kikimea ndani yake: kiu ya maji yaliyo hai, kama bua dogo la ngano likipigania uhai katikati ya magugu (Yohana 4). Ni Mungu peke yake anayeuona moyo waziwazi. Nilikuwa nikidhani ninaweza kumtofautisha mtu mwaminifu na mtu asiye mwaminifu, lakini baada ya miaka mingi ya kuwakopesha wageni kiasi kidogo cha fedha na karibu kamwe kutolipwa, nimejifunza kwamba uamuzi wangu si sahihi kama nilivyodhani. Ibilisi anaweza kuyafanya magugu yake yafanane sana na ngano hata wakati mwingine yaonekane bora kuliko ngano. Ila hayatengenezi mkate mzuri sana.The weeds grow not only in the world but inside the church and inside each heart. A woman on a television talk show once explained that she had carried on a long affair with a married man. When someone raised the question of morality, she protested, "I am a Christian, but my personal life and my religion don't have anything to do with one another. God wants me to be happy." Tares can speak the language of wheat. And yet the opposite is also true. When Jesus met the woman at the well in Samaria, a seemingly hopeless wreck of a life, He saw something growing in her: a longing for living water, like a little stalk of wheat struggling for life among the weeds (John 4). Only God sees the heart clearly. I used to think I could tell an honest man from a dishonest one, but after years of lending small sums to strangers and almost never being repaid, I have learned that my judgment is not as accurate as I thought. The Devil can make his tares look so much like wheat that they sometimes look better than the wheat. They just do not make very good bread.

Mfano huu pia una onyo zito. Magugu yanaweza kuhudhuria kanisani, kufundisha, na kuomba hadharani. Lakini mavuno yatayafunua. "Si kila mtu aniambiaye, Bwana, Bwana, atakayeingia katika ufalme wa mbinguni; bali ni yeye afanyaye mapenzi ya Baba yangu aliye mbinguni" (Mathayo 7:21). Noti bandia inaweza kupita kutoka mkono hadi mkono na kununua vitu vingi, lakini inapofika benki, inafichuliwa na kuondolewa katika mzunguko. Kuna hekaya ya zamani ya mtu mmoja katika China ya kale aliyepata nafasi katika bendi ya mfalme kwa kujifanya anapiga filimbi. Mfalme alipotangaza kwamba kila mwanamuziki angepiga peke yake, mtu yule hakuweza kukabili hali hiyo. Kujifanya kunaweza kudumu muda mrefu, lakini hakutadumu milele.The parable also carries a solemn warning. Tares may attend church, teach, and pray in public. But the harvest will reveal them. "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven" (Matthew 7:21). A counterfeit bill may pass from hand to hand and buy many things, but when it reaches the bank, it is exposed and taken out of circulation. There is an old legend of a man in ancient China who got a place in the emperor's orchestra by pretending to play the flute. When the emperor announced that every musician would play a solo, the man could not face the music. Pretending may last a long time, but it will not last forever.

Kwa hiyo swali ni la binafsi: je, mimi ni ngano? Jibu halipatikani kwa kujilinganisha na wengine bali kwa kumgeukia Kristo: "Kila atakayeliitia jina la Bwana ataokoka" (Warumi 10:13). Kumbuka pia kwamba lolote tunalopanda, tutalivuna. Gazeti moja la Jeshi la Wokovu (Salvation Army) liliwahi kusimulia habari ya mkulima mpangaji mwenye uchungu aliyegundua kwamba alikuwa akipoteza mkataba wake wa kukodi shamba. Kwa hasira, alitawanya mbegu za magugu mabaya kabisa aliyoweza kupata katika mashamba yote yaliyokuwa safi. Asubuhi iliyofuata mwenye shamba alimwambia kwamba mipango ilikuwa imebadilika na angeweza kufanya upya mkataba wake hata hivyo. "Ee Bwana," alilia, "nimekuwa mpumbavu kiasi gani!" Angetumia miaka mingi kung'oa magugu aliyoyapanda mwenyewe.So the question is personal: am I wheat? The answer is not found by comparing ourselves with others but by turning to Christ: "Whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved" (Romans 10:13). Remember too that whatever we sow, we will reap. A Salvation Army paper once told of a bitter tenant farmer who learned he was losing his lease. In anger, he scattered the seeds of the worst weeds he could find all over the clean fields. The next morning the owner told him the plans had changed and he could renew his lease after all. "Oh, Lord," he cried, "what a fool I've been!" He would spend years pulling up the weeds he had sown himself.

