“Weeds in the Garden” (Conclusion)

K. Adrian Scott

July 6, 2025

Context/Introduction.

“The kingdom of heaven is like a person who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, an enemy came and sowed darnel among the wheat and went away. 26 When the plants sprouted and produced grain, then the darnel also appeared. 27 So the slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ’Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Then where did the darnel come from? “

“The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field” is a statement referring to Jesus, also called the “Lord of the harvest (Matthew 9.38), and it refers to the Lord Jesus as being the One responsible for the growth of the kingdom by bringing people to faith in God. The Lord employs or uses people, His servants to spread the good seed of the Word of God in the fertile field, which is referring to the world. The field or world has been plowed and prepared to receive the good seed by the works of righteousness of Jesus Himself when He was here on the earth and went about healing the sick of all kinds of disease and doing all manner of good, with the full expectation the plowed field and the good seed will ultimately bring a suitable harvest. But when the Sower’s helpers went home at the end of the day and rested, His enemy went to the same field and sowed poisonous weeds in that same garden. Having gone back to work the next morning and seeing what vandalism had been done to the Sower’s field, the confused workers asked the owner of the field, “didn’t you sow good seed in our field? We assume the Sower affirmed that it was good seed that had been planted, the workers then asked, “where did the poisonous weeds come from” (v. 27a).

Oh, we must watch for the deceitful tricks of the enemy, Satan, because he is always at work through his evil spirits or demons! Notice, the workers, the Sower’s field hands knew the difference between the good seed and the bad seed.

Question. Do you know what the work of God looks like, and can you tell the difference between Satan’s work? Can you tell when Satan is at work in your field? Our text is telling us there is a distinct difference between the work of Christ and the work of our enemy, Satan, and you should know the difference. This is what the Bible calls spiritual discernment, knowing when Christ is at work and when the enemy is at work. Very simply stated, is whatever I am observing bring glory to Christ? Does the result of what work or actions I am observing advance the Kingdom of God? Do these actions do harm? Is what I am observing reflect godly wisdom and displays a peaceable or peace-loving spirit?

The Text - Telling the Story.

In response to the above qualifying questions the workers asked the Sower, he responded by saying -

V. 28; “He said, ‘An enemy has done this!”

The enemy sowed or planted weeds; weeds dangerous to the seed the Sower had planted. And although the name of enemy was not given or known to the workers, the enemy can be easily identified by his work! He is a destroyer of all that is good, and all that is helpful and holy. This enemy has compromised the field by sowing and overpopulating the field with so many poisonous weeds, he is attempting a hostile takeover and claiming the field as his own, even though this enemy is not the rightful owner; the Sower is! This is precisely what has happened and is happening right now in the world who our text calls the field.

He is not only an enemy of the Sower, but he is an enemy of the “good” seed, which is the Gospel of Christ, and he is an enemy to the field itself. “An enemy has done this!” The one who holy scripture calls the adversary, the Accuser, the Evil One, the Tempter, not only a liar, but the Father of Lies, The Prince of the Power of the Air, the Ruler of Darkness, the Son of Perdition, the Thief and the Wicked One! His name ‘Devil’ means ‘slander’ and the name Satan means ‘opposer.’

Even though the enemy has tried to take over the field, the world, it does not belong to him - “the LORD owns the earth and all it contains, the world and all who live in it” (NET Bible). Through the plan of the enemy and Adam and Eve’s cooperation, our first parents could no longer enjoy the perfect, pristine conditions of Eden’s Paradise, and altered their once uninhibited fellowship with their God. The field, or the world and its population was affected for the ages to come. Satan is the master deceiver. “An enemy has done this!” My good friend, Maria Sue Boykin said, and I paraphrase, “it is just when everything seems to be going so well, that the devil brings something into our lives or causes something to happen that silences our joy.”

Child abuse and neglect, spousal abuse and neglect; the prominence of deceit and stubborn disobedience is the enemy’s handywork. Disillusionment and rebellion among our youth, revolt and robbery; societal chaos and government division; divorce and separation; social class division, and economic warfare; the proliferation of drug and alcohol usage are all the work of the enemy! fratricide, the killing of one’s brother, genocide, suicide, misguided cults, religious chaos and denominational division is his also! False doctrine, false prophets, famine are his; love of money and lack of employment is his handywork. Monetary waste, nutritional shortages, ecological irresponsibility, the defacing of the earth is his too! Toxic poisons from factories, and automobile and airplane emissions that help destroy nature as God created it; Hijacking, homelessness and hunger; rape and robbery; prejudice and sinful pride; prostitution and pornography; confusion in the ministry, empathy in the pew, impotence in the pulpit; unfulfilled potential, dashed dreams, and elusive hope; car bombs, airplane hijackings, war and destruction of lives and property, loss of income and the ever-rising cost of living; cancer, heart disease, diabetes, high and low blood pressure; stress and tension, are all the enemy’s design for our lives, not the Lord’s plan. These troublesome circumstances is to the pleasure of the enemy who came to steal, kill and destroy! All that is evil, hurtful, destructive and divisive is his.

