July 19, 2020
“The Wheat and the Weeds”
Isaiah 44:6-8
Matthew 13:24-30
In todays passage from Matthew 13:10 we have the disciples coming to Jesus and asking him :”Why do you speak to (the people) in parables?” Basically what Jesus says in answer to that is: you must listen AND understand; look AND perceive and then understand with your heart.
So then, today’s reading in Matthew offers us a parable and also the reading for today is about the reason for the existence of parables. Got that? We have a parable and we have an explanation of that parable and we have an explanation for why we have parables.
I know that you are sitting there, drinking your coffee, looking out the window and thinking…come on Bob, tell us a story about being attacked by loons when you kayak.
But, listen up…I think this mornings passages are a mirror for our lives today. Jesus gives us a parable, which baffles his listeners and makes them think and then turns it back on them a bit when he says…”Let anyone who has ears listen!”
Yeah, just what is THAT supposed to mean? Come on Jesus, tell us a story that has an ending about being nice to those to whom we should be nice. But instead he tells a parable about seeds being sown and then the enemy sneaks in and sows weeds among the weeds. This doesn’t just HAPPEN, the enemy deliberately sows weeds into the field of wheat.
What we probably have here is a type of weed called a “bearded darnel” …a weed with no virtues. It’s roots surround roots of good plants and suck up precious nutrients and water. So it is difficult to root out the good crop from the darnel, which looks identical to wheat, until it bears seed. And the seeds of the “bearded darnel” can cause everything from hallucinations to death.
Here’s where it gets tricky to understand. Here is where you shake your head when Jesus says that the master of the fields tells his servants to just let them all grow and at harvest time the reapers will collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned but the wheat is to be gathering into the barn.
In other words…take the grown weeds and burn them. In other words…it is time for another cup of coffee. And when you return, I’ll tell you what the disciples said.
Ready? The disciples approached Jesus saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.”
So, Jesus explains the parable by saying…the one who sows is the Son of Man (that’s him), the field is the world, the good seed are the children of the kingdom and the weeds are the children of the evil one. The devil sowed the bad seed and the angels harvested the field.
That sounds pretty understandable. And Jesus goes on to explain that the weeds are collected and burned and in the same way it will happen at the end of the world. The son of man will send all his angels and they will collect all the causes of sin and all evildoers and they will be thrown into the furnace of fires and there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Have a nice day.
Time for more coffee.
Let’s consider a few things. Jesus’ hearers and even we today…are able to understand… which is…Do good and you are on the path to righteousness, do evil and eventually you will bring harm upon yourself. And might I add, that the message is much more complex and layered than that, but in today’s world and even back then…just give us the facts. And the lesson is…Do good. Do no harm.
But the writer Matthew may have also been referring to the formation of the early church…where all looked alike in the congregation but some were there to grow the church and others were there to cause internal division and sow distrust.
Granted, the outcome of such events seems a bit harsh to suggest that all those who opposed anything should burn in the fires of the furnace. But, a parable is meant to cause one to hear and think and think again and then think again.
A parable is not a 60 minute TV drama where all things are neatly tied up at the end. Listen to a parable and then do some thinking…the answers are not just given to you. Is it any different each day, especially today…read the papers, talk to you neighbor and try to discern just what to do in this life. Heck…parables seem simple compared to modern life these days. But, I like that parables challenge us. So should you.
That is what parables are…stories to get you to think and wrestle and then think again. They are not supposed to be a simple package tied up neatly with a ribbon…though the story is to be unpacked and carefully examined. The beauty is in the unwrapping.
The sower of the good seeds, the sower of the precious grain is still among us and we are told that the scriptures are to be discussed and wrestled with. And the takeaway: if you want your religion to be easy, don’t look to Jesus. For obtaining and holding on to a faith is not simple, but then, neither is this life.
Isaiah Isaiah tells the people that God says….I am the first and the last…I am God. Let the people proclaim…there is no other, I am the Rock.
Romans Paul writes to the church in Rome and tells them and us that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…for the Spirit, the holy spirit has set us free and we are not controlled by sin. We’ll find more about sin and freedom in the parable in Matthew in just a moment.
Matthew: I remember back in high school taking algebra. I was pretty good at it, but sometimes the teacher would start to explain how we got all the equations and sine and cosines….and about all I really wanted was the correct answer. In today’s Matthew passage, and in my meditation…we are talking about the mechanics of parables. Then complexities of parables. To be sure, there is a solid story of weeds choking out the grains of wheat. A cautionary tale to be diligent in the planting and harvesting but you are gonna hear about the construction of parables. If you are interested…pay attention.