Storytime With Jesus: The Wheat And The Weeds

Garden Weeds

Today, as we continue our series on the parables of Jesus, we look at another story about planting seeds. That means you are going to hear again about one of my garden adventures. (I hope you realize all my hobbies exist simply to provide fun anecdotes for my messages to you.) When Michelle and I began gardening, we built a small backyard garden. We had all sorts of visions of bountiful – unlimited! – fresh fruits and vegetables, homemade salsas, spaghetti sauces, jams, frozen green beans. . . . You get the idea. I envisioned a breathtaking garden like the ones I had seen in magazines.

Unfortunately, as those of you who garden know, that’s NOT what most gardens look like. No, when we till the soil, add the fertilizer, and make sure it gets plenty of sun and water, the growing conditions are perfect not just for our beloved fruits and vegetables, but also for WEEDS! In the early years at the Lenerz home, our gardens looked nothing like those in the magazines!

The grasses took over the path and filled in between all the plants. Somehow we ended up with one lone sunflower in the middle, probably from a bird dropping a seed. Sure, we had tomatoes, peppers, green beans and broccoli growing, but it was hard to pick out from among the weeds that were growing just as fast.

I, for one, blame this whole mess on Adam – the first Adam, who ate the fruit he was told not to eat. I believe part of the “Fall” of Adam was WEEDS. God’s curse on Adam was that “By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food.” Trust me. Weeding a whole garden in the heat of July and August is sweaty work! I should know. I used to try to help Michelle with the weeding, but I quickly gave up.

Here’s why I gave up. Getting rid of weeds isn’t just hard work, but you have to know what you’re doing. My wife – the real gardener of the two of us – once asked me to help by pulling out the weeds “over there.” In no time, I pulled out three broccoli plants and not one weed! At that young stage of plant growth, I couldn’t tell the food from the weeds.

Michelle then kicked me out of the vegetable garden and told me to work on the berry patch along our fence. Things didn’t go any better there. We had tall grass growing up among our strawberries. I thought that would be easy enough to take care of. I can tell grass from a strawberry! The problem was that the grass had developed widespread roots, and when I grabbed a piece from the top, since the roots were intertwined with the young berry plant, I ended up pulling both the weed and the strawberry out of the ground. So that’s when I quit weeding.

This week, in preparing for my message, I realized it’s biblical to just let the weeds grow and deal with them later. (That’s not the point of this story, but it did make me feel better about my garden.)

The Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds

Today’s parable, from Matthew chapter 13, immediately follows the parable of the sower, which we studied last week.

Matthew 13:24-30  – ²⁴Jesus told them another parable: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. ²⁵But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. ²⁶When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. 

²⁷“The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’

²⁸ “ ‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ 

²⁹ “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. ³⁰Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: ‘‘First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”

Explaining the Parable

Notice first that this parable is meant to help us understand the Kingdom of Heaven Jesus is establishing on earth. Don’t let that out of your mind as we work through this passage.

The classic King James Bible calls this story “The Wheat and the Tares.” “Tares” is actually a better translation than “weeds” because the Greek used here is specifically talking about a plant known as darnel, which looks just like wheat as it grows.

The two plants don’t start to look different until the heads develop. The wheat heads are golden and provide food for us, while the darnel (also known as “poison darnel”) grows black, inedible seeds. The darnel heads are much slimmer than wheat and provide fewer seeds than wheat. That’s why the servants didn’t know there were weeds in the field until “the wheat sprouted and formed heads.”

The servants are confused and question the farmer. Maybe he made a mistake and spread bad seeds. The farmer, however, knows that wasn’t the case. Had there been only a few weeds, he might have just chalked it up to normal weed growth ; but there must have been enough of the tares that the owner of the field knew an enemy had sabotaged the his field by planting this weed. He immediately pointed to the presence of his enemy who was trying to ruin his field by mixing bad seed with the good. We might question the farmer’s almost supernatural knowledge of what happened, but it was actually such a common revenge tactic in those days that the Romans had made a law against secretly sowing darnel in someone else’s wheat field.

