The Parables of Jesus
Wheat and Weeds
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
May 31, 2009
The parable of the wheat and weeds. Another parable that Jesus offers an interpretation, which in Matthew sandwiches two other really brief parables—mustard and yeast. All of which have similar themes and seek to explain a particular understanding of God’s kingdom. They are kingdom parables. So let’s look at this parable in Matthew 13.
Little Hannah begged her grandmother to make the long distance trip for her birthday. Unable to resist, grandma came to visit Hannah.
At Hannah’s birthday dinner, her father asked Hannah if she would bless the bless the food on her birthday dinner.
“Oh yes, Daddy,” Hannah replied closing her eyes reverently, “Dear Lord, thank you for the great food that Mommy fixed for my birthday and thank you that Grandma was able to come today.” Then she opened her eyes ever so slyly and peeked at her grandmother and then continued, “And please Lord, let us have a good time at Toys R Us this afternoon.”
Jesus told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
"The owner’s servants came to him and said, ’Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’
" ’An enemy did this,’ he replied.
"The servants asked him, ’Do you want us to go and pull them up?’
" ’No,’ he answered, ’because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’ "
Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field."
He answered, "The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.
"As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.
This parable seeks to answer a concern and question about the kingdom of God that Jesus has been teaching and preaching about: If God’s kingdom is present how come there is all this bad stuff happening? And this is still a question we ask today, isn’t it? If God is in control, if God truly reigns, why is there so much murder, rape, and abuse? Why so much suffering? Why do good people get such awful diseases? Why do our innocent children suffer sometimes from such awful medical conditions? Why if God is really in control?
Now Jesus is focusing on the kingdom aspect here and not on some theological explanation on suffering or even giving specific answers to individual cases. His critics are wondering just how God’s kingdom is really present as he has been saying. So in this explanation Jesus reminds us:
The Kingdom of God is Present
It is happening then and now. Except we need to remember a couple of things about what some call the “in-breaking kingdom.”
1. Even though evil continues to exist, judgment will come.
2. Life is not fair.
I want to point out that this parable is not about the church but it is about the world at large. This is not a parable to justify why the church has saints and sinners. This is the world in which we live. Jesus is saying that God is not yet ready to make the separation of the good and the bad. He is not ready to judge. Even though the kingdom is present and God’s power is shown and people are touched and changed and saved. Even though some people are healed and some are not. The kingdom has not yet fully come.
Theologians speak in terms of consummation as in a marriage consummation. The kingdom has not yet been brought into full union with the world. Even though evil knows it is defeated and it is just a matter of time, God is delaying the harvest or delaying the final judgment presumably so that the wheat may be revealed to be wheat.
Jesus is offering a warning. It is a warning to change our behavior and to change our lives to live God’s way. The new age has dawned but the old one has not yet passed completely away. And therefore life isn’t always fair and justice isn’t always done. And thank God for that! For if God had not extended his limitless grace and refrained from the final judgment, known of us would have heard.
Evil is still at work. Not all actions are of God. People often use “open door” theology to try to discern God’s will. We are presented with a choice and sometimes wait to see if one door closes. A new job opens up and we apply believing that if God wants me to have it then he will open up that door. There is a huge problem. The enemy opens doors too. It is called temptation. In fact, I believe that many open doors and opportunities in life are more from the enemy than from God. If Ed McMahon showed up with a million dollar check and a TV crew, I probably would say, “Get behind me Satan.” Not all doors are opened by God even though the kingdom is present.
Now the picture Jesus paints is of an enemy sowing some weeds. The plant most think is commonly called darnel or cockle earning the name “false wheat” as it looks so much like wheat especially in the early stages. It is common in Syria and Israel. The problem is that by the time it is developed enough to be identified from wheat especially if someone would sow it along with the wheat, the roots would be entangled so that pulling out the weed would result in the destruction of the wheat. Therefore Jesus paints us a picture of waiting until God’s timing when the fields are ready for harvest and the plants have shown its true nature. Then the plants can be separated.
The issue for us is one of identity:
What defines you?
Jesus tells this parable (like so many others) to warn and call for a declaration. “Let he who has ears, hear.” Remember these parables immediately follow the Seed and the Sower in Matthew. To whom do you declare your allegiance? The tares and the wheat in the early stages look almost identical. The ultimate question is whether or not you are truly wheat. Are people fed because of walk with Jesus? Do you offer bread? And specifically, are the hurting, the poor, and the lost able to find nourishment and life or do they receive judgment and condemnation? Or worse yet, do you ignore the poor? Do you ignore the suffering?
