Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
43. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun ] Cp. Dan 12:3, “Then they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Mat 13:43
Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun
The glory of the righteous
I.
Its present concealment. The whole structure of the parable implies that the beauty of the righteous man is hidden in the present; tares and wheat scarcely distinguished. The glory has begun in men here, though veiled. The wheat had in it the germ of the golden grain. The sun shines forth from the clouds which had obscured his radiance. Reasons of this concealment:-
1. The first reason is the nature of the only true righteousness in man. Man becomes righteous by denying his own righteousness and accepting that of another; this why it is hidden now. Our faith is cradled in tears and made strong by storms.
2. We find a second reason for concealment in the discipline by which the righteous are perfected. Faith grows by trials, which conceal glory. The worlds eye sees little beauty in the crown of thorns.
II. Its future manifestation. The present concealment will pass away; the germ of faith will ripen unto eternal glory. By the silent growth of faith the image of the heavenly is being secretly formed within. Who can tell how the souls of the righteous will ripen in the sun-light of Christs smile,
III. Its mighty lessons. Who hath ears to hear let him hear. Hear it, slothful Christian. Hear it, earnest, struggling soul. Hear it, downcast spirit. Hear it, unbeliever. (E. L. Hull, B. A.)
Moral beauty manifested after death
Just as the flower bursts forth in beauty from its concealment in the seed, so shall it be with the righteous when the last temptation has been vanquished, and the body, so frail and weary, has been laid aside. We see it not in our dying friends. We see only the expiring animal nature. We see not how the Christlike grew within them during the hushed endurance of pain, and while their faith held on during that long horror of darkness. We see not this rising inner life. We see only their failing humanity. (E. L. Hull, B. A.)
The Divine tracery not seen at present
But we cannot see the glory which is behind. We cannot fully understand how the discipline of life is fitting the soul for the fruition of the future. At present we cannot read the Divine tracery inscribed by the hand of sorrow; it has all a heavenly compensation, infinitely greater than its present misery The veil is over us; we do not see what royal souls are being formed by it here. But in the end it shall be seen that all the feelings of pain and weakness, solitude and weariness, have a corresponding weight of joy. (E. L. Hull, B. A.)
These words describe the happiness of the righteous
I. In its elements. Like the sun-visible, pure, active, glorious.
II. In its platform. It is in the kingdom of their Father. This imports-
1. All the privileges and security of an organized society of the highest order.
2. For ever to dwell at home.
III. Its juncture. Then-day of judgment, when the righteous shall be publicly recognized as such.
IV. Its truth. On what do we ground these expectations? On the express declarations of God; the nature of the gospel, and the work of grace on the heart; and the witness of the Holy Spirit. Suggests-self-scrutiny and submission. (J. Hirst.)
I. The present concealment of the righteous. On account of-The nature of their excellence-not discerned or appreciated by the world; the sphere within which it is displayed-in the common walks of life; the imperfections, etc., with which it is often accompanied; the reserve by which it is sometimes hidden-unobtrusive, silent.
II. The future manifestation of the righteous. The time, place, splendour, duration. (Brooks.)
We hare here a description of the glorious state of believers, called the righteous
Believers have a twofold righteousness.
1. The righteousness of justification.
2. The righteousness of sanctification. What need shall the saints have to shine in Christs righteousness, when they shall be perfectly holy in themselves?
1. Because it was not their own inherent righteousness which was their title to heaven, but the righteousness of Christ alone; therefore they shall boast of and shine in the righteousness of Christ for ever.
2. Because their own inherent righteousness was imperfect and full of spots whilst they lived upon the earth, and it was made perfect only as an act of Christs purchase, or the fruits of His merits and obedience, to make them meet for that inheritance. The glory of believers is reserved to that time; now their life is a hidden life, and their glory is veiled (1Jn 3:1-3).
When the end of the world comes, or at the day of the resurrection, the saints shall shine forth gloriously.
1. Because being Gods jewels, they are then all made up, or completed every way, and shall shine before wicked men and devils, to the shame and confusion for ever of these wretches.
2. Moreover, as heirs, they then come to a perfect age, and to possess the purchased inheritance, to the praise of Gods glory and grace.
3. Then the marriage of the Lamb will be celebrated, and the bride be adorned in all her marriage robes and rich attire (Rev 19:7).
4. Because then the bodies and souls of all believers shall be reunited, both being made perfect: a curious piece of work, whether a jewel or clockwork, never appears so glorious until it is all joined together, and every way perfected. So the glory of the saints will then be every way full and perfect, both in respect of soul and body too.
