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The Parables
of Matthew
The Amazing Grace of God’s Patience
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-42, 47-50
Introduction: Patience
One place where I remain very impressed by Minnesotans is at intersections
with 4-way stops. As cars approach the intersection, I have
learned to either speed up and brake quickly, so I am the
first to stop and therefore first to go, or slow down and
arrive last, so other drivers know they need to go before
I do. I do this because arriving at the stop signs at the
same time results in a contest of frustrating patience as
each driver is signaling for the others to go first. All rules
seem to be ignored as drivers patiently wait to allow others
to go. There are some who try to jump the gun, but for the
most part we remain patiently civil at this intersecting slice
of life.
Another place where I remain impressed by Minnesotans is the willingness
to endure football seasons that never end in championships.
The Vikings carved out a special place in Super Bowl records
with their four losses over a nine year span in the 1970s.
Their futility may only be exceeded by the Buffalo Bills who
lost four Super Bowls in a row (1990-1993). The Vikings have
not returned to the big game since that fateful decade of
the 70’s, even when they were the team to beat 10 years ago.
Remember how the placekicker, who hadn’t missed a field goal
all season, missed the one against the Atlanta Falcons that
would have propelled them into the Super Bowl? In other places
the team would be shredded by writers and fans alike, but
here in Minnesota we patiently wait for next year—all the
time wondering if it will take a twice retired quarterback
from Green Bay to lead the way to the Promised Land.
Of all the virtues people display, I am drawn to
patience. Maybe it’s because I know how easily I become impatient.
I become impatient with others, with events, with myself and
sometimes even with God. There is a drive to achieve that
beats within the human breast and the last thing I want to
hear is, “Just be patient!” It’s difficult to be patient even
when I know that failure to do so usually results in hurt,
heartache and even disaster. Patience is often not one of
our shining virtues, is it?
Reader’s Digest tells of a car stalled
at a crowded intersection. The frustrated woman driver gets
out of the car and lifts the hood to investigate while the
driver of the car behind her begins honking his horn. The
honking continues until the driver of the stalled car walks
over and speaks to the impatient motorist, “If you’ll fix
my car, I’ll be glad to keep honking the horn for you.”
A Sunday School class of young girls
described patience this way. “Patience is when you are sitting
in church and the preacher is preaching. You’re just sitting
there and he is preaching. He’s keeps preaching and you keep
sitting there. That’s patience.”
The twin parables of the weeds and the net teach
us about the amazing grace of God’s patience. You might not
think so as we first read them but I’ll try to show you—if
you’ll just be patient.
Matthew 13: 24-30
Jesus told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like
a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was
sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and
went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the
weeds also appeared. "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?' " 'An enemy did this,' he
replied. "The servants asked him, 'Do you want us to go
and pull them up?' " 'No,' he answered, 'because while
you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them.
Let 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.' "
The Story
Jesus tells the story of the weeds to teach what
the Kingdom of Heaven in like. The various elements of the
story are drawn from the familiar event of planting a field.
Seed is sown. With the work completed the farmer and his helpers
sleep. During the night the enemy sows weed seed among the
wheat. This was a particularly troublesome weed because it
looked like wheat but was actually poisonous. The practice
of sabotaging another farmer’s field was common enough that
Rome had a specific law making it a criminal act.
The seeds sprout and the workers discover weeds
infesting the field. When the workers wonder what has happened,
the owner explains to them that an enemy has done this. The
workers want to charge out into the field to pull the weeds,
but the owner stops them knowing they will harm the good plants.
He tells them to let the plants grow together and then make
the separation during the harvest. They just need to be patient
until the time is right.
It is a simple, straightforward story that would
have had their heads nodding in agreement. What did Jesus mean?
A Common Understanding of the Story
As you read different explanations of this parable
you will find that one common understanding stresses the dangers
of the intermixture of good and evil in the church. The church
needs to be aware of the danger of having both true and false
believers. There needs to be great care in making sure that
tares (weeds) don’t infest the church.
I have to tell you that this makes for great preaching
material. It sets the stage to ask some pretty pointed questions:
·
Are you good seed or bad seed?
·
Are you wheat or weed?
·
Are you the produce of God’s hand or the devil’s?
I read one treatment of this parable titled “The
Most Dangerous People In The Church.” It identifies these dangerous people
as being people who are not only in the church but also very
active. They may even hold leadership positions. They benefit
from having God’s blessings rub off on them. They look so
much like the real thing that everyone is sure they are. These
are people who think they are Christians but their lives are
really guided by non-Biblical beliefs, values and presuppositions.
They are so misguided that they actually become channels of
the spirit of Satan in the church. They are deadly dangerous.
This is great preaching material. It can be deeply
convicting and the reality of the false infiltrating the true
is certainly taught in other passages of Scripture. Unfortunately,
it is totally and completely wrong when tied to this parable.
How do I know? I know this because
Jesus explicitly explained the story to His disciples.
Matthew 13:36-42
Then 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." He answered, "The one
who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the
world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom.
The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sows
them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the
harvesters are angels. As the weeds are pulled up and burned
in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The 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.”They
will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be
weeping and gnashing of teeth.
The Proper Understanding of the Story
As we start to peel away the various layers of
this story take special note that Jesus doesn’t assign specific
meaning to all the elements in the story. For example, there
seems to be no special meaning connected with the fact that
the wheat is sown before the weeds. Nothing is pointed out
about the fact that the workers all go to sleep after their
work is done. No special meaning is associated with the conversation
between the owner and his servants.
There are some specific associations that are made.
