Springs Of Life Bible Church - The Wheat and Weeds

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		Parable of the Wheat and Weeds

KINGDOM PARABLES OF JESUS
Parable of the Wheat and Weeds
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Jesus gives the parable 13:24-30

The word weeds in the Greek (zizania) refers to “a troublesome weed in the wheat field resembling wheat” and if not removed will cause the farmer much grief.

The Farmer’s Field

As the wheat and weeds are growing together in the field they look exactly the same. It isn’t until the wheat is finished growing that the weeds become fully apparent. Only when the plants form heads can everyone distinguish the wheat from the weeds—“by their fruit you will recognize them” (Matthew 7:20).

By the time the weeds are recognized it is difficult to do anything about the problem. Anyone walking into the grain field to remove the weeds will trample the wheat. In addition, the roots of the wheat and the weeds are so intertwined that pulling the weeds will also uproot the wheat.

Even though the farmer makes the most of a bad situation, he knows that the weeds have had a negative impact on the wheat and have taken up moisture and nutrients which should have gone to the wheat plants.

Jesus interprets the parable 13:36-43

According to Matthew, Jesus’ disciples asked for an explanation of the kingdom parable of the wheat and weeds. In just a few words the explanation is given and reads as follows:

1. The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man (Jesus).
2. The field is the world.
3. The good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom.
4. The weeds are the sons of the evil one.
5. The enemy who sows the weeds is the devil.
6. The harvest is the end of the age.
7. The harvesters are the Son of Man’s angels.

The main significance of the parable: the conflict between good and evil, between God and Satan. And in this conflict Satan loses the battle.

The conclusion of the interpretation is a view of things to come at the end of the age.

The parable of the wheat and weeds is actually a parable in which Jesus teaches the coming judgment; it may well be called the parable of the harvest.

It is interesting to note that the field, the world, belongs to the farmer—to Jesus. On that field grow wheat and weeds.

It does not matter where man lives on this earth. Wherever he lives he finds himself on property which belongs to Jesus. He is either wheat or weed, one or the other. He is either a son of the kingdom or a son of the evil one.

Wheat and weeds continue to grow until the farmer sends the harvesters into the field.
When the end of the age has come the Son of Man will send out his angels to separate the good from the bad, the wheat from the weeds, the sons of the kingdom from the sons of the evil one.

In the conflict between God and Satan, Satan loses out. Satan’s seed—everything that causes sin and all who do evil—is weeded out and thrown into the fiery furnace.
The sons of the kingdom, on the other hand, will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. They are the righteous. They are the blessed. They endure to everlasting life.

Application
Jesus’ parable of the wheat and weeds contrasts the good and bad, and teaches that in the end the good will triumph.

The servants who wanted to pull out the weeds prematurely reflect the impatient mood of many Christians in God’s kingdom. Under the banner of maintaining the purity of the church, zealous believers have caused untold damage by passing judgment on fellow Christians prematurely before patiently going through the steps of Matthew 18.

No one should understand the parable to teach the elimination of church discipline. On the contrary, Scripture teaches most clearly that church discipline must be maintained and God’s word and standard of holiness upheld in the church.

Church discipline must always be administered in love with the aim at saving and restoring the person involved.

Church discipline will either help turn a wayward brother or sister back to the Lord or expose an imposter who is not a believer at all.

Weeds and wheat grow side by side until the harvest. Then they will be finally and eternally separated.
The visible church is impure; we cannot always distinguish between the wheat and the weeds in this age.
But a day is coming when that distinction will be made. The harvest will come. The wheat will be gathered into God’s barn, and the weeds will be burned.