Matthew 13:24-30, 37-40 Parable of the Wheat & Weeds

Here is another story Jesus told: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. But that night as the workers slept, his enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat, then slipped away. When the crop began to grow and produce grain, the weeds also grew. The farmer’s workers went to him and said, ‘Sir, the field where you planted that good seed is full of weeds! Where did they come from?’ “‘An enemy has done this!’ the farmer exclaimed. ‘Should we pull out the weeds?’ they asked. “‘No,’ he replied, ‘you’ll uproot the wheat if you do. Let both grow together until the harvest. Then I will tell the harvesters to sort out the weeds, tie them into bundles, and burn them, and to put the wheat in the barn.’”

Then, leaving the crowds outside, Jesus went into the house. His disciples said, “Please explain to us the story of the weeds in the field.” Jesus replied, “The Son of Man is the farmer who plants the good seed. The field is the world, and the good seed represents the people of the Kingdom. The weeds are the people who belong to the evil one. The enemy who planted the weeds among the wheat is the devil. The harvest is the end of the world, “Just as the weeds are sorted out and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the world.” Matthew 13:24-30, 37-40

This parable, told to a crowd then later explained to His disciples, is one of Jesus’ more in-your-face illustrations. Weeds (called "tares" in other translations) sometimes grow up among wheat. They look very much like wheat in their early stages so it’s hard to tell what is the true crop and what is not. Weeds can choke out the good plants, much like they do in any garden, but trying to pull the bad risks hurting the good.

God knows this, too, when looking at humanity. On the outside, we as Christians, who have accepted Jesus into our hearts and do our best to live out the life He would have for us, look much the same as anyone else. As a collective race, on the surface, people are similar. We wake up, brush our teeth, go to work or school, have lunch, laugh and cry and eventually sleep, only to do it again. If we, as followers of Christ, are wheat, then those who do not know Jesus, including those would might actually be opposed to Him, would be the weeds. We live next door to the atheist, work with Wiccans, and go to church with those going through the motions but have never surrendered themselves to God nor accepted Jesus’ free gift of Grace from the cross.

These are not bad people. Most are kind, generous, giving. We are fond of many of them, even love them. And, as Christians, we are called to love them, unconditionally. They are “weeds” only in the context of Jesus’ illustration above.

All of our stories have a beginning and an end. Jesus’ parable could be applied to a single lifetime, our own or another’s. Birth and death. God’s story, relayed through scripture, also has a beginning and an end. Jesus’ story can – and should – be seen from a much higher perspective. If Genesis tells of the beginning of all things as we know them, then Revelation (and other mentions in His Word) tells how it ends. God wins. The final judgment commences. Those “written in the book of life” (Rev 13:8) will be in the presence of Almighty God for eternity. Those who are not will be forever separated from Him.

In our modern church, and my own life I admit, we don’t like to dwell on the eternity of others living alongside of us, especially those who do not have a relationship with Jesus. But there will come a time when their life here on Earth ends and they will stand before a God whom they might not have believed in, or simply did not understand, and be considered “tare,” then lose everything in that moment forever.

Unlike the weeds in the parable, whose nature is unchangeable, people can change. The ‘weedness’ of the woman in the cubical next to us can metamorphose, even in the final hour, to that of “wheat” by accepting His gift of eternal life. Our brothers and sisters, related or not but whom we love, fit into one of these two categories. We have until the end of our own time, whenever that might be, to become one God will keep as His own. If we are such a person, we still can speak, pray or serve as a light to others around us who do not know Him. We can play a humble part in how He works to gives them new life as the “wheat” of His Harvest.

In the end, everyone is going to be one or the other.

Prayer

Lord, this is an uncomfortable image which You have painted for us, but discomfort brings action. Show us how to bring more people into your harvest as good wheat, to turn as many people as possible – however you would have us do this – away from the life of a tare, before it’s too late.