Romans 8v 12-25, Matthew 13v 24-30 & 36-43
The Parable of the Weeds - Matthew 13v 24-30 & 36-43
Our gospel reading from Matthew is very apt for this time of the year. All around us farmers are busy harvesting their crops. I’ve encountered more tractors and combine harvesters in the last few weeks than the rest of the year! We must pray and ask for God’s blessing on all our farmers and give thanks to God for the harvest they are gathering in.
Jesus often used illustrations or parables when speaking to the crowds. A parable compares something familiar to something unfamiliar. It helps us understand spiritual truths by using everyday objects and relationships.
Matthew 13 is a chapter of parables as Jesus speaks to the crowds about the kingdom of God.
In our reading from Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus uses everyday farming language and imagery to teach about the kingdom of God and opposition to it.
In this parable the enemy tried to destroy the work of a man who sowed good seed in his field. Picture the scene: this man’s been working hard, preparing his field, getting it ready to plant his crop of wheat. He takes good seed and sows it in his field. But the enemy came and sowed weeds or tares as some bible translations put it, among the wheat.
So, what is this weed or tare? Well, most biblical scholars say it’s a particular type of plant that grows in the Middle East. I’m not sure whether it grows in other parts of the world but this particular plant is called darnel. What’s really interesting about darnel is that it is almost identical to wheat. It is virtually impossible to tell which is which until the heads of grain are formed. This is because darnel never develops a head of grain like wheat does. And the other bad thing about darnel is that its roots intertwine with the roots of the wheat and is very disruptive to the crop.
Now you don’t need Monty Don or Alan Titchmarch to tell you that weeding is an essential part of gardening. For plants and crops to grow, we need to ensure the weeds don’t take over and so we pull them out. But not in this case. If you pull out darnel you also pull out the wheat. That is not good. In fact in ancient Roman law it was a crime to sow this into your neighbours field. It would ruin their crop and their livelihood.
So why does the enemy sow weeds in this field? Because their purpose is to destroy the crop of wheat.
But the farmer will not allow the enemy to succeed. His servants ask him whether they should pull the weeds up. But he says let them grow together and we’ll sort it all out at harvest time. In the interest of protecting and preserving the wheat, the wise farmer did not pull up the weeds or darnel until the harvest time. At the harvest, the weeds were separated from the wheat and put aside to be burned while the wheat was gathered into the barn.
What does it all mean, asks his disciples? In His explanation, Jesus made it clear what the different figures in the parable represent.
The field represents the world – all the nations and peoples across the globe. God is concerned for everyone. He has no favourites. His desire is that all should come to know him as Lord and Saviour. In John’s gospel we are reminded that Jesus came as the saviour of the world,
‘For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life’ (John 3:16).
The good seeds represent God’s people; all true believers. God is sowing believers in various parts of the world so that they bear fruit. Across the world there are millions of Christian believers. Every day people are encountering Jesus and finding new life in him. It might not seem like it to us in our little corner of Shropshire and unfortunately it doesn’t make the headline news, but there are lots of stories of individuals encountering God’s transforming love and saving grace. God’s family is ever expanding.
But there is opposition to God’s work in our world. Jesus tells us the tares or weeds represent false believers in the world. We are told the enemy, the devil, sows counterfeits in the world. They live among and alongside God’s people. Superficially they look like God’s true believers, but they are not. Sometimes it is really difficult to know whether someone is a disciple of Jesus or not. The other thing we need to remember is the journey of faith will look different for all of us.
The danger for God’s people is to take it upon themselves to weed out false believers. We make the mistake of judging people or worse still, excluding them, withdrawing ourselves from them. We can be quick to write people off as beyond God’s saving grace.
But that is not our job. Our job is not to pull up the false, but rather to plant the true. Jesus calls us to sow the seed of his Word and to bear fruit where we are planted. We are to pray for those who don’t know Jesus yet. At the same time, we are to expose and oppose the works of the enemy. We are to seek after God’s heart and live according to his word.
But it is not for us to judge whether someone believes in Jesus or not. By all means we should pray for others, share the gospel and tend to our own walk with God. But like the wise farmer, we are to wait for God to bring in the harvest and sort out the wheat from the weeds; the true from the false.
Ultimately, there will be a day of harvest, says Jesus when true believers will be separated from the false. It might be difficult to hear and digest this. But the scripture is clear in what Jesus says.
Jesus used this parable to clearly illustrate the truth that there are two different paths and eternal destinies. One is a life in all its fullness with God and one is without. We are to choose life and serve God. We are to grow where we are planted and seek God’s grace and protection to keep walking in his ways. We need to be vigilant and discerning so that we are not easily led away from the truth of God’s word, ever trusting in Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. For he alone is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Amen.