5. Because Christ will then appear; and when He appears, we shall appear with Him in glory (Col 3:4; Joh 3:4).
6. Because then will be the time of the manifestation Of the sons of God (Rom 8:19). Then they shall be crowned with glory. That will be the saints coronation day.
7. Then will be the time of the saints reaping, as now is their time for sowing, and they that sow in tears shall reap in joy (Psa 126:5). Shine as the sun, etc. This denotes the greatness of the glory of the saints. The glory, excellence, and splendour of believers in that day will be amazing.
Consider:
1. The sun is the greatest glory of this world, or far excels in glory all other things. So the saints shall shine forth in the greatest glory, beyond the glory of Solomon, or all earthly potentates whatsoever.
2. When the sun shines forth in his full strength, all dark clouds and mists are vanquished and driven away. So when the saints shall shine in their greatest glory, all dark mists of ignorance, and clouds of sin and corruption, shall be expelled from them for ever. No more dark days or unbelief for ever.
3. The sun is a singular light, and shines with a singular glory. There are many stars, but one sun. So the glory of the saints shall be a singular glory. No glory like that glory, or to be compared to it.
4. The sun is a pure, bright, and spotless creature, far brighter than the moon or stars, so the glory of the saints wall be a pure, bright, and spotless glory, not like the glory of this world, nor like the glory which attends the saints while they are here in this mortal body.
5. The glory of the sun is an unchangeable glory; he alters not, changes not in his glory as the moon doth.
So the glory of the saints in that day will ever abide the same, and never change or be less, because they then shall arrive to a full perfection of glory; nay, it shall exceed that of the sun.
1. Because the sun sets, or goes out of our sight, but the saints sun shall never go down, their glory never sets (Isa 60:20).
2. The sun is sometimes clouded, its glory appears not, but the glory of the saints shall never be clouded any more as it was in this world.
3. The sun shall then be ashamed (Isa 24:23). That is, the glory of the saints shall so far excel the glory of the sun, that the sun shall, as it were, be ashamed (as such are said to be, when they are outshined), or outdone by others.
4. The sun is sometimes eclipsed by the gross body of the moon interposing betwixt us and it; but the glory of the saints shall by no dark body of sin, corruption, or of this world, be eclipsed any more for ever.
5. The sun is so glorious, that mortals cannot behold it, but their eyes will dazzle. So the glory of the saints will be too great for sinners to behold, it would even put out their eyes, or confound them. O happy believers! (B. Keach)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
43. Then shall the righteous shineforth as the sun in the kingdom of their Fatheras if they hadbeen under a cloud during the present association with ungodlypretenders to their character, and claimants of their privileges, andobstructors of their course.
Who hath ears to hear, lethim hear(See Mr 4:9).
Fifth and Sixth Parables orThird Pair: THEHIDDEN TREASUREand THE PEARLOF GREAT PRICE(Mt 13:44-46).
The subject of this last pair, asof the two former, is the same, but also under a slight diversity ofaspect: namely
THEPRICELESS VALUEOF THE BLESSINGS OF THEKINGDOM. And while the oneparable represents the Kingdom as “found without seeking,”the other holds forth the Kingdom as “sought and found.”
The Hidden Treasure (Mt13:44).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun,…. The time referred to is, when the tares shall be separated from the wheat: when they that offend and do iniquity, shall be gathered out of Christ’s kingdom; when the wicked shall be cast into hell: then the “righteous”, not who are so merely in their own apprehensions, and in the judgment of others; nor by their obedience, legal or evangelical; but who are made so, by the righteousness of Christ imputed to them: these, though they have been in this world loaded with reproaches, and attended with many afflictions and persecutions; and have been despised for their poverty and meanness, and want of outward glory, honour, riches, and prosperity; shall now “shine forth” in the robe of Christ’s righteousness, in perfect holiness of nature, in all felicity and prosperity of soul; and in the shining dazzling robes of glory, incorruption, and immortality, on their bodies; even
as the sun, having no spot in them, or upon them, and without any clouds of darkness: they will be as Christ himself, the sun of righteousness, with whom, and in whose glory they shall appear, both in soul and body,
in the kingdom of their father; meaning either the same with the kingdom of Christ, the Father’s and his, being one and the same; or as distinct from Christ’s, see Mt 13:41 the church, and the government of it in this world, in all ages of time, and especially in the latter day, and during the thousand years, Christ and his saints shall reign together, may be peculiarly called the kingdom of Christ; when it will be delivered to the Father, and God shall be all in all: so that the ultimate glory may, though not to the exclusion of the Son, be styled the kingdom of the Father; of God, who is the Father of Christ and of his people; and which is observed, to assure the saints of their interest in it, right unto it, and certain enjoyment of it. Some copies read, “the kingdom of heaven”. Much the same images, here made use of, to set forth the glory of the saints, both in soul and body, in the world to come, are expressed by the Jews.
