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 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 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.”’”
31 He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. 32 It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”
33 He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.”
34 All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable. 35 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet:
“I will open my mouth in parables;
I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.”
36 Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” 37 He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40 Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, 42 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.
(ESV)
STOP! Think a little 🤔 What is God saying to you?
- What is the writer saying?
- How do I apply this to my life?
Jesus told a series of three parables that spoke of the kingdom. The first was also about seed sowed but this time it was all sowed in a field. At night an enemy came and sowed weeds amongst the wheat. The weeds (or tares) mentioned were probably bearded darnel which looks and behaves a lot like wheat, especially in the early stages of growth. Because of this it is difficult to distinguish it from the wheat. Eventually, the servants realise that there are weeds and go to their master to tell him of the weeds and ask if they should remove them. The master tells them it was an enemy’s doing but that to take them out now would also remove some of the good crop. Instead, they should wait until the harvest was ready and then remove the weeds (which would be much easier to distinguish) for burning and gather the wheat to the barn.
Jesus also compared the kingdom of heaven to a mustard seed, a tiny seed, that after being planted grows into one of the biggest of garden plants that is strong enough that birds can nest in its branches. This parable is probably speaking of the small and humble beginnings of the kingdom in the church age. With only the disciples and a handful of believers, how would it grow? It would grow to a large size despite its humble beginnings. In the parable of the sower the birds ate the seed that fell on the path and so may also represent satanic influence in this parable, perhaps as unbelievers. These unbelievers may be those who are drawn to the church because of its size and significance yet remain unsaved. They remain in the church for its physical support and protection (nest in its branches).
The parable of the leaven (yeast) in the flour speaks of something small that spreads throughout until all of it is affected. There are two possible explanations for the leaven. One is that the leaven is the birth of the church from its insignificant beginnings as in the parable of the mustard seed and that the church grows slowly and quietly until it permeates the whole world. But this group of parables has also clearly been speaking of the devil’s influence in the kingdom. Even though the church will have many true believers, it will also be filled with unbelievers who look like genuine believers. It is also possible that the leaven represents Satan’s influence in the church through false believers and false teachers. It’s worth noting that nowhere else in the Bible is leaven used in a positive light (cf. Mat 16:6; Mar 8:15; 1 Cor 5:6-7; Gal 5:7-9).
The disciples ask for an explanation of the parable of the weeds. Jesus explains that the sower is the Son of Man and the enemy who sows the weeds is Satan. There is good seed, believers, and bad seed of weeds which are unbelievers who are religious but lost. Initially there is a superficial likeness between the two but ultimately they have two different destinies. The angels are the reapers who will gather the unbelievers for judgement at the end of the age. We are to be aware that the devil will make attempts to appose the growth of the church through imitation, infiltration, and deceit. He presents a false gospel that succeeds in luring many people along a heavenly path to hell.
It is important first of all to be 100% sure that we are wheat and not weeds. Satan’s deception includes things like thinking that we are Christians if we have Christian parents, or because we go to church, or because we do certain things regularly. The wheat is only those who believe in Jesus for eternal life (John 14:6, 1:12).
It is also very important to know that the church contains those who have the appearance of believers but are not. The ones to watch out for specifically are those who end up teaching falsehood. Many of the New Testament letters contain warnings of false teachers infiltrating the church. How do we recognise them? By knowing the truth so well ourselves (knowing our Bibles) that we can tell when they stray from what the Bible teaches. How well do you know your Bible? What are you doing to know it better?