Dr. Bradford Reaves
CrossWay Christian Fellowship
Hagerstown, MD
www.mycrossway.org
If you've ever traveled abroad, especially to a country ruled by Islam, you understand how different the atmosphere truly is. Even in moderate countries like Morocco, it is clear that Islam is the prevailing religion, and any dissonance will not be tolerated. Find yourself in more radicalized lands like Iran, and you are non-compliance could cost you your life. There have been periods of time in history when elements of Christianity carried the same unfortunate rule. There are events in history when terrible things have been done in the name of Christianity.
Truth and tolerance can go hand in hand. This can be a hard lesson for people to learn who are passionate about their faith. Yet this is an important lesson to learn. The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares is Christ's lesson on how we should exist in this world.
A couple of weeks ago, we talked about the Parable of the Soils. In that parable, we learned about four soils. Three of those soils were not fruitful for the Kingdom. Only one of those soils, the fertile soil, was good for growing a bountiful harvest, which Jesus describes as a harvest of 30, 60, or 100-fold. Today, we take a deeper look at that soil in which good seed is planted for a harvest of wheat.
He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, 25 but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. 26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. 27 And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.” (Matthew 13:24–30)
Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” 37 He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40 Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, 42 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear. (Matthew 13:36–43)
Theologically speaking, we are living in a time that was mentioned in the book of Daniel between the 69th and the 70th week. As Jesus arrives on the scene, he defines this for us through several parables. This is a time of grace where God mediates his rule on earth through his Church.
We studied as we studied during the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew Chapter 7, there will come a time when Jesus will differentiate between the true believers of the Kingdom and those who are not.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 7:21)
What Jesus is describing in Matthew Chapter 7 and here in Matthew Chapter 13 is a distinction between the true citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven and those who are just pretending. Sometimes, I think how convenient it would be to eliminate the disingenuous believers. This was the same question James and John asked Jesus.
And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” (Luke 9:54)
Let me assure you there is coming a time when the Lord Jesus Christ will judge between all people. In this time, everything will be revealed. The truth about us, the truth about our motives, the truth about who we are the truth about our faith. Everything will be brought into plain sight.
And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” (Matthew 8:29)
He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples, and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. (Isaiah 2:4)
So when Jesus shows up, the disciples are eager for the Messiah to purge out the ungodly and the rebels and reward the righteous.
So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6)
So here in Matthew 13, Jesus provides us with a parable to describe how these things are going to take place. It is a parable that describes the Millennium and the final judgment of man and angels. This is a designated time
Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. 13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:11–15)
So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous (Matthew 13:49)
The age we are living in today is a time of sowing seeds and awaiting the harvest. Like the Parable of the Soils, the image here is of a sower sowing seed in a field. And this is a field of good soil. Now, some have tried to interpret this soil as the Church. But if we look at the interpretation Jesus provides, we see plainly that the field is the world. That good seed, the true believer, has been sown throughout the world.
Here is an important truth for us to comprehend. We are called to live in the world but not of the world. We are called to be witnesses among the tares. These tares are not the work of the farmer but instead the work of the enemy (verse 28), and that enemy is clearly Satan.
Verse 25 specifically says that the enemy planted these seeds in the ground while the men slept. This is in reference to the church - the Laodicean Church. The Church is more interested in entertaining the goats instead of being the witness of God.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. (Matthew 24:14)
“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens. 8 “ ‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. 9 Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you. 10 Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth. 11 I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. 12 The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. (Revelation 3:7–12)
The weed that was sown is known as a Darnel. It is literally a weed that looks exactly like wheat until it is ready for harvest. It cannot be distinguished from the true wheat until the fruit matures. An important characteristic of the Darnel was that if it was harvested with the wheat, it was poisonous and would ruin the entire crop. If a man wanted to harm another farmer, he could sow darnel in a fruitful field. It was common enough that the Roman government had laws against it.
So the workers ask the owner: “Do you want us to go and pull out the Darnel?” (v. 28). The answer was no. Because in removing the Darnel they would also damage the good plant that is in the ground. That brings us to the application of how we should respond to this parable.
Here is the application: We have been planted in this world - His people, His world. We are children of the Kingdom and subjects of the King. The image Jesus paints in this parable is that of the church and the world, not the world in the Church. We have been planted in a fertile field among the evil of the systems of this world. Even though we are here, we are to genuinely love the king and be subjects of his Kingdom. Knowing that this world is not our home
Secondly, you were not placed here by accident. The Lord planted you for a good purpose. He wants you in the world. Why? I think there are a couple of reasons why. First, we are planted here to mature and grow. This is a time when the Lord is perfecting us.
And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. (1 Peter 5:10)
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, (Ephesians 4:11–12)
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. (Hebrews 6:1–2)
Third, we have been planted here as witnesses of the Kingdom. We are to be a righteous example to the unrighteous that were planted here by the enemy. Only the power of God can transform a weed to wheat.
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved (Ephesians 2:1–5)
In essence, we are to exist together with the world. We work together, go to the same schools, live in the same neighborhoods, go to the same restaurants in nearly every aspect of life. The church is to exist in the very heart of the world, not to be like the world but to be an example to the world.
If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. (John 15:19)
Now, here is an interesting point we have to understand. Our presence in the world is not to judge the world. What I mean, judge, I mean not to determine who is going to heaven and who is going to hell. That will be the job of the angels at the end of the age.
The church is not in the business of going around ripping out the tares and the darnells among the wheat. That's not what we are called to do. We are not to attack the world. We are not to rule over the world. We are not establishing the Kingdom here in the world. That all happens at the age of judgment. We are to have a heart of compassion, not a heart of condemnation.
Our hearts are to be compassionate to the weak believers. Loving to those overcome by sin and patient to the ones this world blinds us
In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (2 Corinthians 4:4)
But understand, that attitude is towards people, not sin. Because the popular idea today is that one’s identity cannot be separated from one's behavior. This is simply false. The church is still supposed to discern sinful behavior. If we were not, then the church could not make a call to repentance. The church could not enact church discipline.
The time will come when the angels will be called to be the harvesters of the earth. That's one of the functions of the angels, not one of man.
and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40 Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, (Matthew 13:39–41)
We are to be the Watchmen on the wall. We are to be the ones that sound the alarm to those who are still lost, that the judgment is still coming. That idea is that that judgment will be an all consuming fire. That fire is eternal hell
But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” (Revelation 21:8)
And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. (Matthew 25:46)
If we believe the Bible to be the word of God (and it is) and the word of truth (and it is), then we know that eternal hell awaits the ungodly. It is, therefore, our job to stand on the wall and sound the warning and call for repentance.
Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear. (Matthew 13:43)
So first, let me ask you as you are sitting here this morning, are you a wheat or a weed? Are you a genuine believer in bearing good fruit in your life? Or are you just pretending to be wheat and hoping that you get into the kingdom? That you sneak in unnoticed. At the end of the age, at the harvest of the earth, at the final judgment, there will be no hiding from that truth. There will be no fooling the king of all kings. Now is the time and the acceptable day of salvation.
