B. W. Bacon calls Matthew chapters 11-13 as "Book 3." In the narrative in chapters 11-12, we see that the kingdom of God is coming. It starts with John the Baptist asking Jesus are You the one, or do we look for another, and then Jesus gives proof of his miracles, and He is saying, "I am the One. There is no need to look for another!" Jesus tells the people that John the Baptist was the Elijah that the Prophet Micah proclaimed would come. We see that Jesus is the One who can bring rest to our souls. We also see that the Jewish leaders saw, but did not believe. The discourse are parables about the kingdom of God. We learn that people of the kingdom grow in their faith and are a blessing to others. We learned that the wicked and the just grow together, but at the end they will be separated one for judgment and the other for the kingdom. We see that citizens of the kingdom know the value is more than anything on this earth. So, the parables ask us, are we members of the kingdom or not?
