The Parable of the Weeds
Notes
Transcript
Parable of the Weeds
Parable of the Weeds
Good morning everyone!
I hope and pray you had a good week. You know fall is approaching because its football season.
High school teams are starting, they have been practicing, running plays hoping for a good year.
They put in the time, hoping for just that, a great year. and I would encourage you, my friends to put the time into your Christian walk, practice your faith, serve and help others and most of all worship the Lord our God with your whole heart.
What you do day in and day out makes a huge difference in your life. People do a lot of work creating muscle memory, well lets create a “faith” memory. What you do for your faith day in and day out matters!
And of course, what you don’t do can also make a difference in your life as well.
So put your faith to work, and live for God in the world we live.
Today we return to the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 13. and today we will look at verses 24 to 30 as we consider the Parable of the Weeds...
Now this parable is important, it tells us what must take place in the days to come. It has a prophetic element to it. This prophecy speaks to the events we share in during days like this until we witness the fruition of the kingdom of God.
So with this in mind lets look at this passage...
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.” ’ ”
Now remember what a parable is, it is an earthy story with a heavenly meaning. Jesus goes back to something that the people could identify with and uses that to teach them great truths.
And if you go down to verses 36 to 43, Jesus gives an explanation to the parable of the weeds and we will look at that passage from time to time as we move through this passage.
So lets begin with this thought today my friends…
1. Opposing Forces in the World.
As Jesus began to teach those around Him again, He did so in another parable. this is what verse 24 says....
Again Jesus is taking something from everyday life and teaching them a spiritual lesson about the kingdom of God.
So in this comparison, Jesus says “…a man sowed good seeds in his field. “ verse 24. Jesus has already talked about sowing and here he does so again to illustrate another picture of God’s truth.
So what is Jesus saying here.
Jesus says a man was sowing.... “ a man,” but not just any man by the way, looking down to verse 37, the man who is sowing in His own field is the Son of Man. The Son of the living God. So this is God at work here....
So Jesus is the one sowing, and He is sowing in His field, which implies ownership, He is sowing on land that is rightfully His....and one more truth is this;
and we know that the field is the world according to verse 38.
Jesus is comparing himself to the farmer, the owner of the land, who went out and sowed good seed into his own fields.
But what are the seeds? Well looking at Jesus response to them asking about the meaning of the parable, Jesus says that the good seeds are the sons of the Kingdom of God.
Now, lets pull together all the pieces and see the whole meaning of what Jesus is saying here. The Son of Man, Jesus has come into the world, His world since all things were created in and through Him, Colossians chapter 1.
He came into His world, and worked, sowed seeds … more literally He planted men and women, boys and girls in this world, placing them here to be that they may be a force for good in a dark world.
As wheat is food for the physical man, so the gospel, the message we share is to be spiritual food my friends.
You see “you” my friends are the children of God, and you are called to bear the true message of Jesus to a lost world, to a world that is hungry and thirsty for the good things of God. Namely the forgiveness of God through Jesus death, burial and resurrection.
And as the Son of Man went out to plant, Jesus says the enemy came as well. Look with me at verse 25
25 but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away.
Now Jesus tells us that the enemy is the devil in verse 39. and while the men were asleep, the devil came and sowed weeds or (Tares in the KJV) among the wheat that has been planted by the Son of Man.
Now if you look to verse 38, the Scriptures tell us that the weeds are the children, sons of the of the evil one, the devil.
So while God is at work in this world, my friends never doubt that the devil is at work also...., the devil is always trying to hurt, trying to hinder, trying to hurt the children of Go.
Remember the words of Jesus in John 10:10, the devil comes to kill, steal and destroy… and He is working overtime my friends, the devil is putting in great effort to hurt the children of God and make us ineffective.
There are two opposing forces in our world my friends. Do your best to intentionally live for Jesus each today, push back against the work of the evil one.
This moves us toward our second thought my friends.
