Wheat with widespread weeds
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 24He presented another parable to them: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25But while people were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. 26When the plants sprouted and produced heads of grain, the weeds also appeared. 27The servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where did the weeds come from?’ 28He said to them, ‘An enemy did this.’ The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and gather up the weeds?’ 29‘No,’ he answered, ‘because when you gather up the weeds, you might pull up the wheat along with them. 30Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “First, gather up the weeds, bind them in bundles, and burn them. Then, gather the wheat into my barn.”’”
36Then Jesus sent the people away 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 them, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38The field is the world. The good seeds are the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the Evil One. 39The enemy who sowed them is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the world. The reapers are angels. 40Therefore, just as the weeds are gathered up and burned with fire, so it will be at the end of the world. 41The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will pull out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and those who continue to break the law. 42The angels 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. Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.”
The righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Amen.
Many of you know that I’m not a big fan of vegetables. And yet, I have a large garden. Now, it’s filled with the nine vegetables I will eat. … Plus two other veggies for Shelley and the girls.
I enjoy planting the garden or certainly picking the tomatoes, peppers, snap peas, and such. What I don’t enjoy is pulling the weeds. I don’t know too many people who enjoy weeding their garden. My issue is two-fold. As a novice gardener, I’m not always confident on what is a weed and what is a plant. Although, I did hear the helpful tip that if you pull it and it grows back, it was a weed. If it doesn’t grow back, it was a plant. … But it’s a little late by that time.
Also, when I pull up the weeds, I may accidently also pull up the plants with them.
Jesus tells a parable about wheat and weeds. He taught, “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while people were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. When the plants sprouted and produced heads of grain, the weeds also appeared. The servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where did the weeds come from?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy did this.’ The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and gather up the weeds?’ No,’ he answered, ‘because when you gather up the weeds, you might pull up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “First, gather up the weeds, bind them in bundles, and burn them. Then, gather the wheat into my barn.”’”
In his story, a farmer plants wheat in his field. But during the night, his enemy comes and plants weeds in the field, too. Later, the servants ask if they should pull up the weeds. I like the farmer’s advice. He doesn’t want them to do any weeding. For the same reasons I don’t like to weed. The weeds look identical to the wheat. Even if the servants could identify the weeds, they might pull up the wheat along with them.
The weeds in Jesus’ story are tares that look like wheat as they are growing, but it is a poisonous weed not fit for eating. Tares are knows as bearded darnel, a species of rye-grass. Eating tares would make you feel intoxicated, giddy, and sick. It could induce vomiting, stomachache, and diarrhea. It isn’t until the harvest time that you can clearly see the difference between wheat and tares.
Jesus later gives the meaning of the parable of the wheat and the weeds. “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world. The good seeds are the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the Evil One. The enemy who sowed them is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the world. The reapers are angels. Therefore, just as the weeds are gathered up and burned with fire, so it will be at the end of the world. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will pull out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and those who continue to break the law. The angels will throw them into the fiery furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.”
In this parable, we as Christians are the wheat. Jesus has planted us in the field of this world. But the Evil One of the Devil has planted sin, evil, and unbelievers into this field, too.
Living as wheat with widespread weeds can be frustrating and exhausting. It can be disturbing and discouraging. Jesus himself said that the Devil is the Prince of this world. We see his reign in the spirituality of our nation. The fastest growing religious group in America is the nones – those who have no religion or faith. At the same time, Christian churches, even in our Wisconsin Synod, are closing. Many people have not returned to the pews after Covid.
We also see Satan’s reign in the evil that is tolerated, accepted, and then promoted in our institutions. There is the Wokeness in our government and military; Critical Race Theory and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in our workplaces; and sexual sins endorsed in our public grade schools, high schools, and universities. At the same time, Christian speech and teachings are silenced, censored, and called “hate speech.” Hollywood and social media put out vile, vapid content.
This can all be discouraging. So, we are tempted to do one of two things. We might be tempted to hunker down and hide out in our little corner of the field. That’s no different from the monasteries of old. When we do that, we allow the weeds to take over the rest of the field.
Or we might be impatient and start pulling out what looks like weeds to us. That’s no different than the Spanish Inquisition of old. But there are times when unbelievers and evildoers appear righteous and upright like wheat. There are other times when Christians are acting according to their sinful nature and appear like weeds.