This parable in defining the follower of Jesus has two distinct stages:
• Declaration
• Discipleship
It means standing up showing your true colors. It means loving your enemies. It means committing yourself to a living proclamation—a living sermon if you will—of who controls your life. You can’t hide it. You can’t be ashamed of it. We proclaim it with communion but we proclaim when we share Jesus with others. We proclaim it in baptism. None of which are optional for those who follow Jesus. For some it means, taking the step to pray at a kneeling rail. A very powerful expression!!!
Declaring your allegiance to Jesus means committing to a community of faith—the community of Jesus that Paul calls the Body of Christ. What an amazing picture!! The community of faith is supposed to be the living, breathing example of Jesus.
It means discipleship. It means following the ways of Jesus. This means standing up for what God has convicted us is right (which may or may not be what we have grown up hearing by the way). This means that sometimes we cannot just “live and let live.” We can’t just be silent when evil goes on a rampage. The enemy wants this. This parable is not about being tolerant of evil. We cannot be the body of Christ and let evil destroy. We must call attention to it. We must work for justice. Too often let and let live means live and let die.
But stopping evil with evil is not the answer. Becoming a weed in order to stop the weeds from spreading is not the answer. We are called not to sit by and let evil destroy. We must stop it from destroying but using evil to destroy evil is never the way of God.
Example. I love the United States. I love the freedom that we have. I love the prosperity. I am thankful it. I am so thankful for the sacrifices that so many have made so that I can stand here this morning and declare to you the good news of Jesus. But our country and our leaders have not always made good decisions. Sometimes decisions were made that seemed necessary at the time but turned out to cause the suffering and death of millions. Yes, our government and therefore we have been responsible by supporting certain foreign governments and regimes deemed better than others or were judged by a narrow set of ideologies that excluded godly values of compassion, mercy, and love. My ultimate and first allegiance is to Jesus.
After WWII, out country was responsible for the communist takeover of several Eastern European countries. We traded with concessions allowing for their takeover that we deemed in the best interest of the US. In a sense we all are responsible (as this has continued even to this day).
I’ve been reading a very powerful book, Tortured for Christ, which is a testimony from a follower of Jesus who suffered immensely in Romania after the communist takeover. Originally published 30 years ago, it is still very powerful. Richard Wurmbrand was a faithful servant of Christ in the Underground Church during that time that suffered immensely for Jesus.
“In the prison of Gherla, a Christian named Grecu was sentenced to be beaten to death. The process last a few weeks during which he was beaten very slowly. He would be hit once at the bottom of the feet with a rubber club, and then left. After some minutes he would again be hit, after another few minutes again. He was beaten on the testicles. Then the doctor gave him an injection. He recovered and was given very good food to restore his strength, and then he was beaten again, until he eventually died under this slow, repeated beating. One who led this torture was a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, whose name was Reck.
“During the beatings, Reck said something to Grecu that the Communists often said to Christians, “You know, I am God. I have power of life and death over you. The one who is in heaven cannot decide to keep you in life. Everything depends upon me. If I wish, you live. If I wish, you are killed. I am God!” So he mocked the Christian.
“Brother Grecu, in this horrible situation, gave Reck a very interesting answer, which was heard afterward from Reck himself. He said, “You don’t know what a deep thing you have said. Every caterpillar is in reality a butterfly, if it develops rightly. You have not been created to be a torturer, a man who kills. You have been created to become like God, with the life of the Godhead in your heart. Many who have been persecutors like you, have come to realize—like the apostle Paul—that it is shameful for a man to commit atrocities, that they can do much better things. So they have become partakers of the divine nature. Jesus said to the Jews of His time, ‘Ye are gods.’ Believe me, Mr. Reck, your real calling is to be Godlike—to have the character of God, not a torturer.
“At that moment Reck did not pay much attention to the words of his victim, as Saul of Tarsus did not pay attention to the beautiful witness of Stephen being killed in his presence. But those words worked in his heart. And Reck later understood that this was his real calling.”
I wonder if the fires come would we really be found to be faithful. If the fires of persecution were fanned for us like Grecu, would we be wheat or a weed? Being wheat begins with a declaration followed by a life of discipleship. Who are you? Whose are you? One of the enemy’s weeds? Or one of God’s wheat?
