Matthew 13:24-43: The Weeds, the Seed, and the Yeast (2)

Introduction

If you have your Bibles turn to Matthew chapter 13, starting in verse 24. You can also flip over to the last book of the Bible and put a finger in Revelation chapters 12, 20, and 21.

If God is good, why does he allow evil to exist?

It’s a question you probably have heard someone ask, or you may even have asked it yourself. When we look around the world we live in what do we see?

Wars

Addictions

Deadbeat parents

Abusers.

Pain and suffering is seen everywhere we look. So why doesn’t God do something? Is he powerless? Does He just not care enough to act?

Is God truly good? And if He is good, why doesn’t He just destroy evil already?

Why do we suffer so much and why doesn’t God just end our suffering? Why must we deal with wicked people in our lives?

Jesus tackles this in the parable of the weeds.

Let’s read verses 24-30 to begin.

Teaching

The Parable of the Weeds (24-30)

Matthew 13:24–30 ESV

24 He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, 25 but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. 26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. 27 And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ”

This parable is later going to be explained so we will put the majority of our time on it later, but I want to point out a couple of interesting things right now.

Let’s get some historical context here.

This appears to be a wealthy farmer since he has servants working his fields

And the idea of a rival farmer, an enemy, coming in and sowing dangerous weeds is not some wild fantasy

Rome even had a law against it to discourage the practice

This weed was called “darnel” and it looks nearly indistinguishable from wheat until it comes time for fruit to be shown

And darnel often carries with it a fungus that destroys wheat

Not only that, but its roots are stronger than the roots of wheat so if it is torn out, then it will rip up the wheat with it!

The master of the house knows this, so when his servants come to him ready and willing to rip out the weeds, the master tells them no.

It is better to leave the weeds amongst the wheat or all will be destroyed together.

When the harvest time comes, the wheat will be cut down anyways so cut it all and then separate the wheat from the weeds, gathering the wheat into the barn, and destroy the weeds with fire.

So then, Jesus immediately continues by telling two more parables that are far shorter: the parable of the Mustard Seed and the parable of the leavened bread.

We covered these last week so I’m not gonna hit them again, but the main point of both of them is to not look down on things that appear small, because these small things (mustard seed and a small piece of leavened bread) can grow to a great size and can grow to permeate everything.

These both represent the way the Kingdom of Heaven will grow. It appears small and unimpressive, but it will grow in unexpected ways.

Matthew continues with an explanation of how Jesus fulfills prophecy from Psalm 78 by continuing to speak in parables to the crowds.

But then, Jesus withdraws from the crowds with his disciples and takes the time to explain to them his parable.

The Parable of the Weeds Explained (36-43)

Matthew 13:36–43 ESV

36 Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” 37 He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40 Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, 42 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

Though, like the crowds, the disciples did not understand the parable, Jesus explained it to them, and this is what he told them.

The Sower

is, like in the parable of the sower from the previous section of verses, Jesus

(Son of Man, comes from Daniel, Jesus’ favorite title for himself)

The Fields

This time, the fields are not the hearers of Jesus, but the world itself.

The good seed,

is not the Gospel this time, but the sons of the kingdom - those who believe and follow Christ

And Christ is planting them throughout the world so that a great harvest may be had.

The weeds

are the sons of the evil one - those who do not believe and follow Jesus

And they are popping up, even in places that seem to be places where God is evidently present. They are entangling the good seed within their roots.

The enemy

is the devil - the same enemy from the Garden of Eden, the Serpent, at the beginning of history, and the same enemy at the end of time, the great dragon, who will finally be destroyed.

And he is planting the wicked weeds hoping that they will destroy the wheat.

The harvest

is the end of the age - the final judgement, where Jesus will return as the conquering king, coming to destroy his enemies once and for all

something that is depicted in the book of Revelation

The reapers

are the angels, the heavenly servants of God, who will gather in both the wheat and the weeds.

Separating them out and placing the wheat into the barn and casting the weeds into the fire.

And just as those weeds are gathered up and thrown into the fire, so it will be for all who have chosen to reject Christ.

Jesus, the Son of Man, will send out his angels to permanently remove all that causes sin and all who have rejected the Law of God, choosing to follow for themselves their own laws.

Throwing them into the place of fire. There is weeping and gnashing of teeth in that place. It is not pleasant. The idea of Hell being a cool place because people you like are there, is wildly irreverent and ignorant to the realities of that place.

But then, the result is that the righteous are all who are left and they shine like the sun in the presence of the Father. That they will be free from the effects of sin and suffering!

Taking it home:

So let’s revisit our question, why does God allow evil and suffering to remain on the earth?

Not all the good seed has matured and all the world has not even yet been sown with the transformative seeds of the Gospel.

There are places and tribes that have no one from their people who have even heard the name of Jesus, let alone hear his good news.

The problem is that if God would bring about His final judgement on evil, he would have to bring it on those who yet have had no opportunity to call on the name of Jesus, the Christ, to be saved.

How could they? They don’t even know he exists.

As Paul says in Romans 10,

Romans 10:14–15 ESV

14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

We can concern ourselves with so many things, getting distracted in so many ways, and we will become so focused on ourselves and enjoying our lives that we stop caring about making them really count.

So we sit at home, spending money to make our own lives better ignoring the call of Christ to send laborers out into the harvest so that when the FINAL harvest comes we will be ready!

“Who will go for me?! Whom shall I send?” is the question God posed before Isaiah and what did Isaiah respond? “Here am I! Send me!”

But I fear that so often our response is more like, “Send someone else!"

We’re happy to sit idly by, comfortable in our Kingdoms, instead of standing in the gap and sacrificing all we have to see the kingdom of Heaven expanding to all the earth.