“The faces of the “righteous”, they say, h in time to come, shall be , “like to the sun”, and moon, to the stars and planets, and lightnings, and lilies, and to the lamp of the sanctuary.”
And elsewhere i they observe, that
“God in time to come, will beautify the body of “the righteous”, as the beauty of the first man, when he entered into paradise, according to Isa 58:11 and that the soul, whilst in its dignity, shall be sustained with the superior light, and be clothed with it; and when it shall enter into the body hereafter, it shall enter with that light; and then shall the body shine, , “as the brightness of the firmament”: as is said in
Da 12:3‘
And a little after k it is said, that when
“the soul goes out, the body is left, which shall be there built again, , “as the light of the sun”, and as the brightness of the firmament.”
Who hath ears to hear, let him hear; and seriously consider of the several things said in this parable, concerning the wheat and tares, the righteous and the wicked, as being matters of the greatest moment and importance.
h Vajikra Rabba, fol. 170. 1. Siphre apud. Ceseph. Misna in Maimon. Hilch. Teshuba, c. 9. i Midrash haunealam apud Zohar in Gen. fol. 69. 1. k lb. fol. 70. 1. Vid. Midrash Tillim. in Psal. xi. apud Galatin. de Arcan. Cathol. ver. 1. 12. c. 6. p. 712.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Shine forth (). Shine out as the sun comes from behind a cloud (Vincent) and drive away the darkness after the separation has come (cf. Da 12:3).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Shine forth [] . The compound verb with ejk, forth, is designedly used to express a dissipating of darkness which has hidden : a bursting into light. The righteous shall shine forth as the sun from behind a cloud. The mixture of evil with good in the world obscures the good, and veils the true glory of righteous character. Compare Dan 12:3.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Then shall the righteous shine forth,” (tote hoi didaioi eklampsousin) “At that time those who are righteous will shine forth.” at -that time of the harvest, Dan 12:2; 2Co 5:10; 1Th 4:13-18.
2) “As the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” (hos do helios en te basileia tou patros auton) “Similar to the sun in brilliance in the kingdom of their Father,” in the millennial kingdom age, when Jesus will sit on His Father David’s throne, to reign over Israel’s promised land in peace, while the twelve apostles of the “kingdom of heaven,” the church, shall sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel, Luk 22:28-30.
3) “Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.” (ho echon ota akoueto) “The one having ears to hear, let him hear,” or give responsive heed, Mat 13:15; Act 28:26-29. Let it be understood that when the Divinely appointed administrative leaders of Israel among the Scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, and Sanhedrin elders, coldly and boldly refused to believe both fulfilled prophecies of Jesus Christ, and the miracles that He did, as evidence that He was the Messiah, their hearts become hardened in unbelief, by their own choice. As a result they came to have no ears to hear, eyes to see, or hearts to understand, who Jesus really was, Pro 29:11; Heb 4:7; Rom 10:17. Let it be finally concluded that anyone who will not give heed to the Word of God today, as presented by His mandated church, would not believe, though one rose from the dead, to tell him the way of salvation, Luk 16:31; Mat 28:18-20; Joh 20:21; Act 1:8; Joh 8:24.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
43. Then will the righteous shine. What a remarkable consolation! The sons of God, who now lie covered with dust, or are held in no estimation, or even are loaded with reproaches, will then shine in full brightness, as when the sky is serene, and every cloud has been dispelled. The adverb then ( τότε) is emphatic; for it contains an implied contrast between their present state and the ultimate restoration, by the expectation of which Christ animates those who believe in him. The meaning therefore is, Though many wicked men now hold a high rank in the Church, yet that blessed day is assuredly to be expected, when the Son of God shall raise his followers on high, and remove every thing that now tends to dim or conceal their brightness. It is no doubt true, that the future glory is promised to none but those in whom the image of God already shines, and who are transformed into it by continued advances of glory. But as the life of the godly is now hidden, and as their salvation is invisible, because it consists in hope, Christ properly directs the attention of believers to heaven, where they will find the glory that is promised to them.
In order to make a deeper impression on his hearers, our Lord unquestionably refers here to a passage in Daniel, (Dan 12:3,)
And they that are wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament.
