Matthew 13:24-30; 36-43 –Jesus explains
the parable of the wheat and the weeds at the request of His disciples. That’s
a good thing! Now we know the meaning of the parable too! The Son of Man
(Jesus) sows good seed into the field of the world, producing children of the
kingdom. The devil, on the other hand, sows bad seed, producing evildoers. At
the end of the age, that is, at the end of all time – angels will remove from
the kingdom all evildoers. When that happens, then the righteous will shine
like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
This parable
teaches that we are not to judge who is a true or false Christian. We are not
to weed out the weeds because in doing so, we would destroy the wheat. On the
Day of Judgment God only will judge and separate the weeds and the wheat. Until
that time comes the church needs to have patience and forbearance of the weeds
among the wheat.
The wheat
(good) and the weeds (bad) are in the kingdom, not in the world. We could
understand it if the parable applied to the world where there are all kinds of
people. The kingdom of heaven is the kingdom of God, and the kingdom of God is
God’s realm, God’s people, the church. The church of God consists of good and
evil, wheat and weeds.
According to
this parable, every church consists of wheat and weeds. Who is to determine who
the weeds are? Who are we to judge? Since Jesus teaches that we should allow
the weeds to remain, why try to decide who weeds are? Only God knows who are
genuine believers, and members of the invisible church.
Weeds look
like wheat — hypocrites. You cannot tell the difference between believers and
make believers. Both live together in the Kingdom. Their behavior is similar.
The only difference – one has faith the other not.
The weeds are
so much like the wheat that only God can tell the difference. The Church is
invisible to us. We can’t tell who has faith and who does not have faith. Only
the Father Himself knows the heart of men. Only He knows the difference.
O God, so rule and govern our hearts and
minds by Your Holy Spirit that, ever mindful of Your final judgment, we may be
stirred up to holiness of living here and dwell with You in perfect joy
hereafter; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with
You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
The parable of the
Tares copyright Schnorr Von Carolsfeld woodcuts © WELS permission granted for
personal and congregational use
Collect for Proper 11, Lutheran Service Book ©
2006 Concordia Publishing House, St, Louis
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