Wheat and weeds look very similar, it takes an experienced eyes to discern between them |
“’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 it!’ the farmer
explained. ‘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.’” (Matthew 13:24-30,
NLT).
Jesus explained that the
Kingdom grows quietly and abundantly, but evil still exists in the world. As
Jesus provides the meaning of this parable in Matthew 13:36-39, he revealed that himself, the “Son of Man” is the farmer; the “field” is the world; the “good seed” symbolizes God’s people; the
“weeds” are Satan’s people; the “enemy”
is Satan; and the “harvesters”
are angels. A common practice in ancient warfare and feuds was to destroy the
enemy’s agriculture. Thus, the presence of Satan’s people among the people of
God would weaken them. So it seems.
At first, the weeds and wheat are indistinguishable;
eventually, however, the differences become obvious. At harvest time, harvesters remove the weeds and get
rid of them. The “weeds” may be
people in the church (and of course the world too) who appear to be believers,
called themselves ‘Christian’, but who never truly believe. Later, the apostles
would battle the problem of false teachers who had come from within the ranks
of the believers (see, for example, 2 Peter 2:1-3; 13-22), and this problem is
still exist even today – until Jesus’ second coming.
As new believers begin to
mature in faith, their lives begin to reflect the Holy Spirit’s work, affecting
values, perspectives, priorities, attitudes, and actions. Those who aren’t true
followers of Christ, however, continue to reflect the values and attitudes of
the world. Eventually, the truth will be
revealed, and God will judge righteously and send each group to their deserved
eternal destination. For the “weeds”,
whose who “cause sin” and “do evil” (Matthew 13:41), that will be
terrible. But “the righteous will shine like the
sun in their Father’s Kingdom” (Matthew 13:43).
Think about this: God is
the ultimate judge of who truly belongs to him. We should be slow to judge
others, realizing people have different levels of spiritual maturity. Only God
knows their hearts. Instead, we can lovingly share the gospel, teach, encourage,
and comfort and discipline, when necessary, leaving the final judgment to him.
As for you and me, Jesus said we can
tell a lot about people by their “fruit”,
how they act and what they produce (Matthew 7:20), so what “fruit” are we producing that shows we
belongs to Jesus? How our values, perspectives, attitudes, and actions differ
from those who don’t know Christ? It is very well with our souls if we can ask
these crucial questions to ourselves and examine our own hearts in the light of
Christ’ gracious mercy and love. Amen.
THINK BIG.
START SMALL. GO DEEP.
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