“
The Prophet,” he seems to say, “when he predicts a future brightness, intimates also that there is a temporary obscurity: and so, if we admit the prediction, we ought to endure patiently that mixture which, for a time, classes the elect of God with the reprobate.” By comparing this glory to the sun, he does not determine that it will be alike in all. As Christ now distributes his gifts variously (218) among believers, in like manner will he crown these gifts at the last day. But we must recollect what I have said, that the restoration, which is delayed till the last coming of Christ, is compared with the cloudy state of the world. (219)
The kingdom of the Father, as the inheritance of the godly, is contrasted with the earth, to remind them that here they are pilgrims, and therefore ought to look upwards towards heaven. In another passage, the kingdom of God is said to be within us, (Luk 17:21 ,) but we shall not obtain the full enjoyment of it till God be all in all, (1Co 15:28.)
(218) “ Diversement, aux uns plus, aux autres moins;” — “variously, to some more, to others less.”
(219) “ Avec l’estat present du monde, qui est comme tout obscurci de brouillars;” — “with the present state of the world, which is entirely, so to speak, obscured by mists.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(43) Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun.The imagery is so natural that we hardly need to look for any reference to older teaching, yet we can hardly help remembering the path of the just that shineth more and more unto the perfect day (Pro. 4:18), and yet more, as connected more closely with the judgment to come, those that shall shine as the brightness of the firmament and as the stars for ever and ever (Dan. 12:3). Yet the promise here has one crowning and supreme blessing: the kingdom in which the righteous shall thus shine forth is the kingdom of their Father.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
43. Righteous as the sun A most resplendent image of the glorified saints in heaven. The Greek verb is very expressive shine out as if during their sojourn in this world they were obscured by a cloud. Heaven is the firmament in which every luminary is a sun.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“Then will the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingly rule of their Father.”
But the end result will be that Paradise is restored. The righteous will shine forth as the sun within the sphere of the Kingly Rule of their Father. They have been changed from glory into glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord (2Co 3:18). The picture may to some extent be based on Dan 12:3, but it is in fact more glorious than that, just as, on earth, the sun is more glorious than the stars. It more specifically has in mind the One Who will come as the Sun of Righteousness (Mal 4:2), Whose face will shine like the sun at His transfiguration (Mat 17:2). They will be like Him, for they will see Him as He is (1Jn 3:2).
For the shining forth of the sun regularly reflects a picture of the divine (Rev 1:16 with 8, and compare verse 8; Act 26:13; Jas 1:17; Rev 19:17; Rev 21:23; Rev 22:5; Isa 60:20), and they are the sons of God (Mat 5:9; Mat 5:42-48). The shining forth of the righteous has already been depicted in Matthew in Mat 5:14; Mat 5:16. But that was only a faint reflection of this. Then the shining forth was partial, but here the full glow is revealed. More relevant is 5:45 where the shining forth of the sun was evidence of God’s compassion to the world, and His ‘sons’ were to be like Him in it. Nothing but righteousness could survive in the glow of this light. The shining forth of the sun is always a picture of great blessedness and glory, and behind it lies the thought that all shadows have been removed in the light of God’s presence (Jas 1:17; Rev 21:23; Rev 22:5).
‘The righteous.’ That is, those who have been made righteous by God through the coming to them of His righteousness and salvation (Mat 5:6; Mat 5:20; Mat 6:33) as promised in Isaiah (see on Mat 5:6).
‘The Kingly Rule of their Father.’ This is speaking of the consummation when all has been brought into submission to the One Whose eternal plan has come to fruition (1Co 15:24), and God is all and in all. These words finalise the picture that Jesus has been building up of His disciples’ relationship with their Father.
Note on ‘Your/My Father.
