This week we’re going to continue the agricultural theme we began last week. Last week, we looked at the Parable of the Sower. In that parable Jesus told about a farmer sowing seed. Some seed fell along the path, some fell on rocky ground, some fell among weeds and thorns, and some fell on good soil. We talked about the Sower as God, the seed is God’s word (which according to John chapter 1 is Jesus, the Word made flesh), and the different soils were different life circumstances. The seed that fell along the path represented people who hear the Word but don’t understand. The seed on the rocky ground represents those who hear and believe, but when things get tough they abandon their faith. The seed among the thorns represents those who hear and believe, but they care more about the world than their faith. Their pursuit of earthly things smothers their faith. Those on the good soil are those who hear, understand, and believe. Those seed multiply 30, 60, and 100-fold. We also talked about the fact that all of us, at some time or another, face each of these conditions. If we look at our lives honestly, we can see hard, rocky, thorny, and good soil in our past and our present, and we can expect more of the same in our future. The great thing that we learned from that parable is that despite all of that, despite knowing that some people would not accept God’s gift of grace, Jesus still came into this world to suffer and die for our sins and he rose from the dead to assure that those who love, believe in him, and follow him will have eternal life.
This week’s parable has many of the same elements as last week. We have a farmer, we have seed, and we have a field, we have a harvest. There are differences as well.
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
So, there are differences as well. This time we have two sowers and two types of seed, but only one, good, soil.
Let’s start with some historical context for our story. First, this is a real world situation for Jesus and his audience. An enemy sowing weeds in a rival’s field was something that happened. Most in the crowd probably knew of someone whose field had been attacked. The word Jesus uses for the weeds in the story is zizania – It is also known as tares, cockle, or bearded darnel.
Let me go ahead and say now that I am not a farmer. I am not a gardener. I know very little about farming, gardening, or plants in general. Everything I’m about to tell you, I read. In fact, everything I’m about to tell you I read in different commentaries on this scripture. It didn’t come from any sort of botany book. It came from bible scholars. I will say this; I read the same information in several different places from several authors so I’m confident it’s accurate.
Darnel is a weed that is very similar to wheat. In fact it is known as ‘false wheat.’ Darnel can only be differentiated from wheat when the plants mature. Once the plants bear seeds, the difference is clear. The heads look completely different. The grain of the wheat plant is heavy and causes the plant to droop. The darnel heads are almost empty, so those plants stand straight. Not to mention that darnel grain is poisonous. This explains why the servants did not notice the bad seed until after the plants produced grain. But why not pull them up?
The problem becomes this: the root structure of the darnel is invasive. It wraps itself around the roots of the wheat that surrounds it. The two root systems become intertwined. If you were to pull up the darnel, you would also pull up the wheat.
The servants want to pull up the weeds immediately. But the master knew that to do so would mean he would lose much of the wheat crop. Instead the master tells the servants to let them grow side by side until the harvest time then they will separate the wheat from the weeds.
This is an accurate description of a method to get rid of darnel. There were three ways to do so according to William Barclay (one of those Bible scholars/botanists). First, wheat grew taller than the darnel. If the infestation was bad enough, the wheat could be reaped above the darnel, and then the field would be burned. If there were only a few darnel plants, the farmer would harvest the field and then pick out the darnel grain. The third way is as Jesus describes. As the field is reaped the reaper bundles the darnel and leaves it in the field to be collected and burned later.
Just like the parable from last week, the Disciples hear this parable and they don’t get it, so they ask Jesus to explain. He obliges them. Jesus tells them that the sower is the “Son of Man,” which we know refers to Jesus. The field is the world, the good seed, and therefore the wheat, are the “children of the Kingdom.” The weeds are the children of the evil one. The enemy is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. So, at the end of the age, Angels will gather up the evil doers and everything that causes sin and cast them into the furnace. Sounds bad for the weeds doesn’t it?
I don’t know about you, but this leaves me with some questions. First of all, this parable seems to say that there are good people (kingdom people, Disciples of Jesus) and there are evil people; and those things are set, predestined. Another question I have; who are the servants? In his explanation, Jesus never identifies them. He identifies every other element of the story. Another question; Do we have to live with weeds?
Let’s see if we can answer all of those questions at once.
Let’s start with the servants. Who are these people who go to the Master, Jesus, and tell him: Let’s get rid of the evil ones! Do you think that group might represent his disciples? They were not always happy with the company Jesus kept; Tax-collectors, Lepers, outcasts, and rejects. They sometimes questioned his practice of sharing a table with these “weeds”. In a modern context, it could be the church. We, too, like to decide who is in and who is out. We want to, using our own criteria, decide who is worthy of saving and who is not. Who is wheat and who is a weed. We try to determine who is accepted by God and why. And who is not accepted by God and why not. What criteria do we see for who’s in and who’s out? How can we know who is worthy? That is the point the master makes in the parable and the point Jesus makes in his explanation.
Judgment is not for us. Judgment is not for now. Jesus tells the disciples that the judgment will come “at the end of the age.” The world is full of wheat and the world is full of weeds, but so is the church; so are we all. Just like we can see each of the life circumstances represented by the 4 soils in last week’s parable, we can also identify weeds in our lives along with the wheat.
And when it comes to judgment, that’s where we need to look first and foremost; at the weeds in our own hearts and minds. What weeds are choking out the good wheat you want to produce? What keeps you from true discipleship? Stress, busy-ness, money, a better job, a bigger house? And that doesn’t even touch on the temptations we face and the temptations we give into everyday. Just like the field of the world is sown with weeds, so are our lives. If the devil sows evil in the world, what make you think he won’t sow evil in your life?
But there is hope in this parable. The servants want to get rid of the weeds immediately. The master, though, tells them to wait. The master delays judgment. In this way, the parable gives us a glimpse of God’s love, mercy, and grace. Each of us, but not just us, everyone has the chance for redemption.
Every metaphor eventually breaks down. To look at our lives as wheat and weeds, good and bad, saved and unsaved; whatever you want to call it. It works up to a point, but the truth is this, if the wheat is the good fruit produced by those who are justified through Christ, then all of the weeds, the children of the evil one, they can become wheat. Because of Jesus life, death, and resurrection everyone has the chance for redemption. Each of us has the choice to follow Jesus, or to not. It’s not a choice that is only presented once, but it is a limited time offer. The “End of the Age” will come. The end of your life will come. And as we read here and elsewhere, there will be a judgment.
No comments:
Post a Comment