The Meaning of Matthew 13:43 Explained

Matthew 13:43

KJV: Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

YLT: Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the reign of their Father. He who is having ears to hear -- let him hear.

Darby: Then the righteous shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He that has ears, let him hear.

ASV: Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He that hath ears, let him hear.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Then  shall the righteous  shine forth  as  the sun  in  the kingdom  of their  Father.  Who  hath  ears  to hear,  let him hear. 

What does Matthew 13:43 Mean?

Study Notes

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" 1 Corinthians 15:24-28 ; Revelation 20:2 . There is triumph over death at the first resurrection 1 Corinthians 15:54 ; 1 Corinthians 15:55 but death, "the last enemy," is not destroyed till the end of the millennium. Revelation 20:14 .
righteous , Also, Colossians 3:4 ; 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10
righteousness
Righteousness here, and in the passages which refer to Romans 10:10 , means that righteousness of God which is judicially reckoned to all who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ; believers are the righteous.
(See Scofield " Romans 3:21 ") .

Verse Meaning

In contrast to the unbelievers, the believers will continue to glorify God forever ( Matthew 5:13-16; cf. Daniel 12:3). "The kingdom of their Father" is probably a synonym for the kingdom of the Son ( Matthew 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. Matthew 24:37-41; Luke 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 ( John 14:2-3; cf. 1 Thessalonians 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. [1]

Context Summary

Matthew 13:34-43 - Genuine And Counterfeit
Throughout the Synoptic Gospels-Matthew, Mark, and Luke-a consistent distinction is made between the outer ranks of the people, or disciples, and the inner circle of Apostles. May we not emphasize the same distinction still? We have among us many who are clearly disciples. They cannot as yet formulate or endorse the full creed of the Church, but if they are true to their convictions and follow the gleam, the Master will bring them to the decision of Peter, Matthew 16:16.
This world is God's field. All the good in it has reached it through Jesus Christ. Fundamentally there are but two classes, for the disciple belongs to Christ, though He has not yet come into the perfect light. Notice that the people who cause stumbling are placed with those who do iniquity, and each class is thrown on the rubbish heap. Ponder the despair with which we shall view wasted opportunities, as we look back on them from eternity-weeping for softer natures, and wailing for weaker ones. Let us not trifle away the golden chances of life! [source]

Chapter Summary: Matthew 13

1  The parable of the sower and the seed;
18  the explanation of it
24  The parable of the weeds;
31  of the mustard seed;
33  of the leaven;
36  explanation of the parable of the weeds
44  The parable of the hidden treasure;
45  of the pearl;
47  of the drag net cast into the sea
53  Jesus is a prophet without honor in his own country

Greek Commentary for Matthew 13:43

Shine forth [εκλαμπσουσιν]
Shine out as the sun comes from behind a cloud (Vincent) and drive away the darkness after the separation has come (cf. Daniel 12:3). [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Matthew 13:43

Matthew 13:9 He that hath ears let him hear [ο εχων ωτα ακουετω]
(ο εχων ωτα ακουετω — ho echōn ōta akouetō), So also in Matthew 11:15 and Matthew 13:43. It is comforting to teachers and preachers to observe that even Jesus had to exhort people to listen and to understand his sayings, especially his parables. They will bear the closest thought and are often enigmatical. [source]
Luke 6:20 Kingdom of God [ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ]
Matthew has kingdom of heaven, or of the heavens ( τῶν οὐρανῶν )a phrase used by him only, and most frequently employed by Christ himself to describe the kingdom; though Matthew also uses, less frequently, kingdom of God. The two are substantially equivalent terms, though the pre-eminent title was kingdom of God, since it was expected to be fully realized in the Messianic era, when God should take upon himself the kingdom by a visible representative. Compare Isaiah 40:9, “Behold your God. ” The phrase kingdom of Heaven was common in the Rabbinical writings, and had a double signification: the historical kingdom and the spiritual and moral kingdom. They very often understood by it divine worship; adoration of God; the sum of religious duties; but also the Messianic kingdom. The kingdom of God is, essentially, the absolute dominion of God in the universe, both in a physical and a spiritual sense. It is “an organic commonwealth which has the principle of its existence in the will of God” (Tholuck). It was foreshadowed in the Jewish theocracy. The idea of the kingdom advanced toward clearer definition from Jacob's prophecy of the Prince out of Judah (Genesis 49:10), through David's prophecy of the everlasting kingdom and the king of righteousness and peace (Daniel 7:14-27; Daniel 4:25; Daniel 2:44). In this sense it was apprehended by John the Baptist. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
The ideal kingdom is to be realized in the absolute rule of the eternal Son, Jesus Christ, by whom all things are made and consist (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16-20), whose life of perfect obedience to God and whose sacrificial offering of love upon the cross reveal to men their true relation to God, and whose spirit works to bring them into this relation. The ultimate idea of the kingdom is that of “a redeemed humanity, with its divinely revealed destiny manifesting itself in a religious communion, or the Church; asocial communion, or the state; and an aesthetic communion, expressing itself in forms of knowledge and art.”-DIVIDER-
This kingdom is both present (Matthew 11:12; Matthew 12:28; Matthew 16:19; Luke 11:20; Luke 16:16; Luke 17:21; see, also, the parables of the Sower, the Tares, the Leaven, and the Drag-net; and compare the expression “theirs, or yours, is the kingdom,” Matthew 5:3; Luke 6:20) and future (Daniel 7:27; Matthew 13:43; Matthew 19:28; Matthew 25:34; Matthew 26:29; Mark 9:47; 2 Peter 1:11; 1 Corinthians 6:9; Revelation 20:1-15 sq.). As a present kingdom it is incomplete and in process of development. It is expanding in society like the grain of mustard seed (Matthew 13:31, Matthew 13:32); working toward the pervasion of society like the leaven in the lump (Matthew 13:33). God is in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, and the Gospel of Christ is the great instrument in that process (2 Corinthians 5:19, 2 Corinthians 5:20). The kingdom develops from within outward under the power of its essential divine energy and law of growth, which insures its progress and final triumph against all obstacles. Similarly, its work in reconciling and subjecting the world to God begins at the fountain-head of man's life, by implanting in his heart its own divine potency, and thus giving a divine impulse and direction to the whole man, rather than by moulding him from without by a moral code. The law is written in his heart. In like manner the State and the Church are shaped, not by external pressure, like the Roman empire and the Roxnish hierarchy, but by the evolution of holy character in men. The kingdom of God in its present development is not identical with the Church. It is a larger movement which includes the Church. The Church is identified with the kingdom to the degree in which it is under the power of the spirit of Christ. “As the Old Testament kingdom of God was perfected and completed when it ceased to be external, and became internal by being enthroned in the heart, so, on the other hand, the perfection of the New Testament kingdom will consist in its complete incarnation and externalization; that is, when it shall attain an outward manifestation, adequately expressing, exactly corresponding to its internal principle” (Tholuck). The consummation is described in Revelation 21,22. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
[source]