From now on there is a clear change in the way that the ‘Father’ is presented in Matthew. Up to this point the main emphasis has been on ‘your Father’ or equivalent (Mat 5:16; Mat 5:45; Mat 5:48; Mat 6:1; Mat 6:4; Mat 6:6; Mat 6:8-9; Mat 6:14-15; Mat 6:18; Mat 6:26; Mat 6:32; Mat 7:11; Mat 10:20; Mat 10:29) with ‘My Father’ only occurring when His position as Judge or Representative (Mat 7:21; Mat 10:32-33), or His special and unique family relationship with the Father (Mat 11:25; Mat 11:27; Mat 12:50), has been in mind. For Jesus has been emphasising the new position of the disciples as sons of their Father in the Kingly Rule of Heaven (Mat 5:9; Mat 5:45). And this is now capped here by the promise of their place under their Father’s final Kingly Rule. But from this point on the emphasis changes to ‘My Father’ or equivalent (Mat 15:13; Mat 16:17; Mat 16:27; Mat 18:10; Mat 18:19; Mat 18:35; Mat 20:23; Mat 24:36; Mat 25:34; Mat 26:29; Mat 26:39; Mat 26:42; Mat 26:53; Mat 28:19), and there is surely no coincidence in the fact that that is also paralleled with Jesus being revealed by His disciples as ‘the Son of God’ (Mat 14:33; Mat 16:16, compare Mat 11:25; Mat 11:27. See also Mat 17:5; Mat 28:19). Previously He has been ‘Lord’ or ‘Teacher’. Thus from now on Jesus is building up His disciples’ recognition of His unique and special relationship to His Father, as promised in Mat 11:25; Mat 11:27.
There is one outstanding exception to these distinctions, in Mat 18:14, but B Theta and f 13 read ‘My Father’ there as well. Yet even if ‘your Father’ is allowed to stand we can understand its use in this verse because those who are spoken to are directly responsible for preventing the perishing of these little ones, and it might be suggested that He wants them to know that the little one are also their Father’s children.
End of note.
Note the vivid contrast between the furnace of fire and the shining forth of the sun. Both involve heat, but what a difference in their consequences. One involves eternal destruction, the other eternal glory.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
“He who has ears, let him hear.” Compare Mat 13:9. Once again men are called on to ensure that if they have hearing ears, they should hear. Those who have such hearing ears are those who have been blessed by God (Mat 13:16).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Mat 13:43. Then shall the righteous shine forth, &c. In this beautiful expression, our blessed Saviour seems to allude to Dan 12:3. They that be wise shall shine, &c. They shall shine like the sun in the firmament for brightness and beauty, and shall find no diminution of their splendour by age. A noble image this to represent the glory and happiness of righteous men with God their Father. The exclamation at the end of the verse intimates that truths of greater importance and solemnity cannot be uttered, than those which respect the final misery of the wicked, and the inconceivable happiness of the righteous; and that allwho have the faculty of reason ought therefore to regard them with becoming attention. See Macknight and Calmet.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Mat 13:43 . ] then , when this purging out of all the has been effected.
.] the compound verb, which is used on purpose ( to shine forth, to burst into light , Xen. Cyr . vii. 1, 2; Plat. Gorg . p. 484 A, Rep . iv. p. 435 A), and so not to be taken merely as descriptive of eternal felicity in its general aspect, but as conveying the idea of a sublime display of majestic splendor , of the of the righteous in the future kingdom of the Messiah. Comp. Dan. 13:3; Enoch 38:4, 39:7, 104:4. Contrast to the fate of the wicked in the furnace of fire.
] sweet closing words, full of blessed confidence, Mat 25:34 .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
43 Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Ver. 43. Then shall the righteous shine ] Those that have here lain among the pots, smucht and sullied, shall then outshine the sun in his strength. Shine they shall in their bodies, which shall be clarified and conformed to Christ’s most glorious body, the standard, Phi 3:21 ; In their souls, those spirits of men made perfectly holy and happy. And in their whole person, as the spouse of Christ. Uxor fulget radiis mariti, she shall shine with the beams of his beauty. Three glimpses of which glory were seen in Moses’ face, in Christ’s transfiguration, in Stephen’s countenance.
Who hath ears to hear, let him hear ] q.d. This is worth hearing. Lend both your ears to such a bargain as this is. “What shall we say to these things?” saith the apostle, after he had spoke of glorification, Rom 8:31 . q.d. We can never satisfy ourselves in speaking, you should never show yourselves sated in hearing.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
43. ] shall shine out (their light here being enfeebled and obscured), as the sun from a cloud. , answering to , Mat 13:38 . This sublime announcement is over and above the interpretation of the parable.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 13:43 . : vide Dan 12:2 , which seems to be in view; an expressive word suggestive of the sun emerging from behind a cloud. The mixture of good and evil men in this world hides the characters of both.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Proverbs
FROM DAWN TO NOON
Pro 4:18
The metaphor common to both these texts is not infrequent throughout Scripture. In one of the oldest parts of the Old Testament, Deborah’s triumphal song, we find, ‘Let all them that love Thee be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might.’ In one of the latest parts of the Old Testament, Daniel’s prophecy, we read, ‘They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.’ Then in the New Testament we have Christ’s comparison of His servants to light, and the great promise which I have read as my second text. The upshot of them all is this-the most radiant thing on earth is the character of a good man. The world calls men of genius and intellectual force its lights. The divine estimate, which is the true one, confers the name on righteousness.
