Sermon text: Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
Last week we heard the parable of the sower from Matthew chapter 13. Today it’s the parable of the weeds and the wheat, also from Matthew 13. In fact, Matthew 13 is a chapter full of parables, seven in all. Some of these parables are shorter, some are longer. Some are explained by Jesus, others left unexplained. Today’s parable is one of the longer ones, but it also has with it an explanation of its meaning. It’s called the parable of the weeds and the wheat. Jesus said to his disciples, “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. 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?’ And 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 uproot 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.'”
Like the parable of the sower, the parable of the weeds and the wheat is also agricultural in nature. It was an agrarian society, and Jesus had a habit of taking things that were familiar to the common man and embedding them into his parables, his teaching. So this one uses familiar imagery of a landowner sowing seed in his field. But an element of tension is introduced when a bad guy comes at night and sows weeds, bad seed, into the field. Weeds are sown among the wheat. The weeds are such that at first, when they start growing, they don’t look much different than the wheat. But as time goes on and the plant develops, why, the workers notice that the weeds are mixed in with the wheat. And they ask the master whether they should go right away and take out the weeds. And the master says essentially, “No, let it be. We’ll do the separating at the harvest. That’s when I’ll instruct the reapers to take weeds to be burned and wheat to the barn.” That’s the end of the story.
So here we have a story with at least seven elements: a sower, a field, good seed, weeds, an enemy, harvest, and reapers. Now in some parables that Jesus tells, the parable has to be decoded as it were — there are just details there to fill out the story. But in this case we can decode all the elements of the story. And we can do this with confidence because Jesus provides the key to decoding the parable. He makes it simple and plain. They say, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” And Jesus does just that. He tells them that the one who sows good seed is the Son of Man, that the field is the world, the good seed, the sons of the kingdom. The weeds, the sons of the evil one. The enemy, the one who sowed the bad seed, is the devil. The harvest is the close of the age. And the reapers are the angels who come and gather on the last day.
“The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all lawbreakers, 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.” Jesus decoded all seven images: the sower, the Son of Man, Jesus himself; the field, the world; the good seed, the sons of the kingdom, that is Christians, believers, those who have been declared righteous by faith in Jesus Christ. The weeds, the sons of the evil one, that is unbelievers, the wicked. The enemy is the devil. The harvest is the close of the age, the last day, when the separation of the righteous and the wicked will occur. And the reapers are the angels who do the separating. So the explanation of the story is pretty straightforward. In this world, Christ has Christians who listen to him, follow him, believe him, counted righteous in him for his sake — all in the kingdom of grace. These are the sons of the kingdom, which means they will receive the wonderful inheritance that is waiting for them in the kingdom of glory. But in this world, Christians and hypocrites, Christians and unbelievers are found together. They’re mixed, one with the other. These are the sons of the evil one, for they remain enticed and captivated by the devil, the enemy of our souls. In this world, it’s not always immediately apparent who the sons of the kingdom are and which are the sons of the evil one. As the Lutheran confessions say, in the church, the visible church, true believers and hypocrites grow up together; they can look somewhat alike. They’re all mixed up: the righteous and the wicked, the believers and unbelievers, living in the same world. Maybe they’re living in even the same community. There will be an unmixing, a final separation on the last day, the close of this age. Then Christ will send his angels to do the separating. Sons of the evil one will share the devil’s judgment, being cast into the fire of hell, a place of eternal torment. On the other hand, the sons of the kingdom, the righteous, will share and shine in glory, the glory won for them by Christ, the eternal life in the kingdom of our heavenly Father.
That’s the explanation of the story, and it’s very clear and very simple. Of course, it’s not very popular in our day. You don’t hear this one quoted very often. For notice, there are only two types of people in this parable — two types of people of the world: the sons of the kingdom of God, and the sons of the evil one; the righteous and the wicked; the Christians and the unbelievers. Contrary to popular opinion, there are not many roads to God the Father. There is only one, namely through Jesus Christ alone, who says of himself, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” This goes against the popular mindset of our culture, which takes a universalist view, thinking that whatever you want to believe or not believe, that’s fine. Whatever works for you works for you. The universalist believes that all people will be saved, either in this life or in the world to come, regardless of belief or what deeds they may or may not have done. So this parable of the weeds and the wheat, you’ll pardon the expression, goes against the modern grain. And there is the final judgment, with a real heaven and a real hell. And this too goes against the grain of popular culture. But Jesus does teach the reality of hell. He does this in a lot of places. Actually, there’s a final judgment, a separation: two very different outcomes. On the one hand, the kingdom of heaven for those who by faith in Christ are counted righteous. On the other hand, there’s the damnation of hell for those who reject the Savior and remain condemned in their sins. This biblical doctrine is very, very unpopular in our culture, because Jesus teaches it. So we preach it.
