Matthew 13:24-30 (ESV)
He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”
After explaining the parable of the sower, Jesus gave the disciples another parable about a man who sowed good seed in his field. However, while his servants slept, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat that he had sowed such that the wheat and the weeds grew together. Upon this discovery, the servants wanted to go and gather the weeds but the man refused lest his wheat also be rooted up along with the weeds. His solution was to allow both to grow together and separate them at harvest time – the wheat for storage into his barn and the weeds for burning. When Jesus explains the parable later, he says that the seed represents the sons of the kingdom while the field is the world, and the enemy is the devil who plants sons of evil. At the end of the age, herein depicted as the harvest time, the sons of the kingdom will shine like the sun while the sons of the evil one representing all causes of sin and lawbreakers will be thrown into the fiery furnace.
Worth noting from this parable is that just as the wheat and weeds grow together, so those who belong to Christ and those who belong to the devil will co-exist, and initially it will be difficult to distinguish between them. However, the Lord Jesus Christ is not in a hurry to uproot the weeds as He is patiently waiting for those who rebel against Him to turn back and be saved. However, this period of grace will one day come to an end when the trumpet sounds and the voice of the archangel is heard and our Lord returns. On that day, there will be rejoicing for those who belong to the kingdom of God while there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth for those who belong to the kingdom of darkness. In the meantime, we better be ready and walk in the light lest we be found on that day as those groping in the dark.
Reflections
1. In your honest reflection about yourself, are you a wheat or a weed?
2. Do you truly believe that this world will one day come to an end? If yes, is it reflected in how you live?
3. In view of the above parable, how then should you live and lead your life?
