Wheat and Weeds
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The Parable of the Weeds
24 Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
27 “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’
28 “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’
29 “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”36 Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”
37 He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.
40 “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42 They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear. -
The Enemy is Real
God is Patient
There will be a Judgement Day
The ‘parable of the weeds’ teaches that one day-we (do not know when) there will be a judgement day when God separates those whom this parable calls wheat and those called weeds. The one will be brought into the kingdom of their Father and the other will be thrown into a furnace. The idea of a final Judgement Day followed by an eternal heaven or hell seems alien to our permissive culture. Words like ‘Judgement’ and ‘Sin’ offends our ‘if it feels good do it’ society – there is no thought today about Judgement or eternal punishment. But that’s essentially what this parable is about
The story would be familiar to people who understood farming. A farmer planted good wheat seed in a field. But at night, an enemy came in and planted weeds. At first, no one noticed.
Ragwort is the curse of farmers today. When it is cut, it turns sweet, and animals will eat it and it is poison. In Palestine, Darnel was the curse of farmers. It looked just like wheat as it grew it was a different colour to wheat. In the end, Darnel had to be separated from the wheat because its seed heads were poisonous. Gardeners will agree that it is amazing how weeds just appear and often mimic the good seed that they have sown.
So what should be done? The workers asked, "Do you want us to pull the weeds?" "No," said the owner. "If you try, you might damage the wheat in the process. Let the weeds grow and at harvest time we will separate the weeds from the wheat."
There are three truths in this reading. Let's take a look at them:
The Enemy is Real
God is Patient
There will be a Judgement Day
The Enemy is Real
There are two Sowers in the story: Jesus (son of man) sows and Christians sprouted up when he shows. Then another Sower sows and what grows looks like Christians, say they are Christians, perhaps talk like Christians, but they are not Christians, bogus, deep fake.
The Kingdom of Heaven is Like a deep fake (Ode to Martin Lewis - a modern parable of the wheat and weeds):
The kingdom of heaven is like a Money Box Presenter who shared good news about things that helped people save and spend their money wisely. One day in July 2023 an enemy (a friend of Elon Musk) using AI created a counterfeit savings scheme promoting Elon Musk ventures – using the face of the Money Box presenter. The Good Morning Britain presenters said, "Didn't you share good advice that helped people? Where then did this counterfeit come from?" "An enemy did this, " replied Martin Lewis. Good Morning Britain asked, "What can we do, do you want us to stop showing all advise?" "No," he answered, "some good advice will not be broadcast, in the end what is true and what is counterfeit will be judged and the Deep Fakers will be punished (Reference Matthew 13:24-30)
Infiltration is a real tactic of the enemy. Same field, same look but - poison. Jesus said they were sowed by the enemy. Friends, there is an enemy, he seeks to destroy the work of God. ‘Satan,’ in Hebrew means adversary. Do you remember in Matthew 16:23 when Peter said he would never allow Jesus to suffer and die, Jesus said ‘Get behind me Satan’ – why did he say that? Because Satan was trying to destroy the work of God. In Matthew 4, Jesus was in the desert fasting and then was tempted, he said ‘get behind me Satan.’ Why did he say that? because Satan had twisted scripture and was trying to thwart the work of God. Make no mistake the enemy is real. The ‘enemy’ is my preferred word for the devil, Satan, Lucifer, when I am talking to non-Christians. John 10:10 says he comes to kill steal and destroy, John 8:44 says he is a liar and the father of lies – there is no truth in him. This enemy is real, so says Jesus.
Sadly, many Christian leaders today have lost sight of the enemy – some don’t even believe there is an actual enemy, lucifer the fallen angel, Isaiah 14:12, Ezekiel 28:16, Revelation 12:9.
The enemy plants counterfeit Christians, they look similar but they don’t have a living relationship with Jesus. True Christians trust and obey the word of God, Bogus Christians twist and deny the word of God, worship worldly things; sex, drink, durgs, Rock& Roll even ordinary things like sport and family and self.
