The Wheat and the Weeds
As we continue our summer reading of Jesus parables, we turn today to the parable of the wheat and the weeds found in Matthew 13:24-30. And like Jesus did with several of his parables, he explains what this means in Matthew 13:36-43. I’m wondering if this has this ever happened to you, you are working on your computer, reading an email or searching for something on the internet when a window opens up that says your computer might be infected with a virus? The information looks real. The logo and name look like the anti-virus software already installed on your computer, so you take a minute to read the information and as you reading it another window opens that says this program is already scanning your computer looking for more problems, which of course it finds. Suddenly you read that dozens of malicious virus and spyware programs are on your computer and they need to be removed. Conveniently a message appears that tells you if you buy this software program you can clean your computer up immediately, or you can hit a button that says “no thanks – let my computer remain infected” which sounds like a horrible thing to do. If this has happened to you then you that the reality is that by this time it might already be too late because the virus or spyware may already on your computer and it seems to take a lot to get it off.
This has not only happened to me, but I know it has happened to several people in the church and what is so evil about this virus is that they created it to look exactly like something we already have on our computers. The name and logo they use look so similar to the anti-virus program already installed on many computers that we think it has be to legitimate so we don’t immediately shut things down. What we see happening, however is actually a virus that begins to either slow down or take over our computers. That virus is a weed and it is exactly like the weeds Jesus talks about in this parable because just as the virus looks like a real anti-software program, so does the weed Jesus refers to here looks almost identical to the wheat.
When Jesus talks about a weed growing up among the wheat he is not talking about a dandelion in a field of grain that can easily be detected and removed. The weed that Jesus is talking about is a special weed called darnel. Darnel is a poisonous plant that before it ripens looks exactly like wheat. In fact, the only way you can distinguish darnel from wheat is to wait until each plant matures because the head of grain in each plant is a different shape and color.
So scattering darnel in a field of wheat was an evil thing to do because the owner of the field might not notice the weeds growing until it is too late and once the weeds have taken hold, they crowd out the wheat, reduce the crop and become a nuisance for the farmer to get rid of. It’s just like that computer virus, once the virus hits, it crowds out the space on our computer for other programs to work, reduces the efficiency of the computer and becomes a huge nuisance for us to get rid of. What’s interesting to know is that the planting of darnel in a field of wheat was not an uncommon occurrence in Jesus day; in fact it happened often enough that the Roman’s had a special law prohibiting this very act, so when Jesus tells this parable, the people knew exactly what he was talking about, but what are the deeper spiritual truths that God wants us to learn from this story of the wheat and the weeds?
The first truth we learn here is that weeds are going to be a part of life. If we look at Jesus’ interpretation of the parable we see that the weeds are the children of the evil one; they are the people who cause us frustration, hurt and pain. They are those malicious, often evil people who surround us at times and make our lives difficult, and we find them everywhere. We find these weeds in the workplace, our neighborhoods, families and yes, even in the church.
I hate to say this, but one of the most miserable persons I have ever met in my life was a member of the church I served in Altoona. He was simply an evil man who did his best to stir up trouble and his evil intent could be seen in the moments he chose to do this. Minutes before worship was to begin on Easter Sunday this man came up to me and asked me how to bring charges against our district superintendant. They had not seen eye to eye on an issue and so moments before worship on Easer Sunday, where we celebrate the power of love and forgiveness, he asked me how to bring this good and faithful man down.
There are weeds all around us and one of the things Jesus is saying in his parable is that the weeds are always going to be there. Notice that Jesus doesn’t call for the weeds to be pulled up the instant they appear. The weeds remain. God is not simply going to remove all the evil people from the world or from our lives at this moment, as much as we may want him to. We’ll look in a moment at why Jesus doesn’t remove all the weeds immediately, but for now let’s just understand that there will be weeds in our lives so we need to learn how to deal with them. We need to learn how to draw upon the strength and the patience God gives us so we can endure with weeds around us.
You know, even Jesus had weeds in life, in fact; Jesus had weeds with in his own close circle of friends. Think about it, Jesus traveled with his disciples for three years and these disciples were his closest friends and strongest allies. These were the people who supported Jesus in all he did and they worked for his cause. They looked and acted like loyal, dedicated, faithful men, but not all of them were. There was one who was going to betray him and Jesus knew it. Jesus knew that Judas would be the one to hand him over to be crucified and yet even knowing that, Jesus didn’t uproot him, he didn’t kick him off the team.
I’m always amazed when I stop and remember that Jesus knew Judas was going to betray him, and yet Judas was there when Jesus washed the disciples’ feet. Jesus washed Judas’ feet and shared with him the bread and cup of the last supper. Jesus knew that Judas was a weed, but he didn’t uproot him, he allowed him to remain as part of the group of disciples and by doing this one of the things Jesus says to us is that there will be people around us who will be difficult and even destructive. There will be people who will look and act like our friends and confidants, but in time they may be the ones who will let us down, desert us, even betray us. There will be people around us who we will struggle with and God isn’t going to just uproot them the moment they appear, but God will give us the strength to learn how to deal with them.
