March 20, 2022 NOTES NOT EDITED
The Kingdom Parables, Part 2
The Wheat and Tares
Matthew 13:24-30; 36-43
SIS – Jesus instituted (inaugurated) His Kingdom when He came the first time and we will experience a conflict with the kingdom of the world until He comes again.
When N.T. scholars talk about the Kingdom of God (or as Matthew describes it, the Kingdom of Heaven), they talk about it in two primary stages: the inaugurated Kingdom, and the consummated Kingdom. That is, the present activity of the Kingdom from Jesus birth to His ascension, and the final Kingdom at the Second Coming. A term some scholars use is to describe this duality is: now, but not yet. File that away in your mind as we continue our study of the Kingdom Parables.
EXCURSUS: Each of these seven parables of the Kingdom must be understood in the context of the others. They are a “package deal.” Therefore it is helpful to recall the our lesson from last week in the Parable of the Sower. In that parable, we have a general outline of the Kingdom’s Activity from the Departure of the King to His return for the church in the rapture. The Sower is an “overview” of this period. In the Parable of the Sower we had the Mission of the Church explained, the Challenges of the Church Outlined and the Promise of the Church declared.
This next section or three parables discusses in greater detail the “challenges” to the Kingdom. You will notice that the next three parables are delivered by the Lord together in one discourse, and then the first of the three is explained.
The reason for this seems to be that these three parables have the same theme: the operation of the Kingdom in a hostile environment. The first of these parables, the Wheat and the Tares, will serve as a key to understanding all three. Let’s read the first of these three together:
READ SCRIPTURE: 13:24-30; 37-43
There is no doubt more applications to this parable than I can outline in one message, but allow me to focus on the three main issues as regards the forward movement of the Kingdom in a hostile environment:
1. We have a Great Enemy in this battle—
The Devil and His Legions (v39)
“the enemy who sowed them is the Devil”
This parable of the Wheat and Tares addresses the fundamental issue that is common to all major religions. Theologians call it, “The Problem of Evil and Suffering.” More simply stated this issue addresses the question, “Where does evil come from?” The Problem of Evil and Suffering is THE fundamental issue in all religious investigation. This parable addresses clearly where evil originates. It comes from the Devil.
The New York Times reported on a study about the diminishing belief in the devil among Americans. Two-thirds of Americans do not believe in the devil as a living entity in a random survey. That means nearly 149 million Americans believe that Satan has no influence but that Satan is just a symbol of evil.
The Bible has much to say about the Devil. He first appears in the form of a serpent in the first story of the Bible. He is called the
We make a grave error when we ignore or underestimate this “enemy.”
EXCURSUS: December 7, 1941 was a sunny Sunday morning on the Hawaian island of Oahu. Because it was Sunday only a minimal contingent of soldiers was on duty at the time. Most offices on the base were closed and many servicemen were on leave for the weekend. President Roosevelt would later refer to this day as a “Day that will live in infamy.”
Thousands of lives were lost on that day because of a surprise raid from the Japanese aircraft carriers in the Pacific. The irony is, it should never have been a surprise. New technology, including the new radar mounted on Opana Point, were in place, manned and functioning at the time of the attack. The incoming Japanese attack planes were detected by the radar and reported, but were mistaken for an incoming group of American planes due from the mainland that morning. While on practice maneuvers outside the harbor that morning, an American destroyer spotted a Japanese submarine attempting to sneak into the harbor. The submarine was fired upon, immediately reported — and ignored.
Despite these and many other warnings, Pearl Harbor faced great loss that day. The enemy was simply misidentified, and even ignored. The result: incredible devastation that could have been prevented.
The greatest error we can commit in life is a failure to recognize life is spiritual warfare. Sometimes we call this battle in life a bad day or blame it on people or circumstances, but many times the problems in our lives were “sown by the Devil while we were sleeping.” By sleeping it means, “while we were not paying close attention.”
Notice what the text enlightens us about how we should respond to the devil’s design for disaster in our lives.
u We must be persnickety--he is deadly.
Normally, the word persnickety has a negative meaning relating to being overly obsessive about minor details. This would be like a persnickety parent being overly cautious about every detail of a daughters first date.
Regarding the weeds of evil the Devil sows, one can never be too persnickety. Even a slight miscalculation in regard to the Devil can be extremely harmful, even deadly.
