Weeds, Seeds, & a Bit of Yeast

Matthew 13:24–35 ESV

He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. 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?’ 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?’ But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. 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.” ’ ” He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.” All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet: “I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.”

Jesus is speaking to a large group of people, telling them about the kingdom of God through parables. Last week, we looked at the parable of the sower and the seed, and how the same seed of God’s word yielded different results depending on the condition of people’s hearts.

Today, Jesus continues on a theme seeds.

He starts by telling a story of man who sowed seed in his field. Jesus said it was good seed. He must have spent good money getting that seed, expecting a quality harvest.

But then, his enemy came in and sowed weeds. There are historical records that show people went to court over this type of thing. Even in my lifetime, I remember hearing about a company that created a certain hybrid of corn. It was aggressive enough that it outgrew other types of corn, and it spread to neighboring fields. The company began suing these farms for growing their corn without permission or purchasing it. It was a mess for those farmers. When your livelihood is agriculture, then the best way to take out your enemy is to destroy his crop.

And that’s what is happening in this story. It doesn’t take long before the weeds are noticeable. The man’s field workers go to him to find out what to do. It seems logical to try to pull out the weeds, and if it were just some small garden, weeding might be the solution. But this is a harvest crop. Everything is growing close together. You can’t take out the weeds without potentially damaging the crop. So the owner tells his men to leave the weeds. When the harvest comes, they can sort the good from the bad.

Jesus then talks about a man who plants a mustard seed in his field. From the tiny seed grows a large, strong tree that birds can take refuge in.

Jesus follows this up by telling about a woman who adds leaven, or yeast, to some flour. She is described as hiding the yeast in three measures of flour. A small amount of yeast in a small amount of flour, but that yeast grew and spread until it every bit of flour was affected.

Why is Jesus sharing these particular parables? How do they relate to the kingdom of God?

In each of these stories, we see something that seems small, but later proves to have a profound effect.

The weeds sown by the enemy were not even noticeable until they had taken root and began to sprout. As small as they seemed to be, they had the potential to destroy the harvest.

The tiny mustard seed that was planted was just a few centimeters in size, but what grew from it became massive. It also grew into something that provided safety and shelter for others.

Yeast looks like dust, but once it’s activated, it grows and multiplies. The flour won’t look any different, but when you make it into dough, that yeast begins to ferment and release gas that causes the dough to rise.

I think that Jesus is sharing that we need to be careful about what you allow to grow in your life. The parable of the sower established that the field represents the heart. The condition of your heart determines how well the seed of the word will take root. But even after the seed is planted, the garden still has to be tended.

Just because we have Jesus in our lives doesn’t mean we are immune to the temptations of this world. It’s easy to look out for the big stuff. We don’t kill people. We don’t rob banks. But remember back in chapter 5, when Jesus said that what goes on in our hearts is just as important as the actions we take?

Song of Solomon 2:15 ESV

Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom.”

We can think we are doing such a good job of protecting ourselves from falling, but the clever small fox can find the tiny gaps in our defenses and slip through.

In our first parable, the enemy didn’t waste time sticking weeds into his neighbor’s field. He did the same thing the owner did. He planted seed—bad seed. Then, everything the servants did to benefit the good seed also fed the bad seed.

The devil is going to send small things our way, hoping they will slip in under the radar. Just one little compromise. But if we aren’t careful, we can find ourselves compromising our way right out of the kingdom.

So we can look at these things and see how they can apply to our lives. But I think Jesus also wants to make us aware of the world we live in. Jesus said that these parables were describing what the kingdom of Heaven is like. If it’s about the kingdom, then it’s about what we might find in the kingdom.

Just like we can find small things creeping into our lives to separate us from God, we can also find people and things trying to creep into our church. Last week I spoke about several prominent Christian leaders who ended up falling away and stop believing in Christ. They looked good for a long time, but they still fell away. In the church, there will usually be someone who is here for the wrong reasons. They want to have a religious image. Maybe they come strictly out of obligation. My first semester at Evangel College, I had a roommate who was only there because his parents forced him to go there. He was rebellious, a non-believer, a blasphemer, and he made my life miserable. There are people who are like the religious leaders of Jesus’ day, who see an opportunity to play church politics to gain some sort of power within the church. There are people who go to church, and the devil wants to use them to destroy the church.

The enemy in the first parable was counting on the man to panic and do something that would completely ruin the crop. Rather than panic, the owner let the weeds grow with the good crop. Sure, there is a risk; the weeds will cause some damage. But the good seed will manage to grow anyway, and in the end the owner and his workers will be able to judge what is good crop and what is weed.

The thing that we have to take away from this is that ultimately we are responsible for what goes on in our hearts. We have to stand guard against seeds of discord that Satan would try to bring into our lives, our church, our families. When there is discord, there is frustration, which makes us that much more open to temptation.

But if we seek to cultivate our relationship with God, the fruit of the Spirit will grow within us. If we live our lives faithfully, and are bold to share that faith with others, the fruit will multiply. We may feel small, insignificant, but the smallest seed can turn into the greatest tree. Yeast can be useful, or it can be destructive, but it will continue to grow. What we allow into our lives, good or bad, will not only grow within us, it will influence our relationships. That’s why God says that blessing pass down through generations, just as curses can be generational.

I fully believe this church will grow. How it grows is up to what we allow to make up our DNA. Let’s keep committing to being a church that is completely surrendered and submitted to the will of our heavenly Father. We will live in grace and mercy, encouraging each other.

Hebrews 10:24–25 ESV

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

So this is what it means to be a child of God. We strive to be good soil for God’s word to grow within us. We strive to cultivate the seed that has been planted. And we look out for one another, finding ways to encourage each other and bring healing. When we encounter discord, we resist the temptation to let it pull us in. Instead, we give it to the Lord and look for ways to promote unity in Christ.

I believe our biggest testimony will be the love we show to one another. When people see Jesus is real and alive in us, they will respond.

(Close with bringing families to the front and anointing them with oil)