Parables
“The Wheat and the Weeds”
Matt 13:24-30 & 36-43
(Read Matt 13:24-30 & 36-43)
This parable is told in two parts; to two different audiences; in two different places.
And of all the parables Jesus told – it is one of the very few which He interpreted.
The first part – the actual parable is told in public; by the sea to the crowds and the disciples (vv 24-30).
It is a story which began to speak to a deeply troubling issue – if the kingdom is here, why is there still evil?
It was a problem for the soul then – it’s a problem for the soul now.
Not only is there a mixture of good and bad in life, and life supposedly has the kingdom present now with the coming of Jesus – but even His church seems a mixture of good and evil!
How can that be?
So Jesus tells the parable we have read.
In the light of this troubling issue - I suppose, though, it might seem a redundant parable to tell.
They knew – we know – that Jesus is here announcing the arrival of the kingdom, but there seem such small gains.
And this parable simply states what is already known and experienced – the good has been infiltrated by the bad.
Basically – the parable, at first, simply answers basic questions of life:
i. Who are we? (“people of righteousness”)
ii. Where are we? (“in the presence of the kingdom”)
iii. What is wrong? (“evil is present too”)
These three questions are asked and answered in the telling of the parable to everyone by the sea that day.
The parable describes life as it was being experienced in that day and age.
And really – not much has changed.
Those three questions and answers are as accurate today as they were then.
And moreover – Jesus as usual – likens the Kingdom to this very real life situation.
The kingdom has this mixture of good and evil people.
Now we would expect this of human kingdoms, nations and empires.
But not the kingdom of God!
Yet that is exactly what Jesus is saying.
This weight you feel in your heart; this frustration you feel about the presence of evil – well – to an extent; “Welcome to the kingdom of God”.
But there is a fourth question everyone would like answered.
A question hanging in the air.
iv. What, then, is the solution?
Up until this point in the Biblical story – that solution was pretty frequently applied.
Purge evil from midst of the people of God!
It happened all through Israel’s history:
• Golden Calf when the Levites with Moses purged idolaters (Exo 32)
• Phinehas’ averting God’s judgment by spearing an Israelite and his Midianite lover (Num 25:6-8)
• Korah’s rebellion (Num 16)
• Achan’s sin (Josh 7)
• the separation of foreigners and dissolution of mixed marriages (Neh 13:1-3, 23-31; Ezra 9:1-4)
Psa 73 really summed up the situation.
There the Psalmist laments how the wicked flourish while the righteous seem to suffer.
And there in that prayer, that song, he despaired.
He was losing faith.
Until half way through his prayer he writes about what happened –
"But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I perceived their end. Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin. How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors!" (Psalm 73:16-19)
So based on the way things had been “done around here” for some time – evil needs to be purged.
Dramatically so.
But this is where the parable really begins to challenge the way things had always been “done around here”; it begins to challenge the way we would like things to be “done around here”.
This is where our attention turns to the second part of the parable.
First the location changes.
Jesus leaves the seaside and goes to a house.
Second the audience changes – He no longer addresses the crowds, just the disciples.
The disciples come to Jesus and ask Him to explain the parable (v 36).
Their approach to Jesus is quite literally described in very majestic terms.
The words used are reserved for someone approaching a deity. A god.
And this is how they approach Jesus – the Son of Man.
And further more – the request to “explain” is used only one other place – Matt 18:31 when the colleagues of the unforgiving servant go to the king to “explain” what he had done.
So its use conveys a highly charged atmosphere; a setting of undivided attention.
It is how we ought to approach Him now as we too draw near to hear the answer to the – as yet – unanswered 4th question:
“What is the solution?”
We are tired of the presence of evil!
You have raised our hopes with the promise of the kingdom – but we just keep seeing evil!
You have explained that bad seed has been planted among the good.
So – what can be done about it? What is the solution for us as disciples?
For anyone here – who is sick of having to seemingly and constantly put up with the presence of evil – you too want an answer to the question.
And Jesus gives it – but I suspect that you will not like it.
“Wait”
“Wait until the end of the age!”
You see – not only is the telling of this parable taking place in two different places, to two different audiences – it is also referring to two different times in history.
The actual parable describes life now.
The kingdom now.
The frustration of it all now.
The interpretation – that refers to the end of the age.
The future.
Judgement will happen. But not yet
But we want action now! We want to execute judgement now.
Those who first heard the parable had a history of executing judgement now! In the Name of God no less!
But when Jesus explains the parable – the explanation is heavily weighted to the end of the age.
Not now.
Jesus gives an allegorical explanation of seven, but not all, of the elements (vv 37-39).
The subsequent interpretation is heavily slanted towards the time of judgement with most press being given to the weeds (x4); harvest (x4); and reapers (x3).
After these verses the other four elements (sower, wheat, field, enemy) are barely referred to again, with the field and enemy not being explicitly referred to at all.
The judgement imagery; the language used to describe Jesus (Son of Man) is all very “Daniel” like.
And Daniel is a book of tremendous drama and judgement and empires falling and God’s kingdom and righteousness setting the world to right.
And this parable and its interpretation begin to bring all that to mind. But…
But on the scene came a desert prophet, cloaked in camel's hair, and a carpenter from an obscure village of Galilee. Together the prophet and the carpenter could not field a platoon, let alone an army. This talk of a kingdom was well and good. But where was the proof that Daniel's God was on the move?
And so out of this parable falls deeply challenging revelations for us all…
• Be aware - we live in the age of planting and growing – not harvesting.
The parable and its interpretation refer to two distinct moments in history – “here and now” and “there and then”. Do not confuse the two.
• Be obedient - we live by blessing others and leaving vengeance to God (Rom 12:14-21)
The weeds are not just to be tolerated – but loved as neighbours
• Be clear - this conflict is satanic and is personal against Christ and His kingdom
• Be careful - disciples are to refrain from engaging in this conflict by attacking others (Eph 6:12)
In the parable – only satan is referred to as the enemy, not humanity.
• Be joyful - this parable is actually about a fresh work of God’s – not satan’s
• Be encouraged - the church is to take heart that Jesus will judge at the end of the age
• Be humble – who knows? Maybe you are a “weed”!
“Surely not I Lord?” Remember the ending of the parable, “Let anyone with ears listen!”
Presented By: Rev. Geoff New