So what is this parable saying? Well, when you hear any parable — in particular this one today — you should ask: why does Jesus tell the parable? What are we supposed to get out of it? What is the intended effect? Well, there’s several things. First, ask yourself: am I in the story? Am I one of the sons of the kingdom or one of the sons of the evil one? Am I among the righteous or the wicked? In other words, am I listening to and following and trusting in Christ alone, or am I headed off in some other direction? If you know you haven’t been following Jesus, then the thing to do is to repent. If you know that you do have faith and trust in Christ alone, then rejoice in your salvation and look at the world through that lens. This is a parable of both warning and salvation. It warns you of the coming judgment, of judgment day itself. It offers you salvation, showing you where your salvation is to be found, namely in Christ Jesus our Lord. You are to flee the coming judgment by taking refuge in Jesus Christ, not in your good works or good deeds. The Savior God has provided for you and all men is for you and for all. There is still time. The final judgment has not appeared yet. Now is the day of your salvation. The door of grace is still open. Jesus is your Savior. He died for you on the cross. He endured the judgment that you and I deserve, dying for our sins, that we may receive his righteousness, his resurrection, and live forever in his kingdom.
Second, realize that everything in this world is tied to Christ: the kingdom, our sonship in it, our righteousness, our eternal future — everything. Jesus comes and reveals the kingdom to us. He makes the kingdom known to us, as he does in this parable. Indeed, Jesus brings the kingdom of heaven on earth and brings us into that kingdom. Notice that Jesus is the sower in this story. He’s the one who plants us as good seed in his field. He gives us life and makes us what we are. We are sons of the kingdom because of the Son, the very Son of God, Christ Jesus our Lord. He is truly the righteous one, righteous in and of himself. By faith in him, we become righteous. We stand justified, righteous before our God, and for Christ’s sake alone. So as sons of the kingdom, joint heirs with Christ, we share in the inheritance, namely glory to be revealed when he comes again. Everything that is good in this parable, everything that is good that we have now and everything we have to look forward to — all of it is tied to Christ the Son of God, the bringer of the kingdom of heaven and our Savior.
Third, know that the world is not going to go on forever — that all of our suffering, trials, and temptation are temporary. Something greater is on its way. Something more permanent is on its way. Something more glorious is to come. All this suffering that we bear here and now — there is something better in store for us beyond it. Right now, we live in a mixed-up world where hypocrites and Christians exist together, where the devil has been at work. The world is full of weeds, thorns, and thistles — he pronounced the curse in Genesis chapter 3. This causes distress and discouragement, sin and scandal, offenses and causes of stumbling, lawlessness and lawbreakers. This is the world in which we live. Life of a Christian, as you now know, is not easy. We cry out and ask, “How long, O Lord, how long?” Well, the answer comes in this parable: not forever. The day is coming, dear Christians — the day that we long for, the day of our deliverance, the salvation we long for — the day is coming. Paul’s words in Romans 8 fit right here: “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”
The parable that Jesus tells today, the parable of the weeds and the wheat, is a parable of hope. It’s a parable of encouragement. It’s a parable of true Christian faith. We have something to look forward to. When the final harvest comes, the sons of the kingdom will be gathered in, and we will receive the inheritance that is ours in Jesus Christ, the glories of the age to come. And so we pray with expectation:
Even so, Lord, quickly come
To Thy final harvest-home;
Gather Thou Thy people in,
Free from sorrow, free from sin;
There, forever purified,
In Thy garner to abide:
Come, with all Thine angels, come,
Raise the glorious harvest-home!
for your sins are forgiven you. Amen.
May the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.