Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Pray with me, lord. May our hearts be the good soil open to the seed of your word, and may our ears be ready to listen to your gospel so that it may change us forever.
Amen.
Our reading this morning are scriptures from the gospel of Matthew, chapter 13, verses 24 to 30. The parable of the weeds amongst the wheat.
He put before them another parable.
The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field.
But while everyone was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and then went away.
So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, master, did you not sow good seed in your field?
Where then did these weeds come from?
He answered, an enemy has done this. The slave said to him, then, do you not want us to go and gather them? But he replied, no, for in gathering the weeds, you would uproot the wheat along with them.
Let both of them grow together until the harvest. And at harvest time, I will tell the reapers, collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned. But gather the wheat into my barn.
Matthew 13 36 43. Jesus explains this parable.
Then he left the crowds and went into the house, and his disciples approached him, saying, explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.
And Jesus answered, the one who sows the good seed is the son of man.
The field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom.
The weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.
Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so it will be at the end of the age.
The son of man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where they'll be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father.
Let anyone with ears listen.
This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
[00:03:19] Speaker B: All right, I'm going to get into scripture today. I hope you all can hear me.
And this zoom preaching thing. Great. Okay. It feels like a flashback to 2020, which I know none of us want, but here we are.
The scripture ends with this really apocalyptic hell kind of imagery. Raise your hand if you are uncomfortable. Right now.
I can't see you, but I'm assuming maybe you're as uncomfortable as I am. So let me just take a minute to apologize to those of you who are visiting Knox for the first time today, and to anyone who invited a friend or a neighbor to come to church with you today. And now you're thinking, oh, God, not only is the preacher on Zoom, but I invited them to hell Sunday.
What is going on? I know, I know. I understand. But stick with me. I promise we will address the fiery furnace in the room. We're going to set aside the weeping and gnashing of teeth imagery for just a minute.
I actually don't think that hell, especially as we often understand it, is the main point of this parable, even if, as modern readers, it's probably what sticks with us the most. And if you have any kind of religious trauma in your past, it can be really hard to see anything else going on besides that. But let me back us up a little bit and zoom out before we come back here, because I honestly think this is a profound and important parable for us to understand today.
The parable of the weeds and the wheat appears in Matthew, chapter 13. It doesn't appear in any other gospel. And it comes at the end of a section starting in chapter eleven, where we see a number of people responding to Jesus ministry. On the one hand, we see the crowds who respond pretty positively to Jesus. People with physical deformities, the demon possessed, the sick. They all come to Jesus for healing, and Jesus heals them.
On the other hand, we see some people who are kind of neutral or uncertain, people you might not expect, like John the Baptist.
In chapter eleven, John the Baptist is in prison, and he sends one of his disciples to ask Jesus, are you the one who was to come? Or should we expect someone else? John's like, listen, no offense, but this whole kingdom of God thing doesn't really look how I expected it to look, considering the fact that I'm in prison.
But he surely hasn't rejected Jesus. He's just kind of unsure, searching for clarity. And then we have those who flat out oppose Jesus. Jesus denounces a number of jewish towns who rejected him, saying, even tyre and Sidon, two canaanite, phoenician, gentile cities, would have repented if they'd seen the things Jesus did in those other towns. Beyond that, Matthew tells us about these pharisees and teachers of the law who not only try to trap Jesus, but ultimately begin plotting how to kill him.
So as Jesus goes about his ministry, he faces this full spectrum of responses to what he's doing. By the time we get to the parables in chapter 13. It's almost like Jesus is giving his own commentary on what's been happening. First, Jesus tells the parable of the sower. This is a more well known parable with the farmer who throws the seeds all over the place. Some of them land in good soil, some of them land in rocks or thorns. Anneliese gave a great sermon on this passage a few weeks back.
But then Jesus gets to this parable, the parable of the weeds and the wheat.
It's similar to the parable of the sower, except we're no longer concerned about where the seeds land. It's all good soil in this parable. Problem is, someone has come in the middle of the night and planted bad seeds in the same field. Soon there are weeds sprouting up amongst the weeds.
Now notice the first question the servants ask the master. Didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where then did these weeds come from?
It almost to me, sounds like, did you do this? Are you responsible for this? But no. The owner of the field says, an enemy did this. This wasn't how things were meant to be. This isn't right. And as we'll find out soon, it won't be like this forever.
So the next logical thought that comes out of the servant's bounce is, then let's get rid of what isn't right. We can get to work right now. Pulling up the weeds. They're eating her.
I mentioned John the Baptist's uncertain response to Jesus earlier.
It's all speculation, but I wonder sometimes if this was his mindset.
Back in chapter three, when John the Baptist first appears on the scene in Matthew, he's out in the desert, reaching to the crowds, calling them to repentance. He warns even now the axe is lying at the root of the trees.