II. Punje ya Haradali: Mwanzo Mdogo (Mathayo 13:31–32)II. The Mustard Seed: Small Beginnings (Matthew 13:31–32)

"Ufalme wa mbinguni umefanana na punje ya haradali, aliyoitwaa mtu akaipanda katika shamba lake; nayo ni ndogo kuliko mbegu zote; lakini ikiisha kukua, ni kubwa kuliko mboga zote, huwa mti, hata ndege wa angani huja na kukaa katika matawi yake" (13:31–32). Mboga za majani ya haradali ni chakula kipendwa sana huko Louisiana, lakini aina iliyokuzwa Galilaya, haradali nyeusi, ingeweza kukua kuliko kimo cha mtu katika msimu mmoja, kutoka kwa mbegu ndogo sana hata ikawa methali. Yesu hakuwa akitoa somo la sayansi ya mimea juu ya mbegu ndogo kuliko zote duniani; alitumia mbegu ambayo wasikilizaji wake waliijua kimethali kuwa ndogo kuliko zote."The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches" (13:31–32). Mustard greens are a favorite dish in Louisiana, but the kind grown in Galilee, black mustard, could grow taller than a man in a single season, from a seed so small it was proverbial. Jesus was not giving a botany lesson on the smallest seed in the world; He used the proverbial smallest seed His hearers knew.

Picha ya mti mkubwa wenye ndege wanaojenga viota katika matawi yake inatoka katika Agano la Kale, ambako inaonyesha ufalme mkubwa unaoyahifadhi mataifa (Ezekieli 17:23; 31:6; Danieli 4:12). Ufalme wa Yesu ulianza na seremala kutoka Nazareti na watu kumi na wawili wa kawaida. Leo umeenea katika kila bara. Wafasiri wengi huusoma mfano huu kama ahadi ya ukuaji wa kushangaza. Wengine, hasa katika mafundisho ya zamani ya kidispensesheni, huwaona ndege kama waovu na ukuaji usio wa kawaida kama uharibifu wa kanisa. Muktadha mpana wa mifano ya ukuaji yenye tumaini unaunga mkono usomaji chanya, lakini wanafunzi wanapaswa kuyajua maoni yote mawili.The image of a great tree with birds nesting in its branches comes from the Old Testament, where it pictures a great kingdom sheltering the nations (Ezekiel 17:23; 31:6; Daniel 4:12). Jesus' kingdom began with a carpenter from Nazareth and twelve ordinary men. Today it has spread to every continent. Most interpreters read the parable as a promise of astonishing growth. Some, especially in older dispensational teaching, read the birds as evil and the unusual growth as the corruption of the church. The larger context of hopeful growth parables supports the positive reading, but students should know both views.

Yesu aliitumia punje ya haradali mara ya pili kuzungumzia imani: "Kama mkiwa na imani kiasi cha punje ya haradali... wala hakuna neno lisilowezekana kwenu" (Mathayo 17:20). Kama mwanafunzi wangu wa seminari alivyotuambia katika Sehemu ya 7, "Nilianza tu na imani kiasi cha punje ya haradali, lakini ilikua." Mungu hatudai imani kubwa ili tuanze. Anadai imani ya kweli, iliyopandwa katika udongo mzuri, naye ndiye anayekuza.Jesus used the mustard seed a second time to speak of faith: "if you have faith as a mustard seed... nothing will be impossible for you" (Matthew 17:20). As my seminary student told us in Unit 7, "I only began with a mustard seed of faith, but it grew." God does not require great faith to begin. He requires real faith, planted in good soil, and He gives the growth.