Luke 14:35 Men cast it out [εχω βαλλουσιν αυτο]
Impersonal plural. This saying about salt is another of Christ‘s repeated sayings (Matthew 5:13; Mark 9:50). Another repeated saying is the one here about having ears to hear (Luke 8:8; Luke 14:35, Matthew 11:15; Matthew 13:43). [source]
2 Timothy 4:18 Heavenly kingdom [τὴν βασιλείαν τὴν ἐπουράνιον]
The phrase N.T.o Ἑπουράνιος heavenlyonly here in Pastorals. Mostly in Paul and Hebrews. Heavenly kingdom, here the future, glorified life, as 1 Corinthians 6:9, 1 Corinthians 6:10; 1 Corinthians 15:50; Luke 13:29. In the same sense, kingdom of Christ and of God, Ephesians 5:5; kingdom of their Father, Matthew 13:43; my Father's kingdom, Matthew 26:29; kingdom prepared for you, Matthew 25:34; eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, 2 Peter 1:11. [source]
Revelation 2:7 He that hath an ear [ο εχων ους]
An individualizing note calling on each of the hearers (Revelation 1:3) to listen (Revelation 2:7, Revelation 2:11, Revelation 2:17, Revelation 2:28; Revelation 3:3, Revelation 3:6, Revelation 3:13, Revelation 3:22) and a reminiscence of the words of Jesus in the Synoptics (Matthew 11:15; Matthew 13:9, Matthew 13:43; Mark 4:9, Mark 4:23; Luke 8:8; Luke 14:35), but not in John‘s Gospel. [source]

What do the individual words in Matthew 13:43 mean?

Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of the Father of them The [one] having ears let him hear
τότε οἱ δίκαιοι ἐκλάμψουσιν ὡς ἥλιος ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τοῦ Πατρὸς αὐτῶν ἔχων ὦτα ἀκουέτω

δίκαιοι  righteous 
Parse: Adjective, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root: δίκαιος  
Sense: righteous, observing divine laws.
ἐκλάμψουσιν  will  shine  forth 
Parse: Verb, Future Indicative Active, 3rd Person Plural
Root: ἐκλάμπω  
Sense: to shine forth.
ἥλιος  sun 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: ἥλιος  
Sense: the sun.
βασιλείᾳ  kingdom 
Parse: Noun, Dative Feminine Singular
Root: βασιλεία  
Sense: royal power, kingship, dominion, rule.
τοῦ  of  the 
Parse: Article, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
Πατρὸς  Father 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root: προπάτωρ 
Sense: generator or male ancestor.
αὐτῶν  of  them 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Plural
Root: αὐτός  
Sense: himself, herself, themselves, itself.
  The  [one] 
Parse: Article, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
ὦτα  ears 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Neuter Plural
Root: οὖς  
Sense: the ear.
ἀκουέτω  let  him  hear 
Parse: Verb, Present Imperative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: ἀκουστός 
Sense: to be endowed with the faculty of hearing, not deaf.