But my first text follows out another analogy; not only brightness, but progressive brightness, is the characteristic of the righteous man.
We are to think of the strong Eastern sun, whose blinding light steadily increases till the noontide. ‘The perfect day’ is a somewhat unfortunate translation. What is meant is the point of time at which the day culminates, and for a moment, the sun seems to stand steady, up in those southern lands, in the very zenith, raying down ‘the arrows that fly by noonday.’ The text does not go any further, it does not talk about the sad diminution of the afternoon. The parallel does not hold; though, if we consult appearance and sense alone, it seems to hold only too well. For, sadder than the setting of the suns, which rise again to-morrow, is the sinking into darkness of death, from which there seems to be no emerging. But my second text comes in to tell us that death is but as the shadow of eclipse which passes, and with it pass obscuring clouds and envious mists, and ‘then shall the righteous blaze forth like the sun in their Heavenly Father’s kingdom.’
And so the two texts speak to us of the progressive brightness, and the ultimate, which is also the progressive, radiance of the righteous.
I. In looking at them together, then, I would notice, first, what a Christian life is meant to be.
But what I wish rather to dwell upon is the other thought, the intention that every Christian life should be a life of increasing lustre, uninterrupted, and the natural result of increasing communion with, and conformity to, the very fountain itself of heavenly radiance.
Remember how emphatically, in all sorts of ways, progress is laid down in Scripture as the mark of a religious life. There is the emblem of my text. There is our Lord’s beautiful one of vegetable growth: ‘First the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear.’ There is the other metaphor of the stages of human life, ‘babes in Christ,’ young men in Him, old men and fathers. There is the metaphor of the growth of the body. There is the metaphor of the gradual building up of a structure. We are to ‘edify ourselves together,’ and to ‘build ourselves up on our most holy faith.’ There is the other emblem of a race-continual advance as the result of continual exertion, and the use of the powers bestowed upon us.
And so in all these ways, and in many others that I need not now touch upon, Scripture lays it down as a rule that life in the highest region, like life in the lowest, is marked by continual growth. It is so in regard to all other things. Continuity in any kind of practice gives increasing power in the art. The artisan, the blacksmith with his hammer, the skilled artificer at his trade, the student at his subject, the good man in his course of life, and the bad man in his, do equally show that use becomes second nature. And so, in passing, let me say what incalculable importance there is in our getting habit, with all its mystical power to mould life, on the side of righteousness, and of becoming accustomed to do good, and so being unfamiliar with evil.
Let me remind you, too, how this intention of continuous growth is marked by the gifts that are bestowed upon us in Jesus Christ. He gives us-and it is by no means the least of the gifts that He bestows-an absolutely unattainable aim as the object of our efforts. For He bids us not only be ‘perfect, as our Father in Heaven is perfect,’ but He bids us be entirely conformed to His own Self. The misery of men is that they pursue aims so narrow and so shabby that they can be attained, and are therefore left behind, to sink hull down on the backward horizon. But to have before us an aim which is absolutely unreachable, instead of being, as ignorant people say, an occasion of despair and of idleness, is, on the contrary, the very salt of life. It keeps us young, it makes hope immortal, it emancipates from lower pursuits, it diminishes the weight of sorrows, it administers an anaesthetic to every pain. If you want to keep life fresh, seek for that which you can never fully find.
Christ gives us infinite powers to reach that unattainable aim, for He gives us access to all His own fullness, and there is more in His storehouses than we can ever take, not to say more than we can ever hope to exhaust. And therefore, because of the aim that is set before us, and because of the powers that are bestowed upon us to reach it, there is stamped upon every Christian life unmistakably as God’s purpose and ideal concerning it, that it should for ever and for ever be growing nearer and nearer, as some ascending spiral that ever circles closer and closer, and yet never absolutely unites with the great central Perfection which is Himself.
So, brethren, for every one of us, if we are Christian people at all, ‘this is the will of God, even your perfection.’
II. Consider the sad contrast of too many Christian lives.
There is an old saying of one of the prophets that a child would die a hundred years old, which in a very sad sense is true about very many folk within the pale of the Christian Church who are seventy-year-old babes still, and will die so. Suns ‘growing brighter and brighter until the noonday!’ Ah! there are many of us who are a great deal more like those strange variable stars that sometimes burst out in the heavens into a great blaze, that brings them up to the brightness of stars of the first magnitude, for a day or two; and then they dwindle until they become little specks of light that the telescope can hardly see.