III. Chachu: Nguvu Iliyofichika (Mathayo 13:33)III. The Leaven: Hidden Power (Matthew 13:33)

"Ufalme wa mbinguni umefanana na chachu, aliyoitwaa mwanamke akaisitiri ndani ya pishi tatu za unga, hata ukachacha wote" (13:33). Chachu aliyoieleza Yesu haikuwa hamira ya pakiti bali kipande cha unga uliokandwa na kuchachuka kilichohifadhiwa kutoka kuoka kwa mara iliyopita, kama vile wapishi wengi bado wanavyohifadhi kianzio cha mkate wa chachu. Pishi tatu za unga zilikuwa kiasi kikubwa mno, takriban pauni hamsini (karibu kilo 22) za unga, za kutosha kutengeneza mkate kwa watu mia moja au zaidi. Ni kiasi kile kile alichooka Sara Bwana alipomtembelea Ibrahimu (Mwanzo 18:6). Kipande kidogo cha chachu, kikichanganywa katika donge lile kubwa la unga, kilienea kimya kimya mpaka kila sehemu yake ikaumuka."The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened" (13:33). The leaven Jesus described was not packaged yeast but a piece of fermented dough saved from the last baking, the way many cooks still keep a sourdough starter. Three measures of meal was an enormous amount, roughly fifty pounds of flour, enough to make bread for a hundred people or more. It is the same amount Sarah baked when the Lord visited Abraham (Genesis 18:6). A small piece of leaven, worked into that great mass of dough, quietly spread until every part of it rose.

Mahali pengine katika Maandiko chachu kwa kawaida huonyesha dhambi au uharibifu: "Jihadharini na chachu ya Mafarisayo" (Mathayo 16:6), na "chachu kidogo huchachua donge zima" (1 Wakorintho 5:6). Kwa hiyo wafasiri wachache huusoma mfano huu kama onyo kwamba mafundisho ya uongo yangeenea katika kanisa. Hata hivyo, wafasiri wengi wanaona kwamba Yesu anasema waziwazi kuwa ufalme wa mbinguni umefanana na chachu, na kwamba mfano huu umeunganishwa na punje ya haradali, picha ya ukuaji. Wanahitimisha kwamba Yesu kwa makusudi alitumia picha ya kushtukiza kufundisha kwamba ufalme hufanya kazi kimya kimya, kutoka ndani kwenda nje, mpaka unabadilisha kila kitu unachokigusa. Punje ya haradali inaonyesha ukuaji wa ufalme wa nje; chachu inaonyesha nguvu yake ya ndani. Kwa kawaida Injili haibadilishi jamii kwa nguvu kutoka nje. Inawabadilisha watu kutoka ndani, moyo mmoja baada ya mwingine, mpaka familia nzima, miji, na tamaduni zinakuwa tofauti.Leaven usually pictures sin or corruption elsewhere in Scripture: "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees" (Matthew 16:6), and "a little leaven leavens the whole lump" (1 Corinthians 5:6). A few interpreters therefore read this parable as a warning that false teaching would spread through the church. Most interpreters, however, note that Jesus explicitly says the kingdom of heaven is like the leaven, and that the parable is paired with the mustard seed, a picture of growth. They conclude that Jesus deliberately used a surprising image to teach that the kingdom works quietly, from the inside out, until it transforms everything it touches. The mustard seed shows the kingdom's outward growth; the leaven shows its inward power. The gospel does not usually change a society by force from the outside. It changes people from within, one heart at a time, until whole families, towns, and cultures are different.

IV. Hazina Iliyositirika na Lulu: Vinastahili Kila Kitu (Mathayo 13:44–46)IV. The Hidden Treasure and the Pearl: Worth Everything (Matthew 13:44–46)

Mtu mmoja aliona hazina iliyositirika katika shamba, "na kwa furaha yake akaenda akauza vitu vyote alivyo navyo, akalinunua shamba lile" (13:44). Mfanyabiashara aliyekuwa akitafuta lulu nzuri aliona "lulu moja ya thamani kubwa," naye "alikwenda akauza vitu vyote alivyokuwa navyo, akainunua" (13:46). Katika nchi iliyopitiwa mara nyingi na majeshi, watu kweli walizika vitu vyao vya thamani, na wakati mwingine hawakurudi kamwe. Mtu mmoja anaukuta ufalme kwa ghafla; mwingine anaupata baada ya kutafuta kwa muda mrefu. Wote wawili wanaitikia kwa njia ile ile: wanaacha kila kitu, nao wanafanya hivyo kwa furaha.A man found treasure hidden in a field, "and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field" (13:44). A merchant searching for fine pearls found "one pearl of great price" and "went and sold all that he had and bought it" (13:46). In a land often crossed by armies, people really did bury their valuables, and sometimes they never returned. One man stumbles on the kingdom by surprise; the other finds it after a long search. Both respond the same way: they give up everything, and they do it with joy.