God deserves to be glorified in all the ends of the earth! We should not rest until it is so!

We can also see from this parable that we will never be rid of evil until the Lord returns and we cannot permanently stop it from growing in our midst.

Evil will be growing alongside the growing kingdom of Heaven. Satan will be sure that this happens.

We should not be surprised when the world seems to be going badly. It should not surprise us when the world makes evil decisions, like passing laws that oppose God’s good design for marriage and families.

We should definitely oppose such laws, but we should not be surprised.

We should not even be shocked to find that there are weeds planted even in our churches. We must have plans in place to protect the flock of Christ from wolves attempting to sneak in to steal, kill, and destroy.

Sometimes our good intentions in seeking to eradicate evil can actually be destructive to what is good and righteous.

Let me tell you something about me. I hate false representations of God.

I hate it when people knowingly us the name of God to lie to people and take their money.

I hate it when people are deceived into thinking something is the light of God when really they are lost in darkness.

And this is because I love the truth about God and what he has done and what he is doing so dearly that I cannot stand seeing falsehoods about Him.

There was a time in my life when this love for the truth was overshadowed by my hatred for the lies.

There was a time where the only thing I could think, talk, or study about was how wicked these false teachers were and how dangerous it was to engage with them.

I wanted to uproot them and pull them out as quickly and as fully as I possibly could. I wanted to fight them at all costs.

But the unfortunate thing was that one of those costs was hurting other brothers and sisters who were of a different opinion. I wasn’t mature enough to handle the situation well, and I followed my convictions with a white-hot passion, burning through some relationships that did not need to be broken.

Just as the servants in the parable would have destroyed the good seed in their eagerness to remove the weeds, we can do the same thing in our zeal for what we believe is good and right.

I see this heavily online, where theological convictions between Christian brothers and sisters devolves into name calling and division instead of love and unification in Christ.

But I also see this in many of my brothers and sisters because of the inherently divisions that exist in politics (and with us being only a few months away from an election, we will see this all the more).

For many, we could be united on theology, doctrine, and our mutual faith and yet, a difference in political opinion will be enough to make it nearly impossible to worship together.

Our zeal for what we think is good and right, can cause divisions in what Christ has bought and unified with his blood.

And sometimes, the ends do not justify the means.

Some of you may hear this this morning and in your hearts accuse me of being woke, and I promise you, you’re wrong.

I will fight where it is necessary, but I’m tired of committing friendly fire.

I’m tired of hurting other brothers and sisters because I couldn’t control my thoughts and my tongue.

I’m tired of harming the body of Christ. I hope you are as well.

If we get too over-eager to destroy evil we are putting ourselves in the place of God as the final judge.

God’s Final Judgement is Coming

In Revelation 12:7-12 we see that Satan, the great dragon, has been working for the destruction of God’s good design since the beginning as the serpent in the Garden! And even though he has been defeated and thrown down from the heavens, he is still working among the earth!

Revelation 12:7–12 (ESV)

7 Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, 8 but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “sNow the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.

11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.

12 Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath,

But even though Satan is still working in the earth, and doing so in great force, we can rejoice! Why? Finish verse 12!

because he knows that his time is short!”

Though we face a great enemy, we serve a greater king who will destroy our three great enemies: sin, Satan, and death!

We’re promised that they will be destroyed at the second coming of our King Jesus in Revelation 20!

Revelation 20:10–15 (ESV)

10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. 13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done.

It is not only Satan who is thrown into the fire at the time of the great harvest. All are judged, whether they are alive or dead, by what they have done. And what have we seen from Jesus’ teachings in Matthew? The same thing that the Psalms taught and the same thing that Paul taught in Romans 3:10-18

Romans 3:10–18 ESV

10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” 13 “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” 14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 in their paths are ruin and misery, 17 and the way of peace they have not known.” 18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

We will be judged by what we have done? Then, if we do some small examination of ourselves, we see quite clearly that we are the weeds. And we will see what happens to the weeds in the next verses of Revelation 20.

14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.

15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Satan, Death, and those who join with them in sin will be cast into the lake of fire to no longer be adversaries of Christ and his people!

But who are these people? Who are the ones who have their name written in the book of life? How can we be sure our name is there?

By believing Jesus is the Son of God,

that he took our sin upon himself carrying it to the cross,

that his death covers us in his blood as the sacrifice bearing the wrath of God,

that he rose again after three days defeating death,

and that he ascended to Heaven where he now sits at the right hand of God, interceding for his people.

And then, because of that belief, we turn away from our sin and toward Christ in repentance. We joyfully follow him in the acts of righteousness because we know that these acts are the ways in which God is glorified!

Earlier in the book of Revelation (Rev 3:5) we see that those who persevere to the very end are those who Jesus writes and protects in the book of life.

Revelation 3:5 ESV

5 The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.

We can trust God and his timing

We don’t have to zealously root out evil, trying to make a utopian, Christian, society (though we certainly should not sit idly by or worse work against Christ’s rule and reign). God will handle that.

Revelation 21:1–8 ESV

1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” 5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

God allows evil to remain on the earth so that the number of those who trust in Christ from every people group on earth, from every time period, will be completely fulfilled and that He will be glorified in all the earth. This will happen through Jesus’ second coming to earth, his “second advent”, where he will root out evil and separate the good seeds from the weeds.

And so, as we celebrate our “Christmas in July” we are really celebrating the future promise of Christ’s Second Advent. His second coming to earth where his kingdom will be made complete and God himself will dwell among us again!

Let us look to that day with great longing!

Let’s pray

Prayer of Confession

Scriptural Assurance John 6:37-40

John 6:37–40 ESV

37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

Lord’s Supper

Final songs