Wheat and Weeds – Matthew 13:24-30

A text – Matthew 13:24-30

²⁴ He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field, ²⁵ but while everybody was asleep an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and then went away. ²⁶ So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. ²⁷ And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?’ ²⁸ He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The slaves said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ ²⁹ But he replied, ‘No, for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. ³⁰ Let both of them grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’ ”

Matthew 13:36-43

³⁶ Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached 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 are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children 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 collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. ⁴¹ The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, ⁴² and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ⁴³ Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!

A reflection:

Here is one of Jesus’s stories that begs us to learn how to live together with ones who are different from us. Even the wheat and the weeds have to share resources and grow together. It’s not a sweet story. It’s kind of gritty. The good guy plants good seeds and the enemy plants weeds. If we try to root out the enemy’s weeds, we may easily damage the good crop – better to do the weeding later on. So in a sense, the weeds and the wheat alike depend on one another for life. Who is to say that the weeds don’t bring some benefit to the wheat? Maybe they bear no good fruit above ground, but maybe their roots fix nitrogen in the soil that the wheat benefits from. I’m no horticulturist, but we do see a lot of ads in Fargo for agricultural products and services…some things are planted together to ensure better yield.

And there’s another thing in this story. The weeding will not be done by humans. It will be done by angels, working at the Lord’s command. The judging/choosing is not ours to do. Jesus may be echoing his oft repeated advice: judge not lest ye yourselves be judged. He did hate that judgy-ness about the scribes and Pharisees.

The final thing that strikes me about this week’s text is that the weeds are not just default weeds growing from seeds that just blew in on the wind. There are powers at work placing obstacles in the way of growing a good crop. We who might find it hard to believe in a God who is daily at work creating trustworthiness in the world today might also find it hard to believe there is an Evil One causing havoc deliberately. But Jesus attests to this fact in his teaching. Evil and chaos coexist with faith and trustworthiness in this life. When we encounter either, our job is to trust in the Lord and the angels who will sort it out. In the meantime, our job is to listen to the Lord and do good whenever we can.

A prayer:

Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for tending us like plants or like sheep. Help us to listen to you and to wait for you with patience, even as we share our world with chaos and disorder. Please let us not be weeds but wheat. Please let us bear fruit for you in your kingdom. Amen.