Mifano hii ni kinyume cha ardhi yenye miiba na cha yule kijana tajiri, mtawala. Kijana yule mtawala hakutaka kuuza alivyokuwa navyo, akaondoka kwa huzuni. Mtu yule wa shambani aliuza kila kitu akaondoka kwa furaha. Yule mwanamke kijana wa Afrika Magharibi aliyeuza maisha yake kwa sarafu moja ili aiweke miguuni pa Yesu aliielewa lulu ya thamani kubwa. Ufalme unagharimu kila kitu, nao unastahili zaidi sana kuliko gharama yake.These parables are the opposite of the thorny ground and the rich young ruler. The young ruler would not sell what he had, and he went away sad. The man in the field sold everything and went away glad. The young woman in West Africa who sold her life for a single coin to lay at Jesus' feet understood the pearl of great price. The kingdom costs everything, and it is worth far more than it costs.

Wasomaji wengine huuliza kama mtu yule wa shambani alitenda kwa uaminifu kwa kununua ardhi bila kumwambia mwenyewe habari za hazina. Sheria ya Kiyahudi ya wakati ule ilikuwa na kanuni kuhusu mali iliyookotwa, na wafasiri huzijadili, lakini mfano huu haufundishi maadili ya biashara ya ardhi. Unatumia hali ya kila siku ili kutoa hoja moja: unapogundua kitu chenye thamani isiyo na kikomo, unaacha kwa furaha kila kitu kingine ili ukipate. Kundi lingine la wafasiri humwona yule mfanyabiashara wa lulu kuwa Kristo Mwenyewe, aliyeacha kila kitu ili alinunue kanisa lake. Usomaji huo unafundisha fundisho la kweli, lakini wafasiri wengi wanaamini kwamba ulinganifu na hazina ya shambani unamwelekea mtu yule anayeupata ufalme. Mmisionari Jim Elliot, aliyeuawa mwaka 1956 alipokuwa akijaribu kuwafikia watu wa Waorani huko Ekuado, alikuwa ameandika miaka kadhaa kabla katika shajara yake: "Si mpumbavu yule anayetoa kile asichoweza kukishika ili apate kile asichoweza kukipoteza." Aliielewa lulu ya thamani kubwa.Some readers ask whether the man in the field acted honestly by buying the land without telling the owner about the treasure. Jewish law of the time had rules about found property, and interpreters discuss them, but the parable is not teaching real estate ethics. It uses an everyday situation to make one point: when you discover something of infinite worth, you gladly give up everything else to have it. Another group of interpreters reads the pearl merchant as Christ Himself, who gave up everything to purchase His church. That reading teaches a true doctrine, but most interpreters believe the parallel with the treasure in the field points to the person who finds the kingdom. The missionary Jim Elliot, who was killed in 1956 while trying to reach the Waorani people of Ecuador, had written years earlier in his journal: "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." He understood the pearl of great price.

V. Juya na Mwenye Nyumba (Mathayo 13:47–52)V. The Dragnet and the Householder (Matthew 13:47–52)

Mkusanyiko huu unafungwa kwa mfano unaotoka katika Bahari ya Galilaya yenyewe. "Ufalme wa mbinguni umefanana na juya, lililotupwa baharini, likakusanya samaki wa kila namna; hata lilipojaa, wakalivuta pwani; wakaketi, wakawakusanya walio wazuri vyomboni, bali walio wabaya wakawatupa nje" (13:47–48). Juya lilikuwa wavu mrefu wenye vitu vizito chini, uliovutwa kati ya mashua mbili au kukokotwa hadi ufuoni, ukinasa kila kitu kilichokuwa njiani mwake. Ni ufuoni tu ndipo samaki walipochambuliwa. Yesu anaeleza kwamba uchambuzi huo unaonyesha mwisho wa dunia, malaika watakapowatenga waovu na wenye haki (13:49–50). Kama ngano na magugu, juya linafundisha kwamba utengano wa mwisho ni wa Mungu na unakuja mwishoni. Kazi yetu ni kulitupa juya kwa upana.The collection closes with a parable from the Sea of Galilee itself. "The kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away" (13:47–48). A dragnet was a long net weighted at the bottom and pulled between two boats or dragged to shore, catching everything in its path. Only on the beach were the fish sorted. Jesus explains that the sorting pictures the end of the age, when the angels will separate the wicked from the just (13:49–50). Like the wheat and the tares, the dragnet teaches that the final separation belongs to God and comes at the end. Our task is to cast the net wide.