For a moment, let’s also expand our understanding of these weeds and see that they aren’t just the people who cause us problems; they can also be the problems themselves. We will all face problems in life. Just when things seem to be going well there will be an obstacle, some unforeseen issue that will rise up and cause us problems, and God doesn’t come along and uproot these problems the moment they appear. We live with all kinds of weeds that crowd out the good things we want in life. We live with disappointments and confusion, we wrestle with unmet expectations and as much as we want God to take it all away and make everything right, that is simply not the way God works. There are those times when God is more interested in strengthening us so we can deal with the weeds, or maybe God wants to help us understand that the weeds, no matter how bad they are, can’t destroy us or take God’s presence and power and grace from us.
So the first truth this parable tells us is that there will be weeds in our lives. People and problems will come along that will challenge us, disappoint us and frustrate us and God isn’t going to just remove them when they first appear. The second truth we learn from this parable is that it is not our job to figure out who the weeds are; it is not our job to be the judge. Look at the explanation to the parable again (13:37-39). Did you notice that we are not the harvesters? We are not the ones who identify the weeds and pull them up, we are the wheat and so our job is to be wheat. It is not our job to judge who is evil. It is not our job to decide who is in and who is out, it is our job to simply be wheat and Jesus says that the wheat are the children of the kingdom, the wheat are children of God and so our job is live like children of God. We are to live in such a way and love in such a way that people see Jesus in us. So instead of pointing fingers at others, we need to spend time looking in a mirror and making sure that we are faithful in following Jesus.
Now this doesn’t mean we don’t speak out against sin and uproot injustice when we see it, that is part of what it means to faithfully serve God in this world, but we need to spend more time focusing on ourselves and less time judging the actions and attitudes of others. Again, Jesus had to face this issue with his own disciples. After the resurrection Jesus is spending time with his disciples and in John 21 we find Jesus talking to Peter explaining to him what is going to happen to him as he gets older (John 21:18).
Now none of this sounds very good and I’m sure Peter is struggling to accept what this means for his life when he sees his friend John in the distance and so Peter asks Jesus, hey, Lord, what about him? What about John? What is he going to have to go through? Is he going to have to go through all this too? And look at what Jesus says to Peter, (John 21:22) If it is my will that he remain until I come again, what is that to you? You just follow me. In other words, Jesus is saying, don’t compare yourself to others, just do what I ask you to do. Don’t worry about what will happen to others, don’t worry about what they will get and what they won’t get, just be wheat.
We need to spend more time being the people God calls us to be and stop worrying about others. In his sermon on the mount Jesus told us to not worry about the speck of dust in our neighbor’s eye but to work at taking out the plank out of our own eye. We aren’t supposed to judge others, we need to just take care of ourselves, and live as children of light. Listen to this charge found in Colossians 3:12-17. This is part of what it means to be wheat – this is what we need to be focused on, living lives of love, forgiveness, peace and grace. In our families, at our jobs and in our community if we would worry more about living faithful lives as children of God, we would have a better community. What it means to be wheat is that whatever we do, in word or deed, we do in the name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God the father.
There is another truth this parable teaches us that in many ways could be the foundation of it all. While we often think of this as a parable that talks about the coming judgment, and it is, the day of judgment is coming when the angels will separate out the weeds from the wheat and the weeds will be destroyed while the wheat will be gathered into the kingdom of God, but maybe we also need to read this as a parable of grace. Let’s go back and ask ourselves the question, why doesn’t Jesus want the weeds pulled up immediately? Why let them grow? The answer is given in Matthew 13:29.
Jesus is clear that he doesn’t want the weeds pulled up right away because he doesn’t want any of the wheat to be destroyed. If the weeds are pulled up too soon, some wheat might be pulled up as well and more than anything Jesus wants the wheat, he wants us, to grow and mature. Think about it, there are times in all of our lives when inside or outside we might not look a lot like wheat and if in that moment we are judged, we could be pulled up and destroyed. We all stumble and fall at times; we will struggle to hold onto our faith. We won’t always live like the children of light, but God doesn’t give up on us and uproot our lives, instead God gives us the blessing of his patience and the gift of time.
God give us time to repent and turn back to him. God gives us time to accept his grace and the love he offers. God’s gives us time to draw from his power in ways that can change our lives. That the weeds aren’t pulled up immediately isn’t a sign that God doesn’t care about what we are going through; it is a sign of God’s grace and love for us. God is so patient with us and God’s love is so strong that he waits for us. God waits for us as we wander from him and wrestle with him. God waits for us as we struggle with the problems and the people in our lives. God waits for us as we try not to judge others but instead love and forgive them. And as he waits, God nurtures us with grace and love.
So let’s not just read this parable, let’s allow this word of Christ to dwell within us. God loves us with such great patience that we are able to not just endure the weeds, but overcome them with God’s mercy and power. So let us be wheat, let us be the children of God.
