Parable of the Weeds

Matthew 13:24-30: "Jesus told them another parable: 'The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.' The owner’s servants came to him and said, "Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?" ‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. The servants asked him, "Do you want us to go and pull them up?" ‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. 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.’”

Jesus then left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.” He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear" (Matthew 13:36-43).

The second parable in the thirteenth chapter of Matthew is about the wheat and the weeds. After Jesus told the story, he followed it by sharing two other short parables about the mustard seed and the yeast. He left the crowds and went into a house and his disciples asked him for an explanation about the parable of the weeds in the field. Apparently, individually and as a group, they did not "get it." Jesus explained the parable to them in a nutshell (see vv. 37-39).

This story about the Kingdom of Heaven has one main truth--that there are good seeds that germinate into wheat and bad seeds that become weeds. The sower of the good seed (the Gospel) is the Son of Man or Jesus Christ. The enemy who sows the seeds that become weeds is the devil. Both the wheat and the weeds are allowed to grow together until the separation which will occur at the harvest (the judgment). The destiny of the weeds is to be pulled up and burned in the fire whereas the "righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father."

There is a vast difference between heaven and hell (see Luke 16:19-31). What are you -- wheat or weeds? This is what will determine your eternity. As Jesus said, "He who has ears, let him hear." Respond in faith to the Gospel and become one of the righteous who are destined to experience the glories of heaven and eternal life.