Kisha Yesu aliwauliza wanafunzi wake, "Je! Mmeyafahamu hayo yote?" Wakamwambia, "Ndiyo, Bwana." Akawaambia, "Kwa sababu hiyo, kila mwandishi aliyefundishwa elimu ya ufalme wa mbinguni amefanana na mtu mwenye nyumba, atoaye katika hazina yake vitu vipya na vya kale" (13:51–52). Mfano huu mdogo wa mwisho ni neno kwa kila mhubiri na mwalimu. Yule anayeuelewa ufalme ana ghala. Hutoa hazina za kale za Torati na Manabii na hazina mpya za mafundisho ya Kristo, naye huzitoa pamoja. Mchungaji mwaminifu hatupi vya kale kwa ajili ya mambo mapya, wala hakatai nuru mpya anayoileta Kristo. Hutoa vyote viwili.Then Jesus asked His disciples, "Have you understood all these things?" They said, "Yes, Lord." And He said, "Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old" (13:51–52). This last little parable is a word for every preacher and teacher. The one who understands the kingdom has a storehouse. He brings out the old treasures of the Law and the Prophets and the new treasures of Christ's teaching, and he serves them together. A faithful pastor does not throw away the old for the sake of novelty, nor refuse the new light Christ brings. He brings out both.

VI. Kuhubiri Mifano ya UfalmeVI. Preaching the Kingdom Parables

Ngano na magugu vinaweza kuhubiriwa kwa hatua: kupanda, kukua pamoja, na mavuno, Mungu atakapotenganisha. Hitimisha kwa swali la binafsi, "Je, mimi ni ngano?" na mwaliko wa Warumi 10:13. Punje ya haradali na chachu vinakwenda pamoja kama hubiri la kutia moyo kwa makanisa madogo na waamini waliokata tamaa: ukuaji wa nje wa ufalme na nguvu yake ya ndani. Hazina na lulu vinaita kujitoa kikamilifu kwa furaha, navyo vinahubirika vizuri kando ya yule kijana tajiri, mtawala, ambaye hakutaka kuuza alivyokuwa navyo. Juya linaweza kufunga mfululizo wa mahubiri kwa uhakika wa hukumu ya mwisho na uharaka wa kulitupa juya. Na mwenye nyumba anamkumbusha mhubiri kutoa hazina mpya na za kale. Kwa ujumla, Mathayo 13 unasimulia hadithi nzima ya ufalme: unakua ukiwa umechanganyika na uovu, unaanza mdogo na kuwa mkubwa, unafanya kazi kutoka ndani kwenda nje, unastahili kila kitu, na unaishia katika mavuno.The wheat and the tares can be preached in movements: the sowing, the growing together, and the harvest, when God will separate. Close with the personal question, "Am I wheat?" and the invitation of Romans 10:13. The mustard seed and the leaven belong together as a sermon of encouragement for small churches and discouraged believers: the kingdom's outward growth and its inward power. The treasure and the pearl call for total commitment with joy, and they preach well beside the rich young ruler, who would not sell what he had. The dragnet can close a series with the certainty of the final judgment and the urgency of casting the net. And the householder reminds the preacher to bring out treasures both new and old. Taken together, Matthew 13 tells the whole story of the kingdom: it grows mixed with evil, starts small and becomes great, works from the inside out, is worth everything, and ends in a harvest.

HitimishoClosing

Mbegu ndogo sana inakuwa mti mkubwa. Chachu kidogo inaumua mlima wa unga. Hazina iliyositirika katika shamba inastahili kila kitu ambacho mtu anamiliki. Huo ndio ufalme wa mbinguni. Hauonekani wa kuvutia mwanzoni, nao unakua kando ya magugu ambayo wakati mwingine yanaonekana bora kuliko ngano. Lakini mavuno yanakuja, na siku ile kila kitu bandia kitafichuliwa na kila mbegu aminifu itazaa matunda yake kamili. Swali pekee lenye maana ni kama tumeipata hazina, na kama, kwa furaha, tumetoa kila kitu ili tuipate.A tiny seed becomes a great tree. A pinch of leaven raises a mountain of dough. A treasure hidden in a field is worth everything a man owns. That is the kingdom of heaven. It does not look impressive at first, and it grows alongside weeds that sometimes look better than the wheat. But the harvest is coming, and on that day every counterfeit will be exposed and every faithful seed will bear its full fruit. The only question that matters is whether we have found the treasure, and whether, with joy, we have given everything to have it.

— Dkt. Wayne Cook
Seminari ya Teolojia ya Chapala— Dr. Wayne Cook
Chapala Theological Seminary

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