And there are hosts of us who are instances, if not of arrested, at any rate of unsymmetrical, development. The head, perhaps, is cultivated; the intellectual apprehension of Christianity increases, while the emotional, and the moral, and the practical part of it are all neglected. Or the converse may be the case; and we may be full of gush and of good emotion, and of fervour when we come to worship or to pray, and our lives may not be a hair the better for it all. Or there may be a disproportion because of an exclusive attention to conduct and the practical side of Christianity, while the rational side of it, which should be the basis of all, and the emotional side of it, which should be the driving power of all, are comparatively neglected.
So, dear brethren! what with interruptions, what with growing by fits and starts, and long, dreary winters like the Arctic winters, coming in between the two or three days of rapid, and therefore brief and unwholesome, development, we must all, I think, take to heart the condemnation suggested by this text when we compare the reality of our lives with the divine intention concerning them. Let us ask ourselves, ‘Have I more command over myself than I had twenty years ago? Do I live nearer Jesus Christ today than I did yesterday? Have I more of His Spirit in me? Am I growing? Would the people that know me best say that I am growing in the grace and knowledge of my Lord and Saviour?’ Astronomers tell us that there are dark suns, that have burnt themselves out, and are wandering unseen through the skies. I wonder if there are any extinguished suns of that sort listening to me at this moment.
III. How the divine purpose concerning us may be realised by us.
The planets that move round the sun, further away than we are on earth, get less of its light and heat; and those that circle around it within the limits of our orbit, get proportionately more. The nearer we are to Him, the more we shall shine. The sun shines by its own light, drawn indeed from the shrinkage of its mass, so that it gives away its very life in warming and illuminating its subject-worlds. But we shine only by reflected light, and therefore the nearer we keep to Him the more shall we be radiant.
That keeping in touch with Jesus Christ is mainly to be secured by the direction of thought, and love, and trust to Him. If we follow close upon Him we shall not walk in darkness. It is to be secured and maintained very largely by what I am afraid is much neglected by Christian people of all sorts nowadays, and that is the devotional use of their Bibles. That is the food by which we grow. It is to be secured and maintained still more largely by that which I, again, am afraid is but very imperfectly attained to by Christian people now, and that is, the habit of prayer. It is to be secured and maintained, again, by the honest conforming of our lives, day by day, to the present amount of our knowledge of Him and of His will. Whosoever will make all his life the manifestation of his belief, and turn all his creed into principles of action, will grow both in the comprehensiveness, and in the depths of his Christian character. ‘Ye are the light in the Lord.’ Keep in Him, and you will become brighter and brighter. So shall we ‘go from strength to strength, till we appear before God in Zion.’
IV. Lastly, what brighter rising will follow the earthly setting?
But ‘then shall the righteous blaze forth like the sun, in their Heavenly Father’s kingdom.’ The momentary setting is but apparent. And ere it is well accomplished, a new sun swims into the ‘ampler ether, the diviner air’ of that future life, ‘and with new spangled beams, flames in the forehead of the morning sky.’
The reason for that inherent brightness suggested in our second text is that the soul of the righteous man passes from earth into a region out of which we ‘gather all things that offend, and them that do iniquity.’ There are other reasons for it, but that is the one which our Lord dwells on. Or, to put it into modern scientific language, environment corresponds to character. So, when the clouds have rolled away, and no more mists from the undrained swamps of selfishness and sin and animal nature rise up to hide the radiance, there shall be a fuller flood of light poured from the re-created sun.
That brightness thus promised has for its highest and most blessed character that it is conformity to the Lord Himself. For, as you may remember, the last use of this emblem that we find in Scripture refers not to the servant but to the Master, whom His beloved disciple in Apocalyptic vision saw, with His ‘countenance as the sun shining in his strength.’ Thus ‘we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.’ And therefore that radiance of the sainted dead is progressive, too. For it has an infinite fulness to draw upon, and the soul that is joined to Jesus Christ, and derives its lustre from Him, cannot die until it has outgrown Jesus and emptied God. The sun will one day be a dark, cold ball. We shall outlast it.