Therefore, every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. I baptize you with water for repentance. But the one who is coming after me is more powerful than I, and I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather the wheat into the granary. But the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.
Does that language sound familiar?
I wonder if when John sent his messenger to Jesus, asking if he was the one they were waiting for, it was because he was expecting the axe chopping and winnowing fort clearing.
I wonder if he, like the servants in this parable, was ready to get to action, chopping down what he deemed was the enemy.
Instead, he sat in prison.
Wait.
The owner of the field tells his servants, no, don't pull up the weeds. For in gathering the weeds, you would uproot the weeds along with let both grow together until the harvest. And at harpers, collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned. But gather the wheat into my barn. The chapter is the only time in the Bible that refers to this specific type of weeds. It was likely a weedy rye grass with poisonous seeds. And it looked just like wheat, except the grains were black, and you could only tell what the grains looked like once it had sprouted and harvested. So it makes sense to wait.
The servants might think they know what's a weed and what's wheat, but they could be wrong. And the weeds and the wheat have grown in and around and on top of each other in such a way that if you pull up the weeds, you're bound to pull up the wheat at the same time. So the farmer says, stop.
Stop trying to determine what's wheat and what are weeds. Stop trying to purge and destroy. If the cost is too great, just wait.
Let me handle it.
This is where I think this parable might have a lot to say to us in our time, not only about figuring out what to do with our enemies, but even simply identifying who or what enemies really are.
We, as a human race, have always been bad at differentiating weeds and wheat, and the Bible shows us as much time and time again.
A month or so ago, Terry McGonagall gave a sermon on Luke, chapter nine, when Jesus passes through a samaritan village. But the Samaritans reject him and won't let him stay, a slap in the face in their culture of hospitality.
Samaritans, those descendants of the cowardly, traitorous Israelites who had stayed behind and intermarried with Assyrians during the exile, they didn't worship the right way. They had a separate temple, and now they were disrespecting Jesus himself.
James and John, two of Jesus disciples, rightfully nicknamed the sons of thunder, come to Jesus and say, lord, do you want us to call fire from heaven to destroy them? And they believe they can do it, because there's no scarier faith than a faith that God hates your enemies, just you.
Jesus rebukes them. The Bible doesn't even tell us what Jesus says it says, but Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they went to another village because, of course, that's not what Jesus wants. Haven't James and John been paying attention to anything Jesus has been saying? The very next chapter, Jesus would give the famous parable of the Good Samaritan, in case they were still missing.
They couldn't tell the difference between the wheat and the weeds.
But then opposition to Jesus gets even more intense. The plot to have Jesus killed is set into motion, and a large crowd, armed to the teeth, is sent by the chief priest to arrest Jesus. They come in the middle of the night and seize Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. Surely these are enemies, right? Surely this is what weeds look like.
So Peter grabs his sword and attack. But who does he attack? A servant of the high priest, likely not armed, surely no helmet, because his ears are exposed. And Peter hacks one of his ears off. I get the feeling he wasn't aiming for an ear.
Jesus stops him and cuts down any start to violent retaliation, saying, put your sword back in its place.
For all who take the sword will die by the sword.
Luke tells us Jesus took the time to actually heal servants evil before he let that same servant and the other men arrest him.
And interestingly, in the book of John, John actually names this serpent. Says his name is Malchus. I've learned any time biblical writers name a random character like this, it might be because they actually knew them. Or more importantly, the audience they were writing to may have actually known.
Is it possible that Malchus, this servant healed by Jesus, went on to become a follower of Jesus, a part of the early church?
Maybe.
But Peter couldn't tell the difference between the wheat and the peas.
Jesus goes on to be taken through a sham trial, corruption at every level, people making political moves motivated by power rather than justice or righteousness. He's condemned to death. He's scourged and beaten. He's humiliated and mocked. He's crucified.
Now we find surely there is no redemption for the scribes and pharisees and the roman guards who torture and kill the son of God like this. I mean, if anyone in all of human history could be designated weeds in no uncertain terms, it's gotta be the people who put Jesus to death, right?
And yet, hanging on the cross, facing imminent death, Jesus breathes the words, father, forgive a roman centurion who's watching Saul take place. Exclaims, surely he was the son of God.
And a pharisee named Nicodemus actually helps prepare Jesus body for burial. Because, you see, we can't tell the difference between weeds and wheat.
For months now. I feel like I've been carrying around this grief over what's going on in Palestine, like I know so many of you have.
In response to Hamas horrific attacks in October that killed over a thousand people, the state of Israel has killed over 30,000 people.
In trying to root out Hamas, Israel has killed an estimated 15,000 children.
Now, I know there are people who would argue about the numbers and where we get the numbers from, and I understand it's a complicated political thing, but sooner or later, you have to ask, what number is the acceptable number?