The weeds mentioned here is the “bearded darnel” (Lolium temulentum) The Pulpit Commentary gives this description: it is a kind of rye grass, and the only species of the grass family the seeds of which are poisonous. The derivation of zawân [ζιζάνια] is from zân, ‘vomiting,’ the effect of eating darnel being to produce violent nausea, convulsions, and diarrhœa, which frequently ends in death”
v We must be perceptive—he is deceitful. (v25).
“While people were sleeping.”
First of all the weeds before the harvest stage are indistinguishable from the wheat. The Devil greatest weapon is to use “religion” (false but not easily distinguished from true faith) to infiltrate both society and the church. Without a disguise, most people would flee from him at first sight. This is why the Devil, who is a dangerous, ravenous wolf dresses in sheep’s clothing (MT. 7:15). The Bible says,
Mat 24 24 False messiahs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. 25 Take note: I have told you in advance.
Second, The Devil’s deceitful domain is darkness, or being undercover, as in out of sight. The Devil tries to draw people out of the Light and into dark places. The Bible says in Jn. 3:19:
This is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil.
Most crimes, like burglary for example, happen at night, while the world in general is sleeping. The idea is that people are “unaware” of what is taking place. The Devil is a master of “sleight of hand” and trickery. He draws us to fulfill those things which come from the dark recesses of our sinful flesh.
Throughout the New Testament, including several times from the Lord Himself, we are warned to “watch and pray” because as Paul says, “The Devil lurks like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour” (IPet. 5:8). We can never let our guard down because the Devil is devious and deceitful and will exploit a casual attitude toward him. C.S. Lewis once said,
“There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve their existence. The other is to believe and feel an unhealthy interest in them. They themselves [the Devil and his legions] are equally pleased by both errors.”
Our text gives us a clear and useful warning: we have an enemy that seeks our destruction, that is the Devil. So damaging is this weed to a wheat crop that the Romans had a law making it a crime to plant this weed in another man’s field.
We must be ever watchful for the Devil sowing seeds of destruction in our lives. We must “watch and pray” constantly. As soon as we fall asleep spiritually, the devil will sneak into our lives and sow seeds of destruction. We must be perceptive because he is deceptive.
wWe must be proactive (shine), v43—He is distraction (v30)
And interesting description is given by Jesus in regard to the “sons and daughters of the Kingdom.” In verse 43 it says,
43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s kingdom.
In contrast to the Devil and his demons who are “sons of darkness,” the children of God are described as “children of light.” We are to “shine” amidst the dark backdrop of a sin-sick world. This reminds me of what Jesus said earlier in Matthew:
“let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and glorify God in heaven” (Mat. 5:16).
Jesus warned us not to waste our time with the tedious (near impossible task) of pulling up the evil weeds. We must spend our time sowing more good seed—being proactive. This does not mean we “never” fight against the evils of our world and society – fight we must. This is what Jesus means by this parable:
Fight as you must, but do not let fighting evil distract you from sowing the gospel. This is important. Let me say it again: fight evil as you must but do not let fighting evil distract you from the main goal of sowing the good seed of the gospel.
A church can get so embroiled in political battles and other good fights that they fail to focus on the main calling of the church: “sow the good seed of the gospel.”
One of my college evangelism professors said: “A person cannot fish and fight at the same time.” Abortion, gay marriage, gambling, pornography, homelessness, and a host of other evils must be fought by the church – BUT NEVER AT THE EXPENSEOF PREACHING THE GOSPEL!
We must always be “proactive” because the Devil will try to distract us. He will attempt to sow so many battle seeds that we will spend all our time and resources fighting and spend very little time fishing.
x We must be patient—he is defeated. Look at verse 28b-30:
“ ‘So, do you want us to go and gather them up?’ the slaves asked him. 29 “ ‘No,’ he said. ‘When you gather up the weeds, you might also uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At harvest time I’ll tell the reapers: Gather the weeds first and tie them in bundles to burn them, but store the wheat in my barn.’ ”
It is discouraging to look out over the garden of our lives, or our church,
and see so many weeds. In fact, many times in peoples’ lives it looks
like their lives are “all weeds and no wheat.” So often circumstances in
our lives discourage us because it looks like the enemy is winning. Don’t despair, the devil is a deceitful, devious, distracting enemy, but he is also a “defeated” enemy.
I’ll say more about the “end game in regard to the devil” in a minute but listen to these encouraging words of Paul regarding the Devil:
“But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1Cor. 15:57).
By the time you can distinguish the darnel or weeds from the wheat, the roots of the darnel is already entwined with the wheat and to get rid of the weed would harm the wheat. The farmer had to be patient and separate the darnel after the harvest.