The weeds in churches don’t look like Lucifer, they look a bit like wheat, like wolves in sheep's clothes, a bit like Christians.
Paul in Ephesian 6 says put on the full armour of God, to stand firm against the devil, 6v12 ‘for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” James tells Christians to resist the devil, he will flee from us. 1 Peter 5:8 tells us to beware: he is always on the prowl.
You may have heard King Lawal on Radio 4 this morning (23 July 2023), who has come under such attack - cancelled from his role as Conservative Councillor, removed from the board of seven charities for saying ‘in the bible Pride is a sin.’ 1 John 5:19 says “the world is under the control of the evil one.”
My parents used to attend a church in Darkley Co. Armagh, Northern Ireland – ‘Mountain Lodge’, on Sunday 20th November 1983, three men entered and randomly shot worshippers, killing 3 and wounding 7 INLA. Harold (59), John(39) and David(44) are with the Lord but today the church continues to grow and flourish, wheat and weeds intertwined. Friends the enemy is real. He is a defeated enemy, through Christ’s death and resurrection, his power is broken and his fate is sealed - we still need to be vigilant and resist and rebuke him in the name of our Lord Jesus.
God is Patient
This parable also teaches that God is patient and kind. There are two reactions to the weeds. The workers wanted to pull them up. That is the logical response, but not wise. That may be how I would like to react, knee-jerk reaction, let's get rid of them, call them out, expose them for who they are – we are better off without them.
But Jesus' timetable is not our timetable – Deuteronomy 32:25 ‘Vengeance is Mine and recompense; their foot shall slip in due time.’ (also see Romans 12:17-19)
It is not just about church, the parable explains that the field is the world. There is evil in the world but God seems to be ridiculously patient - longing that none should perish but for all to come to righteousness. (2 Peter 3:9). Sometimes I sit outside a witches’ shop in Ventnor (Pier St), praying for God to close it. It’s still open and busy - God is patient.
I am so glad God was patient with slave trader, John Newton who went on to become a Christian minister and of course, he wrote ‘Amazing Grace.’
I am so glad God was patient with Jonathan Aitken, he was a churchwarden in London before he was convicted of perjury and became a Christian in prison. Today he is a prison chaplain - God was patient with him.
The Lord's way is to be patient, lets his seeds all grow, weeds will grow too. Jesus cares more about planting, growing and bearing fruit than pulling up weeds. Friends, in this parable, Jesus is focused on you, your growth, your maturing, your fruit-bearing. If we miss this, we miss a fundamental part of being church. That the Lord plants and then nurtures and grows and blossoms and fruit comes. He calls us to go out and share and bear witness to this patient, loving God who is our Lord Jesus.
Growth doesn’t all come at once. That is why Jesus says, the kingdom is like farming. The farmer doesn’t sow one day and then expect the wheat the next day. Wheat takes 16 weeks to grow & ripen and winter wheat is about twice that.
Our confidence is in God’s patience. The kingdom is like farming, listen says Jesus, I am not the sort of king who pulls up, roots out or overthrows political rulers. King Jesus brings a revolution in your heart, deliverance, freedom from addictions, from guilt, forgiveness, cleansing and after the revolution of your salvation, the growth to maturity is gradual. God is patient, tender, merciful. He longs for you to grow deeper and deeper in him until that day when you see him face to face you will be like him (1 John 3:2)
There will be a Judgement Day (but God judges not us)
Matthew 7:1 ‘Do not Judge or you will be judged…you look at the speck in your brother’s eye but there is a plank in your own eye.’
Fundamentally, this parable teaches that there will be a Judgement Day, the judge is Jesus and there are two destinies, a blazing furnace and secondly the kingdom of the Father.
Read again the explanation in Matthew 13:39-43
The harvest is the end of the age and the harvesters are angels.40 ‘As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42 They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.”
Sorted – there is a Judgement Day and God is the judge. End of….
Not so fast! let us rewind, why was God so patient? In verse 29 Jesus says, if we pull out, call out and wipe out the weeds, we will damage true believers.
