7.18.26

Matthew 24

The Parable of the Weeds

"24 He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, 25 but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds[a] among the wheat and went away. 26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. 27 And the servants[b] 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?’ 28 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?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. 30 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.”’”

People will be judged for their actions in the end. Believers will be spared; unbelievers will be cast away into eternal separation from God.

Have you ever really read this and asked yourself, "Who or what are the weeds in this parable?" When I was a young teacher, our district had an opening convocation and had speakers who came to "motivate us" for that year. One year, the speaker was doing what these kinds of men and women do, making us laugh at the start, and this man was talking about sex (generally, not in depth). He said, "One in every three people think about sex at least once every three hours or so. So, look to your left and to your right and know that at least one of you right now is deep in thought on that subject." (Cue laughter sought after by the speaker meant to motivate... so far so good.)

The weeds in this parable are probably weeds that mimic the crop; that is to say, it's hard to tell a plant intentionally sewn from the bad seed. The next time your in a group of people, look to your left or right, and know one of you may be a bad seed. It's hard to tell though.

How do you know who these people are? Their actions speak volumes. I love "The Caine Mutiny." Fred MacMurray, the favorite really good dad on "My Three Sons," demonstrates his skill as an actor by playing, convincingly, a really bad seed. He's a doubt-caster, using his skills as an officer (who is also a writer) on a ship to get the crew to eventually tell the captain, played by Humphrey Bogart, to stand down. The second-in-command takes the helm.

Captain Queeg (the one McMurray torpedoes) is really old Navy, and as such, he seems archaic. He becomes an easy target. At the court martial of the second in command, MaacMurray's character is exposed for his deception at an after-party by the defense counsel, who dramatically throws a glass of wine in a disgraced MacMurray's face. It is excellent drama played out well.

Weeds in our lifetime may be our own actions or intent meant to do harm and mislead. I have a very good friend, still working in and leading in the education business, and his skill is "weeding out" intent (genetic gift and skill from his father). He can expose a weed after a few minutes of questions.

In the follow up to this parable, the disciples come to Jesus a second time in as many days, and ask, "What does this mean?" Christ says (paraphrased), "It means patience. Don't destroy the entire crop to kill the weeds. That will be done in the final judgement." (v 36 - 43)

The application for us as believers? Be sober and use sound judgement (1 Peter) for the enemy lurks like a lion ready to pounce. Be on guard and seek wisdom to deal with the weeds sewn on hearts of men. Pray that God's Spirit change these hearts and that God make us an instrument for that change. Pray that we all learn from our sins/mistakes and turn to Christ. Pray that Christ examine our own hearts (Psalm 139), prune us, and teach us his Word.

Amen

Hope Men's Ministry is a ministry in service to Hope Lutheran Church and School. Our purpose is to grow, unite, and share God's Word to all men through meaningful activities. These activities center on fellowship, service, conversation, prayer, study and devotion as we seek to become men of God as He created us to be.