Messiah’s Interpretation: Messiah is the sower, the seed is anyone who hears the word of the kingdom, birds represent the wicked one, rocks represent tribulation or persecution, and the thorns are riches and the cares of this world.

My Comments:   Messiah presented himself to Israel and was rejected.  Now that Messiah is about to temporarily leave, he's describing in a veiled way what will happen to His kingdom while He's gone.  This mystery form of the kingdom (totally unknown up to and including Jesus' time) is represented as a time of sowing the seed (the word of the kingdom) in the hearts of men (the soils).  Varied hearers have various responses because there’s opposition to the word by the world, the flesh, and the devil.  Even among the good soil, the seed grows to varying (but decreasing) yields. 

Notice that the seed is not "how to get to heaven"; but, "the word of the kingdom."  In the Jewishness of this context, the primary application would have to be to Messiah’s promised earthly kingdom (and everything that that entails); that's the only kingdom the original listeners could possibly have understood this to mean.   Everyone with any knowledge of their Scriptures was anticipating it.  But now that kingdom must be postponed.  A temporary form of that kingdom on earth will take it's place until Messiah returns.  This parable sets up the framework for all the subsequent parables.

Messiah’s Interpretation: Jesus is the owner who sows the good seed; the good seed in this case is not "word of the kingdom" (as in the first parable), but the actual children of the kingdom; the bad seed are the children of the devil.  At the end of the age the children of the devil will be separated and burned, but the children of the kingdom will enter the kingdom of their Father.

My Comments: The good seed are the children of the kingdom; the bad seed is EVERYBODY ELSE.  Jesus allows only two possible belief systems.  Whereas in the first parable the seed (word of the kingdom) is sown with varying responses, in this parable there is no degree of response—the good seed here inevitably produces an equally good crop.  There’s no distinction of quality (works, good deeds, watching and waiting, being ready, pressing in, witnessing, etc.), and there’s no distinction between the baby seeds and the mature plants—God sees them instantaneously as one and the same.  Rather, the emphasis here is on the contrast between good seed and bad seed, and in this one parable Jesus explains why He allows evil to continue in the world.

There's two kinds of children in this parable.  Particularly notice in verse 41, "they shall gather out of his kingdom."  The "them that do iniquity" are mixed in among the children in this mystery kingdom--a kingdom within a kingdom!  The first kingdom is the visible kingdom of God on earth—made up of both the wheat and the tares.  The other kingdom is comprised of only true believers within that visible kingdom.   The untrained eye cannot tell the difference.  There are many tares within the professing body of believers today—but God knows who are his wheat.  When Messiah establishes his millennial kingdom, there won’t be ANY tares going into the barn.

Also notice that the angels remove and burn the imitation crop FIRST.  This is NOT the rapture.  This is at the end of the age, after Daniel's 70^th week, when Christ finally returns, judges, then initiates his long-promised millennial kingdom.  This corresponds to Matthew 24 where one is taken in judgment and another is left.  The children of the kingdom are gathered into the barn because they’re all equally righteous.  And only because they're righteous may they enter the millennial kingdom.  

This is another place damning to the posttribulationist theory.  ALL the bad seed are burned--none are allowed into the barn!  If this is the rapture, and all the righteous human beings (good seed)  are translated into immortal bodies when Messiah returns--there will be nobody left to enter, then populate, the millennial kingdom. 

Messiah’s Interpretation: None

My Comments: Jesus interpreted birds in the first parable as satanic influence carrying off the word of the kingdom; it's safe to consistently apply the same interpretation here.  As in the second parable, this field is also the world.  Though beginning extremely small, the professing kingdom of God (made up of both wheat and tares) grows very large.  It attracts and is infiltrated by Satan.  While the children of the devil competed side-by-side with the good seed in the previous parable, this parable might indicate that direct Satanic opposition is now working from within the visible kingdom of God—actually sustaining itself off the tree like birds living in the branches.  This might be doctrinal corruption, televangelists,  specific Satan controlled leaders, or cults.

Messiah’s Interpretation: None

My Comments: A continuation and expansion of the previous thought emphasizing the corruption within the visible professing kingdom.  Pentecost notices that it is a woman who put the leaven in the meal and draws a comparison to Rev 2:20; 17:1-8, concluding this refers to the work of a false religious system.  Others stress that leaven causes the meal to rise--illustrating the growth of the kingdom; however, in Scripture leaven typically represents corruption.  Whether it's false religion or not the leaven eventually corrupts the entire meal; that seems to be exactly what we are observing in organized religion today.

Messiah’s Interpretation: None

My Comments: The field in the two preceding parables is the world, it’s probably safe to assume it’s the world here too. The man is Messiah who finds the treasure in the world (Israel—Psalm 135:4; Exodus 19:5) re-hides it temporarily, then for the joy that was set before him endures the cross to pay for the whole world.  The key here is that the man re-hides the treasure.  Jesus paid the blood price for the whole field (the world), but didn't claim his treasure (Israel) yet--they have been temporarily hidden.  When Messiah concludes his program for the church  He will return to recover his treasure.  

Messiah’s Interpretation: None

My Comments: The similarity between the merchant and the man in the previous parable is too strong to ignore.  The merchant must be Messiah again, but why say basically the same thing twice in a row?  What is the only difference between this and the previous parable?  It's that whereas in the last parable the man gives everything he has but doesn't claim his treasure yet, in this parable he gives everything he has and immediately takes possession of the pearl.   Most interpreters I’ve read believe the hidden treasure represents Israel, and the pearl in this parable represents the church.   Christ purchased both when he bought the whole field with his own blood.  According to Apostle Paul he has temporary set Israel aside; however, he presently fully possesses the church.  Sometime in the future He will return (with his pearl) to claim that treasure he’s already paid for but left buried in the field.

Messiah’s Interpretation: At the end of the world the angels shall sever the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace to be burned.

My Comments: Again, this is almost a duplicate (though shorter) version of the Wheat & Tares parable.  Why two so similar?  Wycliff commentary indicates that the "sea" frequently symbolizes the restless Gentile nations in Scripture (Luke 21:25; Dan 7:3,17).  Since nations other than Israel always mean Gentiles in Scripture, this is probably the judgment of the nations/gentiles Jesus described in Matthew 25:31-46, while the Wheat and Tares parable above is the judgment of Israel described in Matthew 25:1-30--both occur after the Great Tribulation.  Here, again, this is NOT the rapture (bad fish are removed and destroyed FIRST).  This parable again demonstrates that no unrighteous person will enter the kingdom, and posttribulation ends up with an empty millennium with no one to rebel 1,000 years later.