Yes, Judgement Day will come suddenly, and God will be the judge. I guess you are you glad that neither me nor the vicar is your judge nor even Peter at the pearly gates? Human judges will examine your character, your behaviour, your words, even how you look, but they can't examine your heart.
You may think you can easily tell what is wheat and what is counterfeit but can you really see into the heart? Can you see into the heart of Hugh Edwards, Jean Vanier, Mike Pilavachi, Ravi Zacaria, Kelvin Burke? No, only God knows their hearts and my heart. I sometimes think, if I could get rid of every sin and be the overcomer, I am meant to be, then I would be sinless, perfect, the purest. But that can never be because I am sinful by nature and I am saved by grace, not by perfection. Saved by the finished victory of our Lord Jesus who took our sin and defeated death.
I am so glad Jesus did not root me out when I made that terrible mistake, and that he gave me another chance when I messed up again, or that he did not cause my car crash in 1979 because of some great sin I committed. There is a judgement day but it wasn’t in 1979. In 1966, this 10-year-old was planted, born again, redeemed. In 1966 my name was written in Heaven’s Book of Life Revelation 20:15. That was when my Last Days Judge became my Saviour and Advocate and ever-present help and ever-so-patient friend. He will speak up for me on the Judgement Day and his answer will not be that Kelvin was good enough, his answer will be “I know Kelvin, I took all his sin and shame on my body on the cross, enter you righteous and shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of the Father.”
This parable does not end with weeping and gnashing, it ends with the kingdom of the Father. Think of a kingdom where there is no more pain or suffering, no more poverty, injustice, no more racial strife, no more gender debates. A kingdom without loneliness, family strife or addictions – the kingdom of heaven.
When Jesus told familiar parables he was saying to the listener, do you see yourself in this story? Where do you see yourself in this story? Are you planted by the Sower, the Lord Jesus? He longs for that to be you. Are you growing ever so slowly towards that harvest time, are there things that have slowed down the maturing, are you becoming more Christ-like as you journey on? Jesus longs for that to be you. Finally, is your eternal destiny the kingdom of God, is your name in the Book of Life?
Watchman Nee understood the nature of spiritual warfare between God and Satan. Nee wrote of Satan’s strategy to infiltrate, discourage and wear down God’s people. His preaching led to a revival in China in 1923. By 1949 he had been used in raising up hundreds of local churches.
He endured much religious and political persecution and was imprisoned in 1952. He was never released dying a martyr 20 years later in 1972. His final words were ‘I die because of my belief in Christ.’ He wrote the hymn: Conflict Today is Fierce…
Conflict today is fierce,
The strength of Satan more;
The cry of battle calling now
Is louder than before. The rebel voice of hell
E’en stronger now becomes;
But list, the midnight cry resounds,
Behold, I quickly come!2
Trials more bitter grow, The fighting doth enlarge;
Hell’s forces rally all their pow’rs
And gather for the charge.
Yet while we wait and watch
And feel the war severe,
We hear the joyful song ring out,
Jesus, the Lord. is near!3
’Tis harder at the end The word to testify,
For Satan fights with all his power
Our witness to defy.
Much greater strength we need
The foe to overcome;
How happy when the Lord we see
And all our sighing’s done!4
Who then will forward go
Strong in His mighty power?
Who then will firmly trust the Lord
Until the victory hour;
Till with the conquerors blest,
The triumph song’s begun?
That man will then rejoice to hear,
Behold, I quickly come!5
Who then will choose God’s best,
And take the narrow track,
Though passing thru the wildest storms,
Yet never turning back?
Who now will dare press on,
Enduring pain and fear?
All such will then rejoice to see
Jesus, the Lord, is near!6
Though deep the darkness be
We still would onward go,
Till we the day of rapture greet
And glory ‘round shall glow.
’Tis there we’ll see the Lord,
And Satan overcome;
The overcomers will rejoice,
Jesus, the Lord. has come
Watchman Nee
