Wheat and Weeds...
Matthew 13
24Jesus told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
27"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?'
28" 'An enemy did this,' he replied. "The servants asked him, 'Do you want us to go and pull them up?'
29" 'No,' he answered, 'because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. 30Let 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.' "
AND THEN…
36Then 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."
37He answered, "The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. 38The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, 39and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.
40"As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. 41The 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. 42They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.
24Jesus told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
27"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?'
28" 'An enemy did this,' he replied. "The servants asked him, 'Do you want us to go and pull them up?'
29" 'No,' he answered, 'because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. 30Let 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.' "
AND THEN…
36Then 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."
37He answered, "The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. 38The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, 39and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.
40"As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. 41The 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. 42They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.
Jesus was a master storyteller. He weaved together tales with depths of meaning using language and illustrations that the people could readily identify with. What makes him a master is that His stories continue to speak to our contemporary situation.
The context:
A story of a landowner and his field would be something known and understood by all living in an agrarian society. For them, farming was life. A good harvest meant a good year—lots of money, lots of food, lots of comfort. The flip side is that a bad harvest meant a bad year—little money, little food, little comfort.
All who were listening to Jesus tell the story would have been able to get in the shoes of the owner and his workers. They would have been able to identify with the frustration and anger of a harvest being sabotaged by an enemy.
The field in question was a wheat field. Since bread was the most basic staple of the Palestinian diet (staple of the ancient diet in general), the wheat fields were critical. I can imagine the emotions surrounding intentional interference of a community’s most basic food source.
So, with the context of story was understood, we begin to peel back the layers…
In the second part of the passage, Jesus explains the first part. In His explanation, we see that each and every plant represents PEOPLE; people with feelings and emotions—each one with a story that fits into the larger story of life. All of a sudden, concern over the prospect of accidentally destroying a good plant while weeding out the bad plants makes sense.
So the two grew together until the harvest…The plants were given the chance to experience and live out the life cycle of a plant. The wheat and the weeds both experienced sunny days, and rainy days. Both were blown to and fro by the winds sweeping across the fields. They grew and grew until they were large enough to bear fruit. The weeds that were sown in the field were kind of poisonous ryegrass known as darnel (translated “tares”). These tares looked like wheat throughout the early stages of growth and could only be distinguished when the fruit appeared. It was the wheat’s fruit that allowed the harvesters to separate the wheat from the weeds.
What if an over zealous field hand decided to do the owner a favour by going through and weeding the field? The weeds were taking nutrients and water from the earth that should be solely going to the wheat. The added root stems were crowding the growing space under the ground and were hindering the wheat’s growth potential. The added weed sprouts cast shadows on the wheat disturbing the rays beaming down from the sun.
It made complete sense, and besides, he would be saving the owner time when harvest came.
This field hand would inevitably uproot some wheat as he was weeding out the tares. He would destroy lives as he prematurely separated what he thought was the good from what he thought was the bad.
In Jesus day, there were various subgroups within Judaism. One of these groups, the Essenes, withdrew from the rest of Judaism in order to pursue a higher level of purity. It reminds me of the many Christians that have withdrawn from normal society out of fear of being tainted by the world. They cast judgement on various people, choosing to prematurely separate themselves rather than grow and develop beside one who they perceive to be a weed.
So many plants have been destroyed as a result of this premature separation. So many good lives that could have produced fruit uprooted and cast aside. The owner does not desire to lose any of the harvest.
I imagine harsh disciple for that overzealous farm hand.
The reality of any field is that there is potential for wheat and potential for weeds. Some people are wheat, and some are weeds. Some grow, develop and bear fruit, others don’t. This parable reveals that it is NOT our job to determine whether another person is wheat or a weed.
We are called to love. We are called to be salt and light wherever we find ourselves growing. Salt is only flavourful when mixed with that which is not salty. Light is only bright when it illuminates darkness. Rather than separating ourselves, gathering all the salt into the shaker, or bringing all of the lanterns into an already lit room, we need to be mixed with others that are different than ourselves. We need to grow and be what God intended us to be wherever we are planted. As we allow every plant a fair opportunity to grow and experience the love of Christ, to experience all that may play out during a life cycle, we will be amazed at the plants that turn our to be wheat and we will be even more amazed at the plants that will turn out to be weeds.
The context:
A story of a landowner and his field would be something known and understood by all living in an agrarian society. For them, farming was life. A good harvest meant a good year—lots of money, lots of food, lots of comfort. The flip side is that a bad harvest meant a bad year—little money, little food, little comfort.
All who were listening to Jesus tell the story would have been able to get in the shoes of the owner and his workers. They would have been able to identify with the frustration and anger of a harvest being sabotaged by an enemy.
The field in question was a wheat field. Since bread was the most basic staple of the Palestinian diet (staple of the ancient diet in general), the wheat fields were critical. I can imagine the emotions surrounding intentional interference of a community’s most basic food source.
So, with the context of story was understood, we begin to peel back the layers…
In the second part of the passage, Jesus explains the first part. In His explanation, we see that each and every plant represents PEOPLE; people with feelings and emotions—each one with a story that fits into the larger story of life. All of a sudden, concern over the prospect of accidentally destroying a good plant while weeding out the bad plants makes sense.
So the two grew together until the harvest…The plants were given the chance to experience and live out the life cycle of a plant. The wheat and the weeds both experienced sunny days, and rainy days. Both were blown to and fro by the winds sweeping across the fields. They grew and grew until they were large enough to bear fruit. The weeds that were sown in the field were kind of poisonous ryegrass known as darnel (translated “tares”). These tares looked like wheat throughout the early stages of growth and could only be distinguished when the fruit appeared. It was the wheat’s fruit that allowed the harvesters to separate the wheat from the weeds.
What if an over zealous field hand decided to do the owner a favour by going through and weeding the field? The weeds were taking nutrients and water from the earth that should be solely going to the wheat. The added root stems were crowding the growing space under the ground and were hindering the wheat’s growth potential. The added weed sprouts cast shadows on the wheat disturbing the rays beaming down from the sun.
It made complete sense, and besides, he would be saving the owner time when harvest came.
This field hand would inevitably uproot some wheat as he was weeding out the tares. He would destroy lives as he prematurely separated what he thought was the good from what he thought was the bad.
In Jesus day, there were various subgroups within Judaism. One of these groups, the Essenes, withdrew from the rest of Judaism in order to pursue a higher level of purity. It reminds me of the many Christians that have withdrawn from normal society out of fear of being tainted by the world. They cast judgement on various people, choosing to prematurely separate themselves rather than grow and develop beside one who they perceive to be a weed.
So many plants have been destroyed as a result of this premature separation. So many good lives that could have produced fruit uprooted and cast aside. The owner does not desire to lose any of the harvest.
I imagine harsh disciple for that overzealous farm hand.
The reality of any field is that there is potential for wheat and potential for weeds. Some people are wheat, and some are weeds. Some grow, develop and bear fruit, others don’t. This parable reveals that it is NOT our job to determine whether another person is wheat or a weed.
We are called to love. We are called to be salt and light wherever we find ourselves growing. Salt is only flavourful when mixed with that which is not salty. Light is only bright when it illuminates darkness. Rather than separating ourselves, gathering all the salt into the shaker, or bringing all of the lanterns into an already lit room, we need to be mixed with others that are different than ourselves. We need to grow and be what God intended us to be wherever we are planted. As we allow every plant a fair opportunity to grow and experience the love of Christ, to experience all that may play out during a life cycle, we will be amazed at the plants that turn our to be wheat and we will be even more amazed at the plants that will turn out to be weeds.
