The Harvest

Introduction

The Nature of the Growth of the Kingdom: A Short Diversion into the Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Leaven

The Harvest

As we have seen, Jesus is the sower in this parable. Specifically, he is the “Son of Man”, which as I have mentioned before is a term that refers to the Christ in his heavenly glory as spoken of by the prophet Daniel in Dan 7:13-14

Daniel 7:13–14 ESV

“I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

Clearly, this term names Christ, not only as a preacher of the Kingdom, but the glorious and Divine King himself. He plants the seeds of the Gospel and in doing this establishes his Kingdom on earth in those who accept his Gospel by Faith. As time goes on and the elect come to fruition, Christ’s Kingdom remains amid the existence of the children of the devil. While to us it seems like a raging war, to God in it a matter of waiting until the fullness of time comes. We see clearly in this text that when Christ came, the Kingdom of God came as well. It is here, it is powerful, and it is growing and maturing and nearing harvest despite the growth of so many weeds.

The Harvest is the last part of this story, when this age, the age of planting and growing, the age where the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Satan live side by side, has ended, then comes the harvest. Notice clearly that it is not the Church that conquers the world. The people of God, indeed, do overcome the world by their faith, but not in political victory. That is not our job, that is clearly the job of the angels on the day of the harvest.

It is here, at the harvest, that the true glory of the Son of Man is revealed to the world. While the beginnings of the Kingdom were as small and humble now is revealed as the great and glorious tree.

While here the wicked are gathered first, in Matt 24:30-31 we see the elect saints gathered first, and in 16:27 and 25:31-33 we see both gathered seemingly at the same time. The order of who is gathered by the angels first is not what is important here. What is key is that the angels gather all peoples from the earth, both those who are currently living and those who are resurrected on that day (Rev 20:13), and they are separated according to whether they are wheat or darnel.

A grave warning for us here is the obvious fact that the real difference between the wheat and the darnel is that the wheat bears good grain, and the darnel does not. Also in Rev 20:13 we are told that all are judged according to what they have done. This does not negate the fact that our sins are forgiven in Christ, but it does remind us that those who are truly in Christ do produce fruit, and by that fruit they prove themselves to be children of God. This is emphasized in our text in Matt 13:41

Matthew 13:41 ESV

The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers,

Those who are burned are identified as those who cause sin and live in rebellion to God’s law. May we always remember that to believe on Christ means to begin a journey characterized by good works that increase and sin that is put to death as our faith increases, causes us to bear good fruit and prove us to be his people.

It is also worth noting that the literal translation here is everything that causes sin and does evil. The neuter gender in used in Greek here to give a broad generalization of how the angels rid the world of all evil, which includes the wicked. This is the cleansing of the Creation from all that remains of the fall, of sin, and of the curse.

Conclusion: He Who Has Ears, Let Him Hear!