Weed Control

Text:  Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Pastor Phil Hughes at American Fork Presbyterian Church, Utah

September 22, 2024

Some people believe this parable is about the church and how there is actually a mix of good and bad within our churches. Most people are good seed but there are some weeds.  It is true churches can be a mix of good but also some not so good. But how do we decide who belongs and who really doesn’t?  How do we determine who is wheat and who is a weed?  Who is real and who is fake? You know the saying: being in a church doesn’t automatically make you a Christian anymore than sitting in a garage makes you a car.

But is this what Jesus was getting at?  He told this parable before churches came into being so I don’t think this was his point.

This parable is about a man who plants a field of good, healthy wheat, but while he is asleep his enemy comes and plants weeds.  What a rotten thing to do.  The enemy comes to mess up the good field the man has planted. When the wheat comes up weeds come up with it. 

The servants of the man who plants this field are shocked and can't figure out how weeds could be in this field.  But the owner of the field knows.  It was an enemy. The servants want to know if they should pull up the weeds but the owner tells them that would be the wrong thing to do because if they do that they might uproot the wheat as well.  The owner isn’t concerned with sparing the weeds.  But he is concerned with not damaging the wheat.

The servants are told to leave it alone.  The owner will separate it at the harvest once everything is fully matured. Again, his concern is the care of the wheat.

Sometimes this parable is called “The Parable of the Wheat and Tares.” There is a kind of weed in the middle east named Zizanion which is referred to as a “tare.” It has poisonous seeds but looks like wheat in its early stages of growth.  You can’t easily tell the difference.  But at harvest time it is more distinguishable.[1]

I can’t stand weeds.  When I see them I my lawn I get so frustrated.  When I see the beautiful flowers that some of you plant in our beds around the church, and then a few days later I see a few weeds, it bothers me. But weeds happen, don’t they.

Two things about this parable that are different from many parables.  First, this is one of the parables Jesus explains.  He doesn’t always explain his parables.  In fact, he doesn’t explain most of them. But this one he does.  Privately the disciples ask Jesus to explain the parable to them.  It’s good to know that the disciples didn't get it all the first time around either.  Their question is our question: what does it mean?

Second, this parable is allegorical which isn’t the way the parables usually are.  Every image represents something.

The owner is the Son of Man who is Jesus.  The field is the world.  The Son of Man sows seed in this field.  The good seed is the people of the kingdom.  The weeds are the people of the evil one.  The harvest is the curtain of history, the judgment, when God brings all to an end.  At that time the Son of Man will come with his angels and they will pull up the weeds and they will be separated from what is of God.

As I said, many people apply this parable to the church, but I don't think that is what this about.  (And you know you can trust me.) Jesus says the field is the world.[2]  He draws a much bigger circle than just a church.

I think this parable is about the world and why it looks so unlike God's good world and so much like the world of one who doesn't care.  It is about the presence of evil and how people who belong to Jesus Christ live in the midst of evil until the final curtain call on history.

This parable addresses one of the big questions that people ask: why is there so much evil in the world?  Why so much ugliness and brutality? I say it addresses that big question but doesn’t necessarily answer it.

"Sir, you sowed good seed in your field.  Where did the weeds come from?"  If God made this world why is their evil?

And that’s a good question to ask.  But often people blame God. God lets this evil, these weeds, grow. How about asking, "Could there be an evil power also at work in this world?"  Could there be a power and presence against God that has done this?  Afterall, God doesn’t plant these kinds of things.

Many people in many churches are uncomfortable thinking about the devil.  Some think it is silly to believe there is a presence sowing and growing evil in the world.  So they ask why God allows evil but they think it is foolish to ask why Satan brings evil.

Or you can reverse this.  People ask why is there so much evil in the world. But why not ask, “why is there so much good and beauty in the world?” and does that point to a good God?

This parable doesn’t answer all the questions we may have, but as to evil, the parable attributes it this way: "an enemy has done this."  Jesus said the enemy is the devil.  God has an enemy.  He is not able to root out the good seed.  He can only sow what is bad.  Remember Jesus called himself the Good Shepherd, and the sheep the Father has given him cannot be snatched out of his hand.  The children of the kingdom are safe.  But there is an enemy who can make it difficult on the good seed and plants evil right in the midst of the good.

The enemy can do it within the church, too.  Remember, Judas Iscariot was right in the midst of the disciples of Jesus. The enemy does it within each of us.  Each of us is a mixed field.  There is good and evil in me and in you.  If we could deal with it and solve it on our own Christ would not have had to come to die on the cross.

We can't make too little or too much of Satan.  The Bible tells us he active but also that he is defeated.  Satan is serious, but he is not ultimate.[3] Why has God allowed him to continue on?  Jesus doesn't explain all the "whys.” In 1 John it says that the Son of God appeared to destroy the works of the devil.[4] Jesus prayed that the Father would protect his own from the evil one.[5]

Jesus also said that a day is coming when God will finally act decisively and evil will be judged and done away with.  Why hasn't that been done?  Why does God let all of this go on? Maybe God knows something we don't.  Maybe it would hurt what is good.

It’s not like Jesus didn’t see evil in his world. There was poverty, violence, political oppression, sickness, death, tragedy, brutality, and the like.

Eugene Peterson observed that “Jesus shows no panic in the presence of evil.  He does not give (the children of the kingdom) greenhouse protection.  He is confident that good seed has vastly better survival strength than weeds.”[6] Jesus banks on a good harvest.

I think this parable is also about patience.  Between his telling this parable and his explanation in the house to the disciples Jesus tells two other parables. 

They are both brief.  Listen to them. Here they are:

He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”

He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.”