Jesus tells His disciples:
·
The sower is the Son of Man
·
The good seed represents sons of the Kingdom
·
The weeds are sons of the evil one
·
The enemy is the devil
·
The harvest is at the end of the age
·
The harvesters are angels
There is one element that is the key to understanding
the parable. It unlocks the meaning and makes Jesus’ point
clear. Jesus says that
the field is the world. The field is not the church; it is
the world. This is not a story exposing the dangers of the
world infiltrating the church. This is a story about the church
in the world. Satan may rule temporarily but the world still
belongs to God and He is active in His plan to redeem it.
D.A. Carson hits the nail on the head in explaining
the point Jesus makes.
The point is stunningly clear. First-century
Judaism was used to waiting for the Messiah, used to waiting
for the end of the age, used to waiting for the coming of
the Kingdom. But when it came, it was commonly argued, that
would be it; the final judgment would take place, moral ambiguities
and the seemingly endless tension between good and evil would
be over.
“Not so,” said Jesus. The Kingdom
of heaven, rather, is like this story. The kingdom comes,
but judgment is delayed. When the judgment does come, the
separation is absolute, and the destinies of the sons of the
Kingdom and the sons of the devil are entirely distinct (13:40-43).
But, for the moment, the kingdom dawns without the judgment
taking place. D.A.
Carson, God With Us, p. 81
The disciples called this the parable of the weeds
in the field when they asked Jesus to explain it to them.
They understood it enough to know it was about judgment. The
question behind their desire to have the story explained would
have been, “Lord, do you want us
to go gather up the weeds?” They stood ready to
help bring the Day of Judgment to fruition.
The disciples James and John reflected this attitude
toward the Samaritans who refused to believe.
When the disciples James and John saw
this, they asked, "Lord, do you want us to call fire
down from heaven to destroy them?" Luke 9:54 NIV
The disciples probably wondered why the wicked
weeds would be allowed to coexist with the good wheat. Jesus’
point is clear: If you start gathering the weeds ahead of
time, mistakes will be made.
Jesus does, however, reinforce the reality of judgment.
·
It will come at God’s appointed time
·
It will be sure
·
It will be just
All who cause sin and do evil will be weeded out.
The promise of heaven or hell will become a blessed or frightening
reality.
Carson again provides help in grasping the meaning.
Some have argued that a parable about
good and evil in the world would be trite; but the problem
of good and evil intermingled in the church is important and
realistic. However, this is not a parable simply about the
intermingling of good and evil, whether in world or church.
Rather, it is a parable about how there is still mingling
of good and evil even after the Kingdom has come; for the
judgment comes only later. Carson, Ibid.
The Meaning For Us
There are some important themes of meaning we can
take with us from this parable.
Believers Are Planted In The World By God
God’s plan of redemption is at the heart of this
teaching story. Remember the key to unlocking the meaning
of this story: the field is the world. We
are planted in the field to bear good fruit—the fruit of righteousness.
You and I are in the field to bear witness to the eternal,
life-changing righteousness of God.
All Believers Were Once Weeds
We all share a common origin. We were all at one
time bad seed. We were separated from God. Then, we were transformed
into good seed. This
transformation is the supernatural working of God’s grace.
Jesus is the one who sows the good seed.
This Is Not The Age Of Judgment
Christians are not qualified to infallibly distinguish between good and
bad seed, good plants and weeds, believers and false believers. Whenever the church has presumed to be qualified, a blood bath has resulted.
Standards of evaluation were faulty, arbitrary and prejudiced.
Those who held the power started trying to pull out the weeds
causing great destruction.
Believers Are On Kingdom Assignment In The World
Believers are not God’s instruments of judgment
and destruction but of His truth and grace. Believers
aren’t to be primarily about condemnation but compassion.
The children of the kingdom are called to preach and teach
in a world where good and evil still intermingle even though
the Kingdom has come. Our purpose is not to judge, but to
win souls. It is not to punish, but to invite God to work
through us to transform children of the evil one into children
of the Kingdom.
The Point Restated
This is an important point Jesus makes. He wasn’t
interested in the life-destroying judgmentalism of the Jewish
religious system. He came to bring life. The point is important
enough to reinforce with another story. The symbols of good
and evil are changed in this new story from plants to fish.
As you listen, hear how the point remains clear.
Matthew 13:36-42
Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a
net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of
fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore.
Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but
threw the bad away. This is how it will be at the end of the
age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous
and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping
and gnashing of teeth.
Just as the weeds are thrown into the fire and
burned, so are the bad fish. Judgment may not be taking place
at present, but don’t grow complacent thinking judgment will
never occur. It will take place and it will be painfully real.
Conclusion: Getting Better Acquainted With God
My premise for the summer is that many people really do want to become
better acquainted with God and the parables are the best tool
I know of to do that. So, how does this parable help us become better acquainted with
God?
The parable teaches the amazing grace of God’s patience. It shouts out to you and me, “There is still time!” There is time to
be good seed living the Kingdom lifestyle. It testifies to
others who are still bad seed or fish, “There is still time
to be converted before judgment comes.”
The parable also reminds us that hell is not going to be
a place of pleasure. People joke about wanting to go to hell
because, after all, that’s where all their friends are going
to be. Judgment is real and is followed by punishment that
is so fearsome there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Jesus asks His disciples to be very careful to
hear and respond to the truth. At the end of the parable of
the weeds He says, “He who has ears, let him hear.” Then, at the end of
the parable about the net He asks, “Have
you understood all these things?”
Understanding the parable frees us to be God’s good seed
planted in the field. It frees us to celebrate God’s patience
in not executing His judgment on sin prematurely.
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. 2 Peter 3:9 NIV
Do you understand what I have said? I hope so because the amazing
grace of God’s patience is for you!
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