2. The Seeds Grew Together....
There is a truth for you to see here today, while the Lord planted good seeds in this world, Wheat that would be allowed to grow as best it could until the day of the harvest arrived. There were bad seeds as well....bad seeds that grew.
Now if you remember from last week, we talked about the seed being the Word of God. It was the word that was planted in the hearts of the people and in some places it didn’t grow, some of those seeds came up fast and since they had no root because of the shallow soil, they withered under the heat, and died.
But if you remember some planted in good soil and it grew and produced 30, 60 and 100 fold.
Here in this parable, the seed is the people, who are growing where they are planted. These seeds we know are the sons of the kingdom. They live with the rule of God in their hearts.
They are healthy, alive and well in the world carrying out the responsibilities of God in this world.
The same is true of the weeds, the weeds were allowed to grow as well. The weeds here are the sons of the evil one. They live for themselves, and they have no room for God in their lives, self gratification, self serving is what they are all known for....
Now we know the weeds were allowed to grow, because they were planted to close to the wheat seeds, if uprooted they might uproot the wheat as well.
This is a picture of our world my friends, there are two types of people growing in this world. Every person in this world is a product of God, we all come from 2 parents, so we are all the creation of God.
The difference is people follow different paths, and that is what Jesus is revealing here. There are children of the Kingdom and children who live under the rule of the evil one.
Now ask yourself, “What's the danger of them growing together? The danger is what we talked about last week. The weeds growing with the good plants chokes them out… In fact, left unattended the weeds will take over, they will choke out the good.
Now lets look at verses 28-30
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.” ’ ”
You see my fiends, the church must be in the world, BUT we are not of the world we must be in the world to help expand His kingdom, to help spread the light. to share the truth that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.
But we cannot and must not be choked out, and if you are living among others in such a way that your faith is dying then you have to make a change in your life. You cannot and must not allow the world to interpret your beliefs and practices…Live for God, let him establish your ways and then let that light shine.
There is a day if harvest coming, some will be gathered and thrown into the fire others will be gathered in the owners barn, which is a picture of heaven.
My friends the church is in this world, we are in this world and as such we are to have a positive, uplifting effect into this world.
Let people see Jesus in you...
So when you go out today and your meal order is wrong, show kindness
When you are out and something happens, show kindness,
When you are on social media, instead of making un-kind remarks - let Jesus be seen in your life...
Church, make the most of your presence.
3. The Parable Teaches Us about Suffering....
Suffering is not a topic we care to talk about, it is hard and difficult...
Suffering is a thought we tend to over look in this parable, but it is a good example for life my friends, and Jesus teaches it.
In this world, we know that good things happen every day, but at the same time we know there is evil in this world and bad things do happen, suffering is a real concern for us and those around us.
Just this past Thursday, bombs set off in Kabul and people lost their lives because of evil people and evil actions… this is just an example of evil and not a detailed look at those in Afghanistan. it is just one of many things happening all around us.
I watched the news and saw local people being punished for crimes that hurt and savagely destroyed peoples lives....
Evil is in the world..
Lets go to a question asked of Jesus in verse 27
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?’
They have asked the question, Master you sowed good seed, how did the bad seed get there, how did this take place....
So consider this.... In a world where we live and where God is present and His kingdom is at work, why do bad things take place?
This is a thought we have sought to answer since the beginning when man first sinned and then murder left a mother grieving for two sons, one who was dead and one who bore the mark of God and was driven away from his family.
Why does evil take place, why do bad things happen to good people?
In verse 28, Jesus says this.. the enemy is the one who did this...
In the parable it was the enemy that slipped in and planted his weeds among the good wheat and so tried to kill and stop the work of God.
So evil is in the world, Why does God allow it?
Why did God allow the devil to deceive Adam and Eve?
Ultimately I believe He knew it would happen, but it was never His plan. Always remember it is Satan’s fault. But in the midst, God is glorified, He is honored and man kind is saved and given eternal life.
