Series on Weed - 4
He often spoke in parables in order to fulfill the prophecies. The result was a teaching that needed enlightenment - not in the form of smarts, but in the form of faith. One had to receive the parable from faith in order to understand what it meant. In this series we take an in depth look at one of these parables. Read installment 3 if you have not yet done so - click here.
Rather than damage the people of God’s kingdom by getting rid of the people of the evil one, Jesus instructs his servants to allow both to grow in the world until the “harvest time”. What is this harvest time and what happens to the weeds and the good plants? The harvest is “end of the age”. Whoa now. Here we go into that rapture and apocalypse stuff.
Not really. The end of the age is certainly a distinct time and will involve some crazy stuff happening. But we are not going there. The parable is concerned with the plants - not the field. There is no indication that the field (world) is destroyed in this parable. But there is definitely some serious implications for people of the evil one (weeds) and the people of God’s kingdom (good seed or wheat).
As discussed previously, Jesus, the owner of the field, decided to allow the weeds to grow along with the good plants until the harvest time. He did this to protect the good plants from potential damage due to trying to remove the weeds. But when the harvest is due He is going to “tell the reapers, ‘Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’” So, who are the reapers? They are some serious angels (vs 39 and try Revelation 8-11). It’s difficult to grasp the parable based on what it is saying here. How can a loving God allow his angels to gather even evil people to be burned like bundles of weeds? Well think about our installment 3 discussion. If God is not responsible for the bad things that happen in the world, who is? It is the enemy who planted the weeds and it is the weeds themselves which spoil the field. If God’s world is to be cleared of weeds, it is at the harvest time when it will happen through the only means possible - through separating the weeds from the wheat. Jesus has held off on the required gathering, but at harvest the mercy is gone and the time has come.
The people of the evil one will be separated from the people of God’s kingdom and they will be thrown “into the fiery furnace” (vs 42). While the evil ones and the enemy are sent to their place, the children of God are gathered into the owner’s “barn” (vs 30). There is no particular reference in the parable explanation that indicates what this barn illustrates. We do know that it is owned by Jesus because He refers to it as his barn. We also are told that after the removal of evil is complete “the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” The end result is that the children of God will shine forth to their Father’s glory. If that is done in God’s barn, I am good with it.
“He who has ears, let him hear.”
Whether you are a weed or a good seed, your destination is sure. There is a place for you. If you are a weed and you do not like your destination, Jesus provides a way to the barn.
Matthew 13:30
"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."