So first we have this parable about tares growing amidst the wheat, then a man planting a tiny mustard seed that grows into big tree, then a woman who mixes yeast into flour. Why does Jesus string together these three parables?  What do the parable of the wheat and weeds, the mustard seed, and the woman have in common? How about this: the element of time for things to grow and mature, and the need for patience until that time comes.

The owner of the field tells the servants to be patient and wait for the final harvest.  The man who plants the mustard seed plants something very small and has to wait patiently for it to grow.  The woman has to work the yeast until it gets all through the flour and becomes the large amount of dough she seeks. (Jesus told this parable before Betty Crocker came out with instant yeast.)

In the parable of the field Jesus is speaking of the patience of God with us and with this world.  Yes, there is evil growing right in the middle of this world and amidst the people of the kingdom.  Why not start ripping it all out?  Again, apparently it might harm what is good.

And it is not ours to rip out. Jesus takes final judgment right out of our hands with this parable.  Jesus teaches judgment but said not until the end of history will judgment be absolutely final.

Martin Luther warned against people who were so fanatical to do away with weeds that they often don’t end up with any wheat either.[7]  How many times have churches gone on some crusade to right the wrong and ended up looking very unJesuslike. Sometimes churches have done more damage for the cause of Christ when addressing what is bad than actually helping.  Churches have acted with great self-righteousness – trying to pull up the weeds. And sometimes the wheat has been hurt. And people have become turned off to God. And the tear is worse than it was at first.

A main truth of this parable is that apparently the good and healthy is at risk of being hurt if someone tries to start ripping out the weeds.  God is tremendously concerned with what belongs to him.

The final curtain of history has not fallen.  God has not judged this world.  Yes, good and bad exist alongside one another. It ain’t over till its over.  Be patient.

In his second letter, Peter wrote this:

First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.  They will say, “Where is the ‘coming’ God promised? 

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness.  He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.[8]

The Father wants as much wheat as possible. Jesus’ parable says to us that the kingdom of God and those who belong to God is growing and influencing and it takes time.  It’s like a mustard seed, like yeast, or wheat.  It isn't until the ear has formed that it becomes clear what the nature of the grain will be.  You’ve gotta wait. People are still repenting, changing, and we find some growing into wheat.  Who knows how the crops will look? Who knows who might change? Even amidst all the evil.

Listen to what the Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians:

Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes.  He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of people’s hearts.  At that time each will receive his praise from God.[9]

I think I have things figured out about people and situations, but I need to acknowledge how short-sighted I am and let God take care of it all in his time.

It doesn’t mean we don’t address evil. We are to work for justice.  We are to confront what is wrong. But how that is done matters. Sometimes our solutions may do more damage than good.

The late Episcopalian priest and writer, Robert Farrar Capon said that the enemy doesn’t have any real power over goodness anyway: the wheat is in the field, the Kingdom is in the world, and there is not one thing he can do about it. But, Capon adds,

 “He can sucker the forces of goodness into taking up arms against the confusion he has introduced, to do his work for him. That is why he goes away after sowing the weeds. He has no need to hang around. Unable to take positive action anyway—having no real power to muck up the operation—he simply sprinkles around a generous helping of darkness and waits for the children of light to get flustered enough to do the job for him.”[10]

We’ve got to be careful.  Be wise.

We may see really tough things and say, “if we could just get rid of this all will be well.”

God is more merciful that we are, more strict than we are, and more knowing than we are.[11]

“Let them both grow together until the harvest” Jesus says.  The parable assumes that the Father is in control.  He will give the signal when the harvest needs to come because he is the only one who knows when it's time.  The Son of God even said he didn't even know "the time".  Until then, The Father is at work.

Thirdly, this is a parable about judgment, but that judgment belongs to God.

One thing is certain about the way we hear this parable: we are pretty sure we aren't a weed.  We are wheat.

Make sure that is true.  Make sure you are someone who belongs to the kingdom.  That comes by honoring and surrendering to the King who is Jesus. It comes by letting the seed of his word give us birth, growing in him, and letting him do his will in our lives.

In 2 Peter, Peter goes on to say that since the day of the Lord’s final judgment (the harvest) will come like a thief in the night, then,

“…what kind of people ought you to be?  You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming…

            …make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.  Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation…”[12] That’s what God wants – as much good and wheat as possible.

On a day of the Father’s appointing, Jesus the King will come, and everything that has caused such pain, devastation, hurt and grief will be dealt with by God. Until then, God in his love will pursue this world, desiring all to come home to him and sit at the table in his kingdom.

The Apostle Paul also said, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”[13]

May he give us the grace for the long view, and patience, and trust in his plan and working. And the grace to truly be his children.[14]

Prayer: Lord God Almighty, we wait for you.  Teach us the meaning of this parable of Jesus.  We are so weary from all the darkness in this world.  We are so weighed down by the pain. We need the endurance, we need the spiritual vision, we need the trust to wait for you. In the meantime help us in this weary world. Help us to live in service to the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen

[1] NIV Archaeological Study Bible, p.1583

[2] Yes, he also says the weeds are weeded out of the kingdom, but don't necessarily equate the kingdom with the church.  Sometimes churches fall far short of the standards and ways of God.  Jesus spoke of the kingdom as much more than a group of people meeting together in his name.

[3] Dale Bruner, The Churchbook, Matthew vol. 2

[4] 1 John 3:8

[5] John 17:15

[6] Praying with Jesus, May 6

[7] See Dale Bruner, The Churchbook.

[8] 2 Peter 3:3-4, 8-9

[9] 1 Corinthians 4:5

[10] Parables of the Kingdom, 102, found in a sermon by Jim Somerville, “A World Full of Weeds” from the website A Sermon For Every Sunday.

[11] Helmut Theilicke, The Waiting Father

[12] 2 Peter 3:11-15

[13] Romans 12:21

[14] Theilicke