So why doesn’t God just pull those evil workers out and judge them now?
Let me take you to 2 Peter, listen to what the Lord spoke to Peter
9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
We understand and know that God never intended for evil, suffering and sin to be in the world, but evil came with man’s sin because of the Devil’s deception, all this brought death physical and spiritual to the world.
The hope we have is this, God’s desires for people to be saved, We see this truth in I Tim 2:4 we see Paul speaking of this.
4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Understand, God holds his wrath back, He wants as many people to be saved as possible. So God will wait until the time that is established.
Just as the farmer waits until the right time to harvest his crops, so God waiting, knowing when the day of Judgement should be…and is waiting for those we don’t know, but they will come until until that time
Peter knows and is testifying that God desires repentance, for it is the necessary response of man as they turn toward God. As people repent, God welcomes them into His kingdom.
Listen to the Lord in Ezekiel 18:23
23 Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?
Here is a great word my friend, God’s true desire is for man to turn to Him and be saved.
But make no mistake, Judgement is coming, we need to be ready even in the midst of suffering.
The workers in the parable ask the master if they should uproot the weeds and take care of them now...
But listen at the Master. and look at verse 30 as we finish this message...
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.” ’ ”
They are to remain until harvest time… harvest time Jesus says will be the end of the age verse 39
This is important, Jesus says the end of days there will be a judgment. Friends Jesus talks more about coming judgement, more about hell than he does heaven.. you know why?
Jesus wants people to miss hell and gain heaven!
On that day… the reapers. the angels he says verse 39 will come and collect the lost, the fallen, the un-redeemed and they will be burned up in the fire.
The redeemed will be placed in the barn which speaks of heaven and his final Kingdom reward for those who are His children.
So what will happen on that day, end times my friends...
A. - The church is saved.... We know and Jesus has promised that the Church will be saved on that day. There is a day coming when Jesus will return with His angles and gather his church.
The dead in Christ will rise and we who remain are caught up into the air to join them Paul shares this in His letter to the church at 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 verses 13-18
B. Those saved in the Tribulation. We know that people will be saved during the Tribulation, there will be some saved during this time.
Important… so in either event we know believers are saved and are gathered into the barn, we refer to this more specifically heaven.
His children are gathered and saved....
C. The lost, the weeds or tares - as you may want to refer to them are lost people, those who heard and failed to believe the Word of God.
The angels will cast them into judgment. Look at verses 41 to 43
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.
Out of his kingdom is the world, not heaven. He will gather them and they are throne into the fiery furnace.
A place where sin is punished, disobedience and disbelief brings suffering.
Can you imagine a fire so hot, so terrible that is hurts, it is terrorizing, but it does not destroy, it does not kill and in that place Jesus says there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
It speaks tot the agony and separation that continually reoccurs those who have populated Hell.
5 times in the Gospel of Mark Jesus speaks to a place that is so horrible that it says that there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth…
Hell is real and disobedience, unbelief are punished my friends that is why it is so important that we love those around us.
Important that we not only love those around us, but that we pray for those, serve those and witness to them in hopes of them gaining eternal life.
My friends on that day.... judgement comes and there are only 2 places a person can exist, heaven or hell.
Which will it be?
What are you doing in the Kingdom to help them.
. We know the rapture is a time when Jesus comes and gathers His church before judgment and before the tribulation
So it doesn’t means that Jesus speaking about them here makes them a same time event…
But who are we to say that the the two events are close together even if it is separated by 7 years for the tribulation they could be spoken of as if they are one event.
So I am saying He is speaking about them here as one event it would appear but there is actually 7 years between the two events.
B. The Gather of the Dammed or Weeds.... This is the future judgement of the damned. we do not know the timing of it. The angels will gather the weeds who are those who failed to repent to God’s revelation of His love and Salvation. They are gathered and placed into hell.
Hell is a like a fiery furnace, a place of torment, with weeping and gnashing of teeth.