Wheat among Weeds

Can we imagine a world without weeds? When God created the world weeds didn't exist. God only introduced weeds once Adam and Eve had disobeyed him and fell into sin. The LORD told Adam, "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field" (Genesis 3:17-18). Ever since that day, weeds have plagued farmers and homeowners. They choke out good plants and steal nutrition from the ground. They can even be poisonous and hurtful to people. We pull them from our gardens and lawns. Jesus took unwanted weeds mixed in with good wheat and used them to illustrate a timeless truth. This morning we'll look closely at the sowing of the wheat and weeds, the growing and the mowing to learn more about the kingdom of heaven.

Have you ever planted a garden? Planting takes planning. We calculate how much garden area is available for planting. We purchase individual packets of seeds to plant cucumbers, beans, peas, and herbs. Once the planning and purchasing is done, it's time to plant. We dig shallow furrows in the moist earth. We carefully shake out a few seeds at a time and gently cover them with a blanket of dirt. Wheat farmers sowed their seed differently from the way we plant our gardens. Sowing wheat in Jesus' day took a great deal of planning and preparation too. The farmers tilled their fields, sometimes using oxen, sometimes just a stick in their hands to loosen the soil. Once the soil had been prepared, they would walk up and down, casting handfuls of wheat kernels to the ground—no even rows, no carefully plotted out field.

Jesus compared the kingdom of heaven to a farmer who chooses only good seed to plant in his field. The farmer went out and scattered the good seed in his field. One night, an enemy came. He brought a sack full of weed seeds. While everyone slept, the enemy sowed his seed the same way, scattering it evenly over the newly planted ground.

Jesus didn’t always explain his parables, but here in Matthew's gospel, he told us exactly what each character in the story represented. “He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. 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, and the enemy who sows them is the devil” (Matthew 13:37–39 NIV). Jesus has planted all kinds of believers here in this world. We don't plant ourselves any more than a kernel of wheat could jump up from the farmer's hand and plant itself. At the same time, in this field along with all the good seed the enemy sows weeds. Jesus tells us that the weeds are "the sons of the evil one." He isn't teaching us about hypocrites within the church. He's teaching us the reality that as long as we live here in this sinful world, we will be surrounded by unbelievers.

Jesus wasn't teaching us something brand-new. We only need to go back to the story of Noah, and we see how the weeds were among the wheat. The Bible says, "The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time" (Genesis 6:5). Noah and his family lived in a world choked with weeds. We live in the same world, eons later, a world choked with unbelievers.

The field has been sown. Good seed along with bad lies upon the ground. The sun comes and warms the earth. Rain soaks the soil. The seeds begin to grow. "When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared" (Matthew 13:26). It is almost impossible to tell the difference between good seed and bad. Once the plants sprout and grow, the farmer can tell which are good plants and which are bad. The weeds planted by the enemy were a particularly harsh plant. They looked the same as the wheat, but once they began to form heads, they produced kernels that were black and prone to mildew. Growing side by side, intertwined in the same field, the weeds are among the wheat.

Our world is choked with weeds, and it's not difficult to see them. We can see and hear the influence of this unbelieving world wherever we go. We turn on the television and see Christianity and the fruits of the Spirit turned into fodder for sitcoms. We hear false teachers promoting themselves and their ministries, offering people a new "good news" to follow. The apostle Paul warned many years ago that their kind of message "is really no gospel at all" (Galatians 1:7). The weeds grow rapidly and voraciously, threatening to choke out the good seed. We feel the chokehold more and more as an anti-religious sentiment and attitude grows in our nation and in our world. The weeds are among the wheat, and they are dangerous!

Both good and bad seeds have been sown. Both have grown. What should happen to all the weeds? The farmer's servants said, "'Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?' 'An enemy did this,' he replied. The servants asked him, Do you want us to go and pull them up?'" (Matthew 13:27-28). Pull the weeds! Buy weed-killer and spray them. Get rid of all the weeds among the wheat! The workers asked a logical question. The farmer, however, was more concerned about the good plants. He told them, "'No, because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. 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'" (Matthew 13:29-30). The farmer would rather allow the weeds to grow among the wheat rather than lose some of his precious grain.

