Weeds in the Garden

July 23, 2017


GOSPEL LESSON: Matthew 13:24–30, 36–43 [Parable of the wheat and weeds.]

He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’”

Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed is the children of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the close of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the close of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.”

P: This is the Gospel of our Lord.
C: Praise to you, O Christ.

This parable of the wheat and the weeds is only in the Gospel of Matthew. Many parables and stories are shared by the four Gospel Books, but this one is only in Matthew. Of course there are many other stories and words of Jesus that are not recorded at all in our Bible, as John tells us at the end of his Gospel Book (Jn.20:30, 21:25). But I wonder why Matthew chose to include this parable. Or if you will: why the Holy Spirit inspired Matthew to include this parable in his Gospel Account. I like the suggestion that it was because the church for whom he wrote this Book had a problem and needed to hear this word of Jesus. And it is a message that our church also needs to hear and learn. Or maybe it is a warning for us. It might not be our situation today, but maybe in the future, so it is something to remember.

Of course Jesus spread the pure Word of God. But already in Matthew’s day, the devil was spreading poisonous weeds in the church. The weeds are teachings, behavior, and attitudes that are against Christ. Or the weeds might be people who do damage to the church, pretending that they are Christian, or perhaps they do not even realize their error but because of their behavior, they do great damage to the church. Perhaps they hurt the church’s reputation. Maybe they are Christians who just don’t have their theology correct, and so make problems.

I read in my Bible Commentary about the background of this parable. It seems to be based on actual cases. The weeds are a type of grass that looks like wheat in the early stages. It is not until the weeds start to form the head of grain that it is obvious that they are different. By that time, the roots of the weeds and the roots of the wheat have mingled together so that some of the wheat would also be pulled up if the weeds were pulled out. The type of weed that is probably meant in the parable is said to be bitter and slightly poisonous. If they are harvested together, it is a difficult and tedious process of separating the two similar-looking grains. And so the Master in the parable says to gather the weeds first and burn them before the wheat harvest begins.

This is a parable and Jesus means the life of the church now and the Last Judgment at the End of the World. And there are only two judgments: heaven or hell, the fiery furnace or kingdom of the Father.

In the parable, the servants wanted to pull up the weeds and clean up the field. In the church, there are people who want to kick out all the bad members and have a pure congregation. As Jesus warns, there is great danger in doing this. The first danger is that we humans cannot read the hearts of other people. We do not really know what they believe. We can look at their behavior and try to judge. But true believers often sin and make mistakes. The forgiveness of Jesus is greater than their sin. We have to realize this whenever we start to judge other people. What looks like a weed today, can turn out to be good wheat. That is to say, a wild, reckless youth can “sow a lot of wild oats” but finally turn out to be a respectable member of society. A person who has doubts about their faith and spouts heresy, can come around to the truth of the Gospel. The opposite can happen too. A person can change because of the sin and challenges and sadness of this world. The trials that build up one person can tear another down. It can lead to doubt and rejection of Christ. So, we do not really know who is good or bad. We do not know who will be really faithful to Christ at the time of the Last Harvest.

There may be times when excommunication is good. The LCMS Synodical Catechism, Question # 283 asks, “What is the purpose of excommunication?” Answer: “Excommunication is not intended to punish the sinner but to A lead him or her to repentance and faith; B prevent him or her from leading others into sin.” So, excommunication is intended, not for the eternal ruin of the excommunicated, but of the salvation of their soul, that they might see the greatness of their sin and repent. Then Question #284 reminds us that “the congregation must forgive any excommunicated person who repents and receive him or her back into full fellowship.”

The first danger of pulling out the weeds is that we do not know for sure who is a weed. The second problem is that we may accidentally pull out some good wheat. We might destroy the faith of someone. What we might judge to be bad might actually be good. That happens when we compare someone else to our own sinful image. That person is different, so must be wrong, must be bad. Or, we might create a scandal that destroys the faith of someone. The way of doing things can be worse than the original problem. “The cure is worse than the disease.” For example, if you kick a man out of the church who actually is an unrepentant sinner, that man might pull his whole family out of the church and away from Christ. I think Jesus was warning about this sort of thing. Or people might get disgusted about an overbearing pastor or elder and just leave the church.

This is the world we live in. This is the church we live in. This is the world that Jesus came to. He was like good wheat sown in the world of weeds and sin and death. Jesus proclaimed the Gospel of love and forgiveness. The enemy judged Jesus to be bad. Jesus was collected or captured. He was not thrown into the fire, but rather he was killed on the cross. But in his resurrection there if forgiveness and new birth. We are changed from being weeds headed to destruction into the harvest of the redeemed, the righteous, for eternal life.

But how are we going to live with all those weeds around us? How do we live in this world of sin?
1. Patience. Endure till the end of the world.
2. Let the angels do the work. “The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace.”
3. Love and forgiveness. This is just standard Christian behavior no matter what.
4. Love and forgiveness. This is so important that I had to repeat it.
5. Proclaim the Gospel. Proclaim and pray for repentance and regeneration.
6. Faith in God. Trust in God. Hope in God.

Amen.

Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church


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