Jesus does not want the wheat to be harmed when the weeds are removed. In his divine providence, he allows the weeds to grow alongside the wheat.
Rather than being discouraged that you are wheat living with widespread weeds, Jesus wants to encourage you with this parable. Be encouraged that though the Evil One comes and spreads weeds into the field, notice how the farmer in the story isn’t surprised by it. Nor does he seem all that disturbed by it. He has a plan. It just involves time and patience.
When the Evil One came and spread his weeds of doubt and unbelief in the field of this world in the Garden of Eden, notice how God reacted. He isn’t surprised by it. Nor does he seem all that shocked. He has a divine plan. His plan involves time and patience. It also involves his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ – the teller of the parable.
Our Lord Jesus, the owner of the field, came to live among the weeds. He didn’t apply some kind of cosmic Roundup to the field, sanitizing it before he became flesh and dwelt among us. He immersed himself into the grime and grit of this sin-infested world. He lived flawlessly among the devil and all his demonic seeds so that his blood might turn sinners into saints, so that he could protect the wheat living among the weeds, so that he could convert and save, and so that he could raise the dead for his final Harvest.
Also be encouraged by the fact that you are wheat. The owner of this field – Jesus Christ – has purposely planted you as wheat in the world. He made you wheat through the waters of your Baptism. He continues to keep you as wheat by nourishing your faith through Word and Sacrament. When you appear worldly and weedy, he absolves your sins so that you continue as wheat for the final Harvest.
Also, looking physically across the field may be discouraging at the growth of the weeds in the world. That’s why you need to look spiritually at the field. Though there are WELS churches that are closing in some places, we as a church body are committed to opening 10 new churches in other places every year. By God’s grace, our own corner of the God’s kingdom has been growing lately through baptisms and adult confirmands.
With all the weeds around you in your workplace, you might be frustrated enough to want to quit to work elsewhere. You can certainly do that. You don’t want the weeds to choke out your faith. But it might also be good for you to remain there. The Holy Spirit might use your Christian witness as wheat to influence and interest the weeds in what God has to offer elsewhere in the field.
You might be frustrated by what you see in Hollywood and social media. Perhaps the screen actors guild and the writers going on strike is a perfect time for you to realize you don’t need anything they’re offering. Read a book. Play with your kids. Ride your bike.
Perhaps you also notice that Christians are finally beginning to push back on all the wokeness, DEI, CRT, and other ideas that have been influencing our culture. You as wheat can continue to spread the gospel, share your faith, bear abundant fruits.
No matter what the Evil One does. No matter how much the Devil tempts. No matter how Satan attacks. No matter how much influence the Prince of this world has. Jesus remains King of kings and Lord of lords. This is his field. This is his world. This is his Kingdom.
Jesus announces at the end of his explanation of this parable: “Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” We are the righteous ones, the sons and daughters of the kingdom – not because of who we are, but because we have been joined to Christ. Joined with Christ in his Church, our focus is not to yank the weeds – as if we could tell the difference! – but to cultivate the field. Through water poured over heads, Word put into ears and the Sacrament placed into tongues, we have been transformed from weeds by nature into wheat by grace. It is through these same waters of Baptism, Word of God, and Sacrament of the Supper that transforms natural born weeds into spiritually reborn wheat.
The enemy tries to sow dissension and division. He attempts to separate and segregate. He sows wrath and anger. God sows unity and love, kindness and compassion, grace and patience. When we demonstrate unity, love, kindness, compassion, grace, and patience to each other and to others, the world takes notice. They aren’t seeing any of that right now in the world. But they can see it from us. God uses us, along with his Means of Grace, to turn weeds into wheat.
Not only did I plant a garden, but I’m also raising chickens for eggs. I purposely put the chicken coop next to the garden so that when I weed, I can feed the weeds to the chickens. … But they don’t eat the weeds. They are picky little ladies.
But that’s OK. I can use the weeds for mulch.
Jesus promises that the weeds in his parable will be gathered and thrown in the fire. This means that those who have opposed and persecuted Christians in their unbelief will be gathered on the last day and thrown into the fires of hell. God will bring justice for his righteous ones. We must learn patience because that justice may not come until the judgment.
The last encouragement is that Jesus is the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. He has ascended into heaven. One day, the rest of us as wheat will be harvested by the angels and gathered into the barn of heaven. So, be encouraged as you live as wheat with widespread weeds. Amen.
Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear. Amen.