The Wheat and the Weeds

Matthew 13:24-30,36-43

Jesus put before the crowd another parable: "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. 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?' He answered, `An enemy has done this.' The slaves said to him, `Then do you want us to go and gather them?' But he replied, `No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. 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.'"

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." He answered, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!"

Jesus’s favorite means of communication is through a parable, a story. The special thing about a parable is that the question of its historicity (did it really happen or is it made up?) is irrelevant. Jesus is telling a story as a metaphor, but only occasionally tells the crowd or his disciples what the metaphor is for. Even then, he is simply removing one layer of mystery.

This all seems easy enough, but we often get parables like this week’s gospel as told by the evangelist known to us as Matthew. These parables can distract us from what Jesus is really getting on about. He sets the stage by talking about the kingdom of heaven being “compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field”. Jesus then tells how “an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat” while the people were sleeping. The slaves got up and realized that wheat and weed were mixed together.

What I find truly intriguing is that the slaves make the bold question of their master: “Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?” Ouch!

The Master instructs his slaves to leave the weeds among the wheat and that the reapers will separate out the weeds from the wheat at the harvest. At that, Jesus stops talking to the crowd. When the disciples are alone with Jesus, they ask what it means. Jesus gives them the answer key to unlocking the parable, but it raises more questions about when, why, and how. It talks about the harvest as “the end of the age” and speaks in very apocalyptic imagery. I will get to this in a second.

I am interested in what Jesus is telling the crowd and his disciples by talking about the “weeds” and the “wheat”. It is easy enough for us to read this passage and think about the good people (usually suggesting that this means faithful Christians) are the wheat and that everyone else are the weeds. Or to simply say “good” people and “bad” people. This is easy enough. But what is Jesus telling us? In the parable to the crowd, he talks of the slaves wondering what to do with the weeds, and in Jesus’s explanation to his disciples, the slaves are not listed as representing anything, most especially zealous Christians. In fact, Jesus doesn’t appear to be instructing us to do anything here. In fact, over the question of the very nature of the field, it is not about us.

And this is where the apocalyptic talk comes in. Normally, I have a hard time figuring out the intentions of a passage like this one. In one way, it is quite explicit, almost too clear for the reader. At the same time, the vague terms such as Son of Man, kingdom, the evil one, the end of the age, and the furnace of fire. These terms give us clues to what Jesus was saying based on the Older Testament, but modern apocalypticists (such as John Hagee) are likely to put suggestions into Jesus’s mouth. This is the danger of apocalypticism.

But Jesus is using this “fiery” talk to comfort his disciples. We would see strange comfort in this, right? But it is not comfort for our intellects, but our base desires of retribution and separation. We are so worried that someone less good will get the same thing. It’s the proof that follows the “trust me”. It’s the part where Jesus says “Hey, good people have it great, bad people, well, let’s just say screaming and gnashing of teeth is only the beginning.” It’s the moment that gets the person to say “Got it, Jesus!”

So what do you make of this parable? Do you agree with my thoughts? What are your thoughts?

In a world that already separates each of us according to groups and designations, what are your thoughts about God separating us this way? Or is it a relief to know that it isn’t up to us to separate ourselves in that way?

Do you find comfort in this passage? Why or why not?