This parable, like the next two in the section teach us that we, the Church, must fulfill our mission in a hostile environment. Even in a church as small as ours, not everything that looks like “wheat” is “wheat.” The devil always sows some “weeds,” in every life and in every church, and throughout the Kingdom of God.
This parable explains to us exactly how we are to respond to the seeds of difficulty and destruction the Devil sows into our lives as individuals and as a church: we are to be perceptive, proactive, and patient.
Now, not only does this parable show us that we have an “enemy” as we try to expand God’s Kingdom, more importantly the parable teaches us
2. We have a Great Ally in this battle—the Lord and His Angels
37 The One who sows the good seed is the Son of Man;
We, the Church, must fulfill our mission in a hostile environment. But, we are not fighting this battle alone. Jesus may be seated in the heavenlies, but He is still very much involved in the work of the Church, through the Holy Spirit. Remember what Jesus said in John:
It is for your benefit that I go away, because if I don’t go away the Counselor will not come to you. If I go, I will send Him to you.
What greater ally could the church have than God, Himself! We cannot lose—we will not lose this battle for the Kingdom. Make no mistake, Kingdom building is a battle. We have an arch enemy. The Devil hates Jesus and he hates you as His disciple. But, this parable gives us the “final score” before we even start the game. The Devil’s days are numbered. Notice what the text says about the activity of Jesus as Our Ally in this global war. Our text tells us first of all:
u His justice will be SURE (v41, “will send”). Notice the matter of fact expression of the Master in verse 41:
41 The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather
from His kingdom everything that causes sin and those guilty
of lawlessness.
Many people (most people) scoff at the idea of a “Last Days Judgment” in which Jesus Christ will finally and absolutely conquer evil. The common argument goes: “Preachers have been preaching the final judgment for over 2000 years, and we haven’t seen it yet.”
Let me ask you a question in this regard: if an event is going to happen and it hasn’t happened for 2000 years, is that event closer or further away? The fact is clear: at no time in history has all the “end times” predictions lined up as they do today.
Russia plays a prominent role in Biblical prophecy, as does China. I ask you you, what nation today dominates the news—it is Russia in war mode.
Make no mistake about it: the coming justice of God will be SURE.
v His justice will be SCRUPULOUS (v41b).
By “scrupulous” I mean: diligent, thorough, and extremely attentive to details. Verse 41 spells out clearly the thoroughness of the coming judgment:
and they [the harvesting angels] will gather from His kingdom everything that causes sin and those guilty of lawlessness.
The word, “everything” is key. Not one sin or injustice will go unpunished in that day.
EXCURSUS: As we have said, it is nearly impossible to spot the difference between the darnel weed and wheat in the early stages. It had to remain until after harvest. Then, because darnel is slightly poisonous and causes nausea, it has to be “scrupulously and meticulously” separated by hand. In like fashion, God’s judgment will be scrupulous and meticulous.
The harvest time when the wheat and a weeds will be separated will be SURE and it will be SCRUPULOUS. This judgment will also be
w SEVERE. (v42). Look again at verse 42:
42 They will throw them into the blazing furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Many preachers are uncomfortable telling people about the “hell” that awaits any and every person that does not surrender to Jesus Christ as the Lord before judgment day – either in death or in the Second Coming, whichever comes first for you.
But, what good is a doctor who will not give you an uncomfortable diagnosis of your disease, but allows your disease to progress until it is both too obvious to miss, and too late to treat? I say, such a doctor is not healer, but a heel. He is no helper, but a spineless scoundrel.
The penalty for rejecting Jesus Christ in this life is SEVERE, even if it is not immediate, for both for the rebellious Christian, but much more for the rejecting non-believer. For non-believers, the punishment for sin is eternal in length and unimaginable in intensity. But, you can escape this judgment. The Devil is a Formidable Enemy, but the Lord is a Fabulous Ally.
Here’s the conclusion to this parable. This parable and the next two describe for us how the Kingdom of God operates in this world from when Jesus departed, until He comes again for His church, and finally when He comes in Judgment. In our world there is both good and evil – wheat and weeds. There is both an Enemy against our soul, and an Ally for our soul. We must learn to live in a world full of evil.
We, as both individuals and the church, must operate in a hostile environment in which the Devil seeks to bring death and destruction. We must focus on planting gospel seeds, all the while dealing with what can often be “unimaginable evil.”