But what of the Sower? What did God, the Lord envision for His earth?

It is the Lord of the harvest who designed and created according to His design a green planet, blue oceans and seas, a yellow sun, blazing white stars! Our God created all that is beautiful, all that is pure, all that is just and all that is lovely! He planned and then created all that is healthy and leads to and foster happiness, joy, love and peace and contentment. This Sower, the author of love created from His own unfathomable and creative wisdom the breath-taking beauty of a golden sunset; the unsullied innocence of a child; the profound joy of true marital ‘agape’ or romantic love; the security and sheer joy of ‘philia’ love the love of a friend; the catharsis tic , soothing and therapeutic quality of music at its best; the resuscitating effect of rain from heaven; the majesty of the mountain ranges; the soaring power of an eagle and the gentleness of a dove; the call and claim of the Spirit of God upon our lives before we were shaped in our mother’s womb or breathed a single breath in this world; the companionship of our Good Shepherd; the fellowship of the Church, the’ ecclesia’, God’s ‘called out’ people and the self-sacrificing, self-giving, everlasting and unwavering love of Jesus the Christ is His!

The capacity for faith is His; the aspiration of Hope and the yearning and fulfillment of divine love comes from Him! The desire and repose of peace is His; the Church, the gifts, and the callings are all His!

Vv. 28b-29; “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.”

Notice there is no rush to judgment! It is the Lord’s care and concern for the fruit of the seed, the Word of God, that leads to the conversion of the souls of men and women, girls and boys, that the Sower warns the servants to not try to pluck the weeds out from among the wheat. Here is the Sower’s justification; if you try to pluck up the weeds from the roots, you will invariably pull up some of the wheat with them.

What did Jesus, the Sower, mean?

The Sower was telling His servants; the time is not yet right -

vv. 30a; “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,”

“Let them grow together” that is the church and the world; the repentant and the unrepentant must grow together in this world until the field is harvested! When that which was sown will be reaped, and then it will be made manifest what kind of seed was planted. The real and the unreal, the true and the false wheat will be separated then. This is the great White Throne judgment of the Lord will take place, “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done” (Jeremiah 17.10; Revelation 22.12). “For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done” (Matthew 16. 27).

These texts – Matthew 13 30, Matthew 16.27 & Jeremiah 17.10 each tell us the Sower, the Lord of the Harvest is coming back, and He will review what kind of work was done! Church, the Lord is coming back! He is not satisfied with what the enemy, Satan, has done in the world! God is not pleased with the state of affairs in His world!

When the wheat begins to turn brown, brittle and dry it has grown to maturity and is ready to harvest.

v. 30b; “... and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned,”

It is commonly believed the reapers referred to in verse 30 is referring to the angels who in this parable as well as other places in God’s Word are used as some call them, ‘agents of judgment’ (Rev. 7.1, 8.5-13, 9.1) the Lord in His work on the earth and in heaven. It is the angels who will gather the deceiving, false believers who impersonated the true saints, the believers in Christ. The weeds are then bound by the angels (“bind them in bundles”) says all the weeds will have a similar fate which means they cannot escape the judgment of God - “

The harvesting of the field refers to the future judgment by God which no one knows the day nor the hour of its occurrence - “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only” (Matthew 24.36), ESV).

v. 30b; “... to be burned.”

Here is the ultimate fate, the final disposition of those who do not believe in and obey the Gospel for their salvation. They will be cast into the ‘Lake of Fire’ along with Satan and all others who have not confessed that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God (Philippians 2.9-11).

In the first parable of Matthew 13 Jesus Himself says the good seed is the Word of God, but here in the third parable of Matthew 13 verse 38 says the seed represents the “sons of the kingdom.” Is there a contradiction here? Which is it? Richard T. Ritenbaugh uses this analogy which I believe is helpful. He says, ‘No’, there is no contradiction and believes they, that is, the good seed and the product of the good seed, believers, are one and the same. That is, just as the apple comes from the seed and the seed is inside of each apple, so, true believers are products of the apple seed and as apples appear on a tree, that picture represents the spreading or growth of apples (representing the Gospel) in many places.

The seed is in the apple, just as the Word of God must be in us for us to believe. So, it is one and the same.