And as followers of Jesus for us, we have to ask not only for children, but how many deaths in general are we willing to justify? How many people made in the image of God? Are we willing to sacrifice to try to make the world the way we think it should be? This is true for any side, for any conflict. Before we point any fingers, we have to come to terms with our own wars on terror that have caused so much terror, it goes beyond the state to the church. We look back at church history for even a second. We see a disturbing, horrifying pattern of these attempts to define evil and exterminate evil that end up not only causing harm, but actually becoming evil in themselves.
Please hear what I'm not saying. I'm not saying we're supposed to sit idly by while evil runs rampant. I'm not saying we can't work to eradicate the systemic injustices of racism and the greed that enables poverty and this epidemic of violence that our world faces. We turn to the Holy Spirit for discernment and wisdom to make correct judgments. Yes, the kingdom of God is breaking into our world now, today. And as the hands and feet of Jesus, I believe we are called to work towards justice and peace on earth as it is in heaven.
So when I say we can't tell the difference between weeds and wheatley, what I mean is we have this human tendency to declare people as enemies.
Where God calls us to see brothers and sisters, we have this human tendency to overlook the way our maybe well intentioned but hasty and forceful actions bring harm and destruction to innocent lives.
I am struck by the immense care that the landowner in the parable has for the wheat. So much care that he's not willing to sacrifice any of it to exterminate the wheat. There is no level of collateral damage that the landowner is okay with.
That's more care than we often give to human life.
We are so quick to write people off as irredeemable, lost beyond hell.
Jesus is hanging from the cross saying, dont tell me who I cant forget.
Dont tell me what situation I cant redeem.
You know, it's funny that my first reaction when I read the parable of the wheat and the wheat is, okay, who are the weeds and who are the wheats? When really, I wonder if the whole point of the parable is to stop asking that question.
Maybe the better question is, how do we care for and nurture the whole garden?
Again and again, Jesus calls us to see the value of people made in the image of God, to love our enemies. And in doing so, we might discover that they were never our enemies at all.
This parable is about hope, even for people who the rest of the world have given up, even when things seem bleak, even when we have loved ones who continue to make soul crushing decisions, even when people we care about have gone astray and are bringing harm to themselves. We don't know the whole story. We cannot see how God is working below the surface to sprout life where we least expect.
When we start to see all of life like this, every human being with unlimited potential for hope and forgiveness and redemption, I mean, it changes every interaction we have, every relationship, interpersonal and global.
Okay, so I told you. We talk about the fiery image at the end of Jesus explanation of this parable.
When Jesus disciples ask him to explain the parable, Jesus includes a lot of apocalyptic links. This is recurring language that Jesus uses to refer to the end of the age.
There is weeping that indicates sadness, a gnashing of teeth that indicates anger. And if this makes you uncomfortable, that might be the point.
There is something uncomfortable going on here, some kind of uncomfortable purging, uncomfortable correction, an uncomfortable process.
Now, let's be careful not to read into the text anything that's not there.
But at the same time, let's consider how seriously Jesus seems to take.
On the one hand, I am squeamish to talk about this. The imagery is dark, and I don't fully understand it.
On the other hand, I wonder how many of us have felt this deep longing for justice, not punishment. But we are faced with a stark reality that this world is not the way it was meant to be. Have you ever heard those stories on the news? Or read those heartbreaking statistics that just make you say, God, someone has to fix this.
Would God be good?
God ignored him.
Can we trust God to make all things right, destroying injustice?
Can we trust God to maybe do it in a different way than we as a human race would? In a different way than we as a human race have tried again? And again through history in a way we might not be thinking of, we might not even be capable.
Can we trust God in that?
Because ultimately, I think that's what this parable is about. Trusting God.
Trusting God with our loved ones.
Trusting God with people we may have deemed our enemies.
Trusting God with our own hearts that are so often full of weeds and wheat alike.
One thing I can promise you, if this apocalyptic language makes you anxious, fearful, or distrustful, it's this.
The triune God revealed to us in the person of Jesus Christ does not change his character at the end of time.
The God we see through Jesus does not change who who he is when we die.
This is the God who hangs on a cross and says, father, forgive them.
This is a God who, no matter how uncomfortable it might make me, I want to trust.
Can we trust God to be more just than we are?
Can we trust God to be more merciful than we are and entrusting God? May it free us to care for and nurture and love the garden God has entrusted to us.
Amen.
Let's pray together.
Dear Lord God, through all of the challenges, through Covid, through zoom, lord, I pray that we would hear the message that you have for us today. I pray that we would be able to see the garden the way you see it, that we could love without reason and love without any kind of anything pulling us back, lord, and that we would just let you sort out the rest. Help us to see people created in your image.
Jesus name. Amen.
