Wheat and Weeds: A Meditation on Matthew 13

The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:

But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.

But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.

So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, 

Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?

He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. 

The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?

But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.

Let both grow together until the harvest and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: 

but gather the wheat into my barn…

Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: 

and his disciples came unto him, saying, 

Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.

He answered and said unto them, 

He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;

The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; 

but the tares are the children of the wicked one;

The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; 

and the reapers are the angels.

As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; 

so shall it be in the end of this world.

The Son of man shall send forth his angels, 

and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, 

and them which do iniquity;

And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: 

there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. 

Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Sometimes Jesus’ teachings can be difficult to understand, but for today’s reading, St. Matthew records Jesus’ own explanation of His parable regarding wheat and tares (or weeds) when the disciples come back later to ask Him specifically what it meant.  Much of chapter 13 is occupied with Jesus’ teaching about the Kingdom of God; how it comes among men, how people seek and find it, how it will be ushered in at the end of the age, and how His people will live after that tumultuous ending.  It is a reminder that while the things of this world may seem to be of the greatest importance, the real and enduring things are those which may not yet be clearly seen.

Take, for example, the way wheat and weeds coexist in the world.  Jesus clearly defines the wheat as those who are the children of God who live by faith in His Word (cf. the parable of the sower, earlier in the same chapter).  These people are the very intentional work of God Himself, where He has planted His Word into their hearts, and by the power of His Holy Spirit, given them a living faith which loves, abides, and trusts in Him.  They are the ones who are destined to shine forth in the Kingdom forever, reflecting the glory of their crucified and risen Savior, Jesus Christ.  These people have been forgiven of their sins, raised up to lives of faith and repentance, and have received the gift of eternal life.

And yet, there are people with whom they share this world, who have rejected God, His Word, His life, His forgiveness, and His grace.  While God sows His Word liberally to the whole world desiring that none should perish, just as there is no one for whom the blood of Christ was not spilt on Calvary, there are those who continue to willfully reject Him.  Love, hope, and faith cannot be coerced, and so God calls to all people through His Word of Law and Gospel, giving all people the grace of freedom to respond as they choose.  For those who will turn from the ways of evil, malice, lust, conceit, greed, deception, hatred, abuse, and murder, He offers forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and salvation by grace through faith in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.  For those who choose to remain in their wickedness, separated from the only True God who is Himself the Author of Life, there can be only death, judgment, and eternal perdition— a fiery prison in which they must be interred together with the devil and all his evil angles, to keep them from tormenting and corrupting the Kingdom of God forever.

Oddly enough in this world, the wheat and the weeds— the children of God and the slaves of the devil—coexist side by side, until the end.  Unwilling to lose even one soul who will repent, believe, and live, God endures the centuries of wickedness foisted upon His good creation by the devil and those who follow him.  Ever since the very first people fell to the devil’s temptation and made themselves slaves of sin and death, God has been at His self-sacrificial work to seek and to save any and all who would turn to Him, casting the good seed of His Word and Spirit in every direction and into every human heart, no matter how hardened and corrupt it may be.  All down through the history of mankind, God has been instructing His Holy Angels to hold back the judgment which is due to this world, so as to not consume the just together with the wicked.  Smaller judgements have occurred— from the rise and fall of civilizations, to the great deluge— but the last and final judgement has been withheld until that Last Day, when the last repentant and faithful soul will hear the Word of the Lord and be saved.  Until that Day, known only to God who alone knows the hearts of men, the wheat and the weeds grow together, side by side.

But don’t let the grace of God and His long-suffering deceive you into thinking that His judgment will not come.  Just as surely as the death of every individual person shall usher them immediately into the presence of their Creator and Judge so as to give an account of their lives and their abiding or rejecting of the Word of Christ, so too shall come the judgment of this world.  There will be a Day in which all the superficial garbage of the wicked shall be burned away with fire, and all those who are devoted to evil shall be cast into the fiery prison of hell for eternity.  In that Day, when the earth is purged of sin, death, the devil and all who follow him, then the righteous children of God, washed in the most holy blood of Jesus Christ, shall shine forth like the sun in His reflected glory.  In that Day, there will be no more oppression, abuse, injustice, slavery, or destruction.  In that Day, love and mercy, beauty and life, justice and truth, shall triumph forever, because God will come to dwell with us in the fulness of His Kingdom.

Jesus’ Word calls everyone not to be deceived by the empty promises and pursuits of the weeds in this world, nor the infernal one who has planted and inspired them.  Do not think that the loving patience of God to seek and to save all who will hear and believe in Him, is a license to live cavalierly in wickedness and unbelief.  The Day is coming, and it is closer now than it has ever been.  Be reconciled to God by grace through faith in Christ alone, that whether you meet Him upon the day of your death, or on that last great Day of the judgment of the whole world, you may shine forth with all the children of God in His blessed communion forever.  Amen.