Jesus’ explanation helps us to see the point of this parable. He told the disciples, “The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. 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. They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Matthew 13:39–43 NIV). It's time for the mowing, and when the mowing comes, the good will be separated from the bad. The weeds will no longer be mixed with the wheat. Jesus will send his angels, and when the last day comes, the angels will collect the unbelievers, those who have tried to trap God's children, those whose actions are evil and ungodly. The angels will take the weeds that had been among the wheat and will throw them into the fire of hell for all eternity. They will also collect the wheat—the believers—and bring it into the Father's barns. Believers will enjoy the pleasures of heaven forever. Even though the weeds are among the wheat right now, God will take care of his people and destroy all those who do not believe.

The temptation for us as God's children—the wheat—is to do the mowing ourselves. We grow tired of the weeds trying to choke us out and silence God's Word. We long to taste victory, so we take it upon ourselves to identify and mow down the weeds. Think about conversations you've had with co-workers or friends who belong to different churches or have no church background at all. What is the first temptation we face? We are tempted to accuse, to attack, and to drag them kicking and screaming into the truths of God's Word! Some have even tried to justify murder in order to rid the world of unbelief. We should blow up Muslim terrorists because they murder in the name of God. If we get rid of just one, we'll get rid of one more weed. We should shoot the abortion doctor, because if we do, one more unbeliever will be out of the way.

"Lord, do you want us to go and pull the weeds up?" The Lord's answer is the same one Jesus gave in the parable: "No, because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them." We can't do the mowing because we can't look into another person's heart and identify them as a believer or as an unbeliever. Only God can do that. He tells us, "The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." (1 Samuel 16:7). God sees those who are believers and those who are not. He loves the wheat, and he also loves the weeds. He wants them to have the same chance that we have to hear the Word, repent, and believe. God wants terrorists to hear the gospel and be saved. He wants the abortion doctor to recognize that abortion is murder. God has given each one of us a time of grace. He decides how long that time is. He decides when that time is ended. That not our job!

We aren't the mowers. God will give that job to his angels. We need to share what we have with the weeds that surround us. Our Savior Jesus planted us in his field. He made us "good seed" when we were baptized. Through the water of baptism, Jesus connected us with his death and resurrection. The payment for sin is ours. Jesus died for you and me. Forgiveness belongs to us. Jesus rose from the dead to prove it. We have the power to share that message. We have the "sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God" (Ephesians 6:17) on our side. God doesn't ask us to cut down the weeds. He doesn't ask us to convince them of the truth. He simply asks us to use his Word. It has the power to turn choking, poisonous weeds into fruitful stalks of wheat. We can't do that, but God's Word can.

Finally, God will take care of all of us, believers and unbelievers. Those who have spent their lives denying God's power and the work that Jesus did will spend eternity suffering the torments of hell. Jesus promised that believers will "shine like the sun in the kingdom of our Father." The LORD promised the prophet Daniel centuries earlier, "Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever" (Daniel 12:3). Through faith in Jesus, we won't suffer in darkness, weeping and grinding our teeth because we missed our chance. We will live in heaven, shining with reflected light radiating from Jesus himself.

“Whoever has ears, let them hear.” (Matthew 13:43 NIV). Do you have ears? Can you hear? Jesus' words are for all of us. He wants us to consider the blessings we have as wheat planted in his field. He wants us to think about the weeds and their desperate need for the life that Jesus offers. We don't have a lot of time. The day the Lord mows us could be today. We can't afford to waste a moment of the time that God has given us. Are we stubbornly clinging to a grudge against someone? Today is the day we need to repent and forgive. Have we judged someone based on hearsay rather than fact? Today is the day we need to repent and mend that relationship. Are we harboring lust in our hearts for someone or something that is not ours? Does our temper control the way we speak and act? Today is the day we need to repent. He who has ears, let him hear. The harvest is coming, and the Lord wants us for his barns, not for the burn pile.

There are weeds among the wheat. The enemy sows them. They grow. One day the time for mowing will come, and God's angels will sort the good from the bad. We won't get mixed up in the wrong pile, and the weeds can't choke us off. We have God's promise that he will never forget or forsake his children. No matter how many weeds there are, no matter how bad it looks, we can be sure that Jesus will take care of us and make sure that we make it safely into our Father's barns. Amen.

To God alone the glory! Pastor Jon Brohn