Matthew 13:36-45
I know that I jumped ahead. I'm going to jump back to the parables of the mustard seed and yeast tomorrow. When I studied the parable of the weeds yesterday, I forgot that this was another parable that Jesus had explained to his disciples. I thought it made sense to look at the parable and the explanation together. So, here is a look at Jesus commentary on the parable of the weeds:
the sower = Jesus
the field = the world. Some people will say that the the field = the kingdom of heaven and what Jesus is saying here is that there are two kingdoms: the kingdom of God which is made up of those who truly believe and the kingdom of heaven which is made up of those who profess that they believe. So the point of the parable, according to them, is that we might not be able to tell who is in the kingdom of God and who is just in the kingdom of heaven but Jesus can and the true nature of each person will be revealed at the day of judgement. Differentiating between the kingdom of heaven, which is the phrase that Matthew uses primarily, and the kingdom of God, which is the phrase that Luke uses primarily, is splitting hairs in my opinion - they are different words for the exact same thing - but it would dramatically influence a person's understanding of the parables in this passage: if the kingdom can be corrupted by evil and incorporate those who are children of the devil, then it is easier to see how the parables of the mustard seed and the yeast could be interpreted as parables about the influence of evil amongst those who profess to believe (but may not actually believe) rather than about the subversive influence of good. However, Jesus clearly says that the field is the world and not the kingdom.
weeds = people of the devil
enemy = the devil
harvest = the judgement
harvesters = angels
Jesus says that this is a parable about what will happen in the day of judgement: the angels will weed out of the kingdom everything that causes sin and everyone who does evil. They will be punished forever but the righteous will enter the kingdom of the Father.
I think Jesus told his disciples this parable for two reasons: 1) to remind them that they (and we) are not to be the ones who sort the people. That is the job of the King and his angels. 2) to give a sense of urgency. If I really love my neighbour as myself and if I really believe what the Bible teaches about the judgement, then I will be very motivated to share the gospel in every way and at every time possible.
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1 comment:
I clearly believe that the parable is about the world, and to think it was about two kingdoms seems a little crazy considering Jesus spells it out, anyway... I agree about the urgency, I think we lack it often, I think the biggest fear people have is how to display there faith to others, but when we think of the yeast again, we know it is not about knocking people over the head with it. But it is living it out and sharing the truth we know and being a friend of sinners. Jesus sets a prime example.
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