Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing to you O Lord.
The parable of the weeds is one of those readings that reinforce the existence of spiritual beings and their roles. In our culture the existence of spiritual beings is downplayed if not totally ignored. For me the parable also brings to mind other verses that I associate with this parable. My associations may be flawed but they certainly give me pause to think about the big picture.
In the explanation of the parable Jesus tells us there are sons of the kingdom, the sons of the evil one, angels, and most important the Son of Man Jesus Christ himself. Jesus is also indirectly telling us the evil one, Satan, is real.
The first association to the parable of the weeds for me is in Matthew 24 "40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left." The second association is in Acts 5 where we read the curious account of Ananias and Sapphira. Ananias and Sapphira was a married couple that sold a piece property to give the proceeds to the growing church. Followers in the early church were selling their possessions to share for the benefit of the entire fellowship. Ananias and Sapphira conspired to withhold a portion of the proceeds of their sale for their own use and died because their evil deed.
So let's talk about the players represented in this parable. Sons of the kingdom are pretty easy for us to pickup on, that's us. We are the workers in the Lord's fields. We sow the seed for the Holy Spirit to take root. An easy enough task. Just follow Jesus' example, let our actions show we really believe in Him and a seed is planted. Each good deed is a seed planted because of our faith in the one who redeemed us, Jesus. In our society we miss the importance of this task. We expect someone else will take care of the needs of others. Our selfish flesh says, as if I don't I have enough on my plate already; you want me to take time out for a good deed or two. Jesus said the workers are too few that's still a true statement 2000 years later.
The sons of the evil one is perhaps a little more difficult for us to work with but they are every bit as real as the sons of the kingdom. And they come in two flavors. We have the obvious group that overtly exploits others. They think nothing of harming their fellow humans physically, mentally, financially, or by any other means at their disposal.
The second group of sons of the evil one is harder for us to deal with. This group is more like us and may even be us at times. They are like Ananias and Sapphira false believers. These people go through the motions but their heart is not right with God. They think there is room to bargain with God, that there is some on par relationship between them and God. The truth as we know is that God is sovereign and we are His servants. Fortunately, He doesn't treat us like servants He treats us like His own children.
The second group is as dangerous to us and the church as the first. I have to ask are they the hypocrites non-believers like to use against the Word. Perhaps they are. But in another way they present a much greater danger to us. The lacking we perceive in them tempts us to judge them. What we think we know is only our perception of their actions. We can't get inside their heads or hearts, so try as we might we really don't know who the weeds are. If we attempt to judge those we believe to be weeds we risk damaging the good plants. Either by our direct attack or by the fallout of our judgment we can cause great harm to the good plants, the sons of the kingdom. Judging is a very hard temptation to resist especially if we are active in the church.
Jesus is the only one qualified to judge. His qualification comes from on high, it comes from His perfection, and it comes from His sacrifice on the cross. Not one of us can claim to be even close to perfection. In fact we probably have made similar if not the same mistakes as those we judge. If we really want to be judges we need to focus inwardly and judge ourselves. We need to be asking ourselves is God first in what I'm doing? It could be that at the end of the day we find our actions are really working against Him.
More dangerous still our culture thinks that Satan doesn't exist. Jesus clarifies that point in His explanation there is most definitely an evil one. Satan's role is to deceive us and his greatest deception is that people don't believe he exists or that he directs his sons in a campaign against God.
My association with Matthew 24 comes into play here. Jesus says He will send angels to take away the sons of Satan and cast them into the furnace. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. If we read to the end of Matthew 24 we read the same description of the furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. The phrase weeping and gnashing of teeth indicates deep despair; weeping is sorrow and remorse while gnashing teeth is anxiety or pain. Great sorrow and anxiety befall the sons of Satan. It befalls everyone who fails to put their faith in the one savior Jesus Christ.
We all probably have come across someone that says they don't care what happens after death. These folks don't realize what they are saying. It's all very real. People who take that stance are not facing just a few bad days and a slap on the wrist for nonbelief. They are on the road to an eternity of despair.
After the angels throw the sons of evil into the furnace Jesus says, "Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father." Daniel 12 has a very similar verse. A promise of the great reward that awaits us if we believe in the one who accepts us no matter what failings we have in our life.
I don't know about you but I want to see that great reward and I want to make sure as many as possible are there with me. So as we judge our own actions and ask are we working for God maybe it would help to have that goal mind.
In the name of our Risen Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