At this point the servants start thinking the way I think. They see all the weeds and, like me in my own garden, they want to attack the weeds and rip them all out. They want the field to be filled with only good plants, not the ugly mess of a weed-infested garden.

The master, however, says, “No. Not yet. Wait.” He knows what I discovered the hard way: if they start weeding the field right then, they might uproot some good plants. So they plan to wait until harvest time, cut down the wheat and the darnel at the end of the season, and separate the two. The darnel will be burned up, and the wheat will be stored in the master’s barns.

Like all parables, this one is meant to teach and instruct us. Some of it is easy to understand, but some of it isn’t. As with the longer parables with more going on inside the story, this one teaches a lot more than one point. Let’s examine this story with Jesus as our guide. This is one of the parables Jesus explains to the disciples, and we are fortunate enough to have the explanation recorded for us.

Matthew 13:36-39 – ³⁶Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.” 

³⁷He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. ³⁸The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the Kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, ⁹ and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. 

You may have had a lot of questions when you first heard this parable. Jesus’s disciples did, and that’s why they asked Him to explain what it all meant. In His response, Jesus makes the meaning very clear; and by doing so He keeps us coming up with an interpretation it was never meant to have.

• The master (the farmer) is the Son of Man. This is a title used for the Messiah, and here Jesus uses it for Himself.
• The field is the world. Some people have thought this parable is about the impurity of the church, but clearly it’s talking about the world.
• The good seeds that grow into wheat are the people of the Kingdom, followers of Jesus.
• The bad seeds that grow into darnel are the people of the evil one, those who fall for the lies of the Devil.
• The enemy of the master is the Devil, the enemy of the Son of Man. I think it’s interesting that here Jesus is very clear on this point: there is a real, singular being who is the active enemy of the Kingdom of God.
• The harvest is the end of the age and the time of final judgment.
• The harvesters are angels.

So here’s my summary, using the story Jesus first told and His explanation:

The Kingdom of Heaven is like when Jesus spreads people of the Kingdom all around the world. However, the Devil spreads evil people among the people of the Kingdom. All are allowed to coexist until the end of the age, when the angels will gather the people of the evil one and throw them into the fire. Then the angels will gather the people of the Kingdom and bring them into the Kingdom of Heaven.

Now, with the connections established, let’s look at the point Jesus wants His disciples to understand.

Matthew 13:40-43 – ⁴⁰“As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. ⁴¹The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. ⁴²They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ⁴³Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.” 

When we look at this story as a whole, we have to ask ourselves why Jesus told it. It probably landed in a different place than you expected. At first hearing, the focus seems to be on the instruction to the servants not to pull up the weeds. Why, then, did Jesus focus on the details of the blazing furnace with weeping and gnashing of teeth? What was the big idea Jesus wanted His disciples to learn, and, by extension, what does He want us to learn from this story?

I think it’s helpful to realize this parable is immediately followed by the parable of the mustard seed. This smallest of seeds can eventually, over time, grow into a large tree. Next comes the parable of the yeast, which, after being worked through the dough, eventually causes all the dough to rise.

What all these parables about the Kingdom of God have in common is that it takes time to get the final result. A large mustard tree doesn’t develop overnight. Dough doesn’t rise in a moment. And the final judgment, when the wicked and righteous are separated, didn’t happen when Jesus rose from the grave. While the Jews were waiting for the Messiah to establish his military might and His Kingdom in their day, the Son of Man tells us that His Kingdom doesn’t work that way. We must understand that the Kingdom of God is here, but it has not yet reached its final stage.

And so, we look at our world, where some people who try to follow Jesus experience all kinds of abuse, pain, suffering and trials, while others who live for themselves experience the good life. We ask, “God, what’s going on?” It makes some Christians doubt that God is good because it seems He allows the wicked to take advantage of, abuse, and walk all over the powerless. Meanwhile, it makes others doubt that God exists at all when they live for themselves and don’t experience the judgment Christians have warned them about. They think if God hasn’t smitten them by now, He probably never will.

What this parable is trying to make clear to all, though, is that God’s choosing to wait before He acts does not mean He won’t judge the world one day. In fact, His waiting shows His incredible grace and goodness. This is expressed in 2 Peter 3:9.