But, brethren, remember that it is only those who here on earth have progressively appropriated the brightness that Christ bestows who have a right to reckon on that better rising. It is contrary to all probability to believe that the passage from life can change the ingrained direction and set of a man’s nature. We know nothing that warrants us in affirming that death can revolutionise character. Do not trust your future to such a dim peradventure. Here is a plain truth. They who on earth are as ‘the shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day,’ shall, beyond the shadow of eclipse, shine on as the sun does, behind the opaque, intervening body, all unconscious of what looks to mortal eyes on earth an eclipse, and ‘shall blaze out like the sun in their Heavenly Father’s kingdom.’ For all that we know and are taught by experience, religious and moral distinctions are eternal. ‘He that is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is filthy, let him be filthy still.’
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
shine forth. Greek. eklampo. Occurs only here.
the kingdom, &c. See App-112.
Who hath, &c. See note on Mat 11:15. See App-142.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
43. ] shall shine out (their light here being enfeebled and obscured), as the sun from a cloud. , answering to , Mat 13:38. This sublime announcement is over and above the interpretation of the parable.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 13:43. , then) After the ungodly have been removed.-, they shall shine forth) They shall not burn as the ungodly, but they shall shine forth, singly, and much more, collectively.[637] The same word is employed by the LXX. in Dan 12:3.- , of their Father) who is righteous and glorious. How great is the difference of the righteous from the children of the wicked one! see Mat 13:38.- , …, he that hath ears, etc.) A formula suited, not only to the people, but also to the disciples.
[637] What can be sweeter, even to think of, than this?-V. g.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Then
The kingdom does not become the kingdom of the “Father” until Christ, having “put all enemies under his feet,” including the last enemy, death, has “delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father” 1Co 15:24-28; Rev 20:2. There is triumph over death at the first resurrection 1Co 15:54; 1Co 15:55 but death, “the last enemy,” is not destroyed till the end of the millennium. Rev 20:14.
righteous (See Scofield “Rom 10:10”), Also, Col 3:4; 2Th 1:5-10
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
shall: Mat 25:34, Mat 25:36, Dan 12:3, 1Co 15:41-54, 1Co 15:58, Rev 21:3-5, Rev 21:22, Rev 21:23
in: Mat 26:29, Luk 12:32, Luk 22:29, Jam 2:5
Who: Mat 13:9
Reciprocal: Exo 34:35 – General Jdg 5:31 – the sun Psa 37:6 – light Son 6:10 – clear Mat 3:12 – and gather Mat 11:15 – General Mat 22:30 – as Mat 25:32 – he shall separate Mat 25:46 – the righteous Act 6:15 – saw Rom 6:22 – and the end 1Co 15:42 – is 1Co 15:43 – in dishonour 1Co 15:49 – we shall Col 3:4 – ye 2Ti 4:18 – and will Rev 2:7 – that hath
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
3:43
Then is an adverb of time and refers to the condition just after the harvest which is at the end of the world. In 1Co 15:24 Paul says that Jesus will give up his kingdom when he comes and deliver it to his Father. That is why this verse says that the righteous will then shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 13:43. Then shall the righteous shine forth. The gospel tells how men become righteous. As such they have a glory, a light which is here obscured, but shall then burst forth, as Christs glory shall appear.
In the kingdom of their Father. The righteous being Gods adopted sons, He is their Father. This kingdom of final glory seems to be distinguished from the mediatorial kingdom of Christ spoken of throughout the chapter; comp. 1Co 15:24.
He that hath ears, etc. This conclusion befits the importance of the parable. The prophecy respecting the destiny of all men deserves the attention of all men. Yet even on this point many have no ears to hear.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
In contrast to the unbelievers, the believers will continue to glorify God forever (Mat 5:13-16; cf. Dan 12:3). "The kingdom of their Father" is probably a synonym for the kingdom of the Son (Mat 13:41) in the sense that the kingdom belongs to both the Father and the Son. However when the messianic (millennial) kingdom ends, the rule of the Son and the Father will continue forever in the new heaven and the new earth (Revelation 21-22). The Messiah’s reign on this earth will be the first phase of His reign that will continue on the new earth forever.
This parable describes an order of events that is the same as what Jesus presented elsewhere as occurring at His second coming (cf. Mat 24:37-41; Luk 17:26-37). This order of events is the opposite of what He said would happen at the Rapture. At the Rapture, Christ will remove all believers from the earth and unbelievers will remain on the earth (Joh 14:2-3; cf. 1Th 4:17). At the Second Coming, unbelievers will be removed from the earth in judgment while believers will remain on the earth to enter the millennial kingdom. Thus the Rapture does not take place at the same time as the Second Coming, which posttribulationists believe. [Note: See Showers, pp. 176-91, for an extended discussion of the passages that indicate the differences between the Rapture and the coming of Christ with His holy angels, i.e, the Second Coming.]