Theme: Double Victory
Bible reading: Matthew 13
The Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds is one we might be familiar with. It is one of Jesus’ classic parables. And it is one where I think people can tend to focus on different aspects of what Jesus is saying.
In this parable we have an illustration from Jesus about how the world is now. About there being things sown which are good but also that in the same soil there are things growing which are bad. We also have a clear statement from Jesus about a day of judgement. How does this fit in with the message of love and compassion from Jesus? There can appear sometimes to be a bit of a tension here. Some Christians perhaps being a bit too interested in the judgement side, others trying to ignore it completely. And let’s face it one of the most common negative comments people make about Christians is that they are judgemental. So, what can we learn from this parable about this and the tension here?
Jesus gives us a task
There is in this parable a clear divide. There are good seeds and there are bad seeds. It’s the same soil but there are two different types of seeds.
Jesus gives us, as Christians, the simple task of growing. We are to be good seeds. And so our task is to grow. Grow as fast and quickly as we can. Grow to become a bountiful harvest! How do good seeds grow? They grow by loving more and more. By allowing God to make us bigger and better vessels of God’s love. The bigger the wheat we are the more sunlight we are exposed to. The bigger the vessel of God’s love we are the more of God’s love we are exposed to.
So our task is simple and in this parable it is the only thing that we are expected to do. The seeds of love that God planted in each and everyone of us need to grow and become an abundant harvest!
Jesus tells us the job of judgement is not ours!
Jesus says judgement is in God’s hands. It is God’s job and a day will come when evil is judged but that is God’s day and God’s job. We are not to judge. The world is not clear cut. In the world today good and evil are inseparable. Within even ourselves we have good and bad growing within us. So who are we to judge, we cannot see clearly what is a wheat and what is a weed so we are not to judge! There is a reason for this. When we judge we create distance and in doing so we diminish our ability to love that person. To grow the seeds of love in us we need to focus on loving and not on judging. To grow the good seeds, we need to ensure we do not try and take on what is God’s job, judgement.
But evil will be judged
Although we are not to judge. We can rejoice that evil will be judged. There will come an end to evil and all it’s causes. God will bring to an end all that is evil in this world. And what is really interesting is how, in the illustration of this parable, if we do what God has called us to do and grow as good seeds, as seeds of love, then because we are in the same soil as the bad seeds we are in direct competition for resources. We fight for the same nutrients, water, and sunlight. And the more we grow the more resources we take up. The more resources we take up the less there is for the bad seeds to feed off. The more we grow the less the weeds grow. The more we grow the more we diminish the weeds.
And so in this parable I see the hope of the double victory. A victory where when the day of judgement comes there is only a field of wheat. Because if each of us continues in this mission to grow in love, to grow in God, then in doing so we will bring an end to the weeds. The good seeds can and will occupy all the soil and so all evil will be removed through our ability to share and show God’s love.
It is important that we should take hope from this parable and to live each day with the simple task Jesus has given us. Grow in love!
Rev. Joshua Brocklesby