2 Peter 3:9 – The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

He wants to give everyone the opportunity to grow into good wheat, to be gathered into the master’s barns.

The very next verse confirms exactly what Jesus taught about the judgment that will come one day.

2 Peter 3:10 – But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. 

Application

Here’s what I think Jesus wanted His hearers to understand from this parable.

The Kingdom of Heaven is Here (But Not Fully).

The fact that evil exists on this earth doesn’t mean the Kingdom of Heaven isn’t here. Jesus allows the righteous and the wicked to live alongside each other. Living among the “weeds” actually works to form us and forces us to grow in the midst of challenges. It’s not easy, but it’s the method Jesus chose for our journey. While people sometimes like to retreat to little Christian pockets of safety, such things don’t truly exist. Everywhere there is good seed, the Devil is trying to sow confusion, hurt, anger and evil.

Judgment Is Imminent.

Some of us don’t like to hear about judgment when we think about our families or friends who don’t follow Jesus. But at the same time, we do wish there could be immediate judgment for sex traffickers, murderers, rapists, people who defraud the elderly, people who go out and get high while neglecting their children.

Perhaps for some of you, this is personal and there is a person who has deeply hurt you. God’s judgment on that person can’t come soon enough to suit you! On one hand, we’re glad God waits; and on the other hand we wish He would act sooner.

This is why God is God. His timing is perfect. We must simply trust His timing, knowing that one day all will be judged. Will we be found to be wheat or weeds?

We Aren’t the Judges

Maybe you are like the servants in the parable. You want to go and help God with His sorting right away because you know the good from the bad. But maybe not! You may think you know who will be with us in Heaven and who won’t, but you simply don’t. That’s why you aren’t the one to judge.

In thinking you are pulling up a weed by condemning a person’s actions, you may pull up wheat and injure a baby Christian who is beginning to follow Jesus. For the criminal on the cross – whom everyone knew to be a terrible person – only God knew that before that man breathed his last breath he would put his faith in Jesus. He truly became wheat to be gathered into God’s storehouse.

All too often we think we can identify good people from bad people, and we want to tell the bad ones what they are doing wrong. I think, though, that instead of thinking we are harvesters to pull out the weeds, we would do better to join the master who is sowing good seed. Rather than judging or condemning people, we should be sharing God’s love and kindness with everyone around, hoping each one might blossom into a beautiful head of wheat – a transformed child of God.

Each of Us Has a Choice

This parable speaks of two kinds of seeds that grow into two kinds of plants that have two very different endings.

Like it or not, Jesus clearly says that people either receive the seed of the Gospel and sprout into those who follow Jesus, or they receive the seeds of the Devil. The Devil’s lies say you can only count on yourself; you need to earn your salvation; you will never be good enough. The Devil tells people there is no judgment, so they should live life to the fullest.

Regardless of the lies, the Devil is the enemy of Jesus and is solely bent on spoiling the Kingdom’s growth. Each of must decide: Do I believe what Jesus is saying? Do I trust what this preacher is asking me? Have I decided to put my faith in Jesus, or am I trusting something else for what will happen to me when I die?

Jesus tells us that one day each of us will either be burned up in the furnace or burn BRIGHTLY in GLORY! The big question is: how will you respond to that truth today?

Conclusion

The issue isn’t whether or not we like the concept of judgment. Jesus says it will happen. The issue, therefore, is whether we are ready. For some of us, this gives incredible HOPE for salvation and rescue from this broken world and this weary body. For others of you, perhaps this strikes FEAR into your heart – fear that you’re not ready. If that is you, choose this day whom you will serve.

For those of us who have chosen to follow Jesus, today we wait for His Kingdom to fully come. We wait for God to bring His good and gracious judgment at the perfect time. We trust that He knows what’s best for this world and for each one of us.

And while we wait for His perfect timing, we don’t try to pull up the weeds by judging sinners, but we join in scattering seed. We join in helping to grow as many lives as possible transformed by the good news of Jesus. And we trust the Master, Jesus Christ, to bring us home in the final harvest.