An excerpt from Ambushed on the Road to Glory
by Thomas O. Buford

The disciples. Early in his ministry Jesus taught in his home area of Galilee. During that time he announced the kingdom of God--its presence, its imminence, and its nature. He did this primarily through terse, short parables. After spending the day teaching, he went into a house where his disciples insisted that he explain a parable he had told earlier. Matthew records that he also told them then three other parables, two of which were the treasure and pearl parables. Who were the disciples and what about their thinking was Jesus responding to through these parables?

Jesus’ disciples were drawn from many walks of life. Peter, James, John, and Andrew were all probably unlearned, but earnest, fishermen. Little is known about Philip, Bartholomew, and Thomas, but Matthew was a publican. About the work of James, Judas, and Judas Iscariot we know nothing. Simon the Zealot may have been a Pharisee, and if so he was associated with those “dissatisfied Pharisees who formed a party of their own on the basis of combining politics with religion.” As the left wing of the Pharisaic party, they “had an invincible love of liberty and ‘acknowledged no leader or master but God.’” Even though a Zealot, if Simon were a Pharisee he was from the upper classes in Israel. But Matthew was from the outcasts. Publicans were at the top of the list of outcasts in Jewish society, above Jewish slaves, Israelites with slight blemishes, Israelites with grave blemishes, gentile slaves, and Samaritans. Of all the despised trades, that of publican carried the greatest social stigma. They were hated and despised by the people and were “officially deprived of rights and ostracized.” In between the extremes of Simon and Matthew were the other disciples. They were Israelites with full rights but were simple, working people.

When Jesus spoke to these men about the kingdom of God what were they likely to be expecting? Except for Simon, whose background in the law and in the teachings about the kingdom of God made him somewhat more sophisticated, the others probably were influenced by the general feeling of the day that hopes for a nation independent of foreign control had vanished. Yet there was fervent belief that God would fulfill His promises and send a Messiah to liberate his people and set up God’s kingdom. This Messiah would be heralded by wars, famines, and all kinds of calamities. Elijah would be sent to restore order on earth; he would prepare the way for the Messiah. When the Messiah came he would conquer the wicked oppressors and establish the messianic kingdom. After purging it of idolatry and renewing it, the Messiah would be enthroned. The chosen people would then come together and live in peace, prosperity, and eternal bliss. Some thought this reign would last forever, while others believed the Messiah would reign for a thousand years, the dead would rise, judgment would occur, and the remnant ones would enter God’s kingdom and live forever. The wicked would be cast into Gehenna forever. It is not at all likely that each one of the disciples, except for Simon, could have recounted the details of this view of the kingdom. Yet it was what they had no doubt heard, and they could recount the major details of it. As a Zealot Simon probably saw the Messiah as a kind of glorified Judas Maccabaeus, a military leader of the Jews who lost his life fighting the Syrians in 161 B.C. Jesus was talking to these men in the house that day and to whom he told the three parables of the kingdom.

Thomas Buford is the author of "Ambushed on the Road to Glory." To order, go to the online bookpage or call 1-800-747-3016.

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