“Weeds among the wheat”

Matthew 13.24-30,36-43
Pastor Tom Johnson, July 17, 2011

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When I first looked at the reading appointed for this Sunday, I confess that I took a deep breath. I muttered to myself, “Oh brother: the devil, the end of the age, and the furnace of fire. There going to think I’m fixated on this topic.”

Part of me wanted to speak about one of the other readings and hope that your minds weren’t filled with all the questions that flood my mind. But then how could I pass up an opportunity to preach on a topic we are currently having a Bible study about?

And so, I hope we prayerfully listen with ears to hear what Jesus wants to say to us this morning. And, it is my deepest conviction that these words are meant to encourage and comfort the believer.

Jesus first words are: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field.” First, the emphasis is the kingdom of heaven, not hell. In fact, the word “hell” doesn’t even appear in our passage.

Second, Jesus is talking metaphorically about the kingdom. This is a comparison. It is a parable. It is not an exact description. Jesus describes, in human words and physical descriptions, what the spiritual realm is like. “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field.”

Jesus illustrates the Kingdom of Heaven with the story of a farmer who plants good seed. When the good seed grow, the slaves are surprised to see weeds. Not only is the master already aware of the weeds, he knows who did it—the enemy.

The slaves of the master ask him if he wants them to begin gathering up the weeds immediately, but the master tells them to wait. At harvest time, the weeds will be gathered and burned and the good grain is brought into his barn.

This is what the Kingdom of Heaven is like—questionable farming. Conventional wisdom is to weed your garden early and frequently—so that it does not take over your garden. Traditional farming says “Get the weeds early before they take all the moisture and nutrients away from the good seed.”

But this master is not like farmers of this world—he is a farmer that illustrates the Kingdom of Heaven. When Jesus speaks in parables—or illustrative stories and word pictures—he does not always explain what it means. But here he does.

He tells us that the master farmer is the Son of Man—that is Jesus, the Messiah. The field is the world. The good seed are the children of the kingdom. And the reapers are the angels.

The weeds that grow are the children of the evil one. And the enemy who maliciously planted them is the devil—the great accuser. The approaching harvest is the end of the age.

This parable answers a few questions. The parable raises a few more. This is a parable that talks about the origin of evil, God’s delay in dealing with evil, and his ultimate resolution of evil at the end of all time.

I believe that Jesus has a purpose in telling this parable of the Kingdom of Heaven. And that purpose is to comfort the believer. Jesus reassures us that the appearance of the weeds (or of evil) may have surprised some, it did not surprise him.

It troubles the slaves that there are weeds in the field. It troubles me that there evil in the world. It bothers a lot of people that evil has been allowed to grow in this world—so much so, that many question why a good God would allow such a thing or deny his existence altogether.

Not only did the Son of Man know that the weeds would grow, he knew who did it; because he knew the devil from the beginning. The question that it raises is why God would allow the devil to bring evil into the world. The question is unanswered.

Why did God allow the serpent to tempt Adam and Eve? Why did God allow the weed of evil and sin to grow? Why does God allow terrible things to happen? He doesn’t answer the question. Ultimately, God calls us to believe he is good and that his original design was to sow good seed. And that good will eventually overcome.

He assures the slaves, and us, that he has a plan from beginning to end; and it is good. He will deal with the presence of evil. For now, it seems too late or not soon enough. But he will deal with the root and cause of evil.

He won’t just pluck the presence of sin out of the world like a gardener does one weed at a time. He will pluck the source of evil out so that it will no longer plague this world. Jesus will put the causes of sin and evil into the furnace of fire.

In other words, Jesus will finally answer the prayer we pray every day and every week: “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” and, even more importantly, “Deliver us from evil.” He has done it by Jesus’ death and resurrection for us.

The purpose of this parable is to comfort the believer. Just like John’s vision of the lake of fire in the book of Revelation, Satan and his demons are removed from our world along with death and the grave. We do not need to fear a future with evil.

There are two clear things about this parable that should comfort us: first, God will ultimately root out all evil; and Jesus will gather and transform us. Good and evil are not equal opposing powers. Good will triumph over evil.

Our good and gracious God has overcome our sin, the devil, and even death by his love, which has been revealed to us in Jesus, the Son of God. And not only will good triumph over evil for us but we will be transformed from little seeds sown on earth to bright shining lights in heaven.