Out In the Weeds

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Today we hear another parable from Jesus about the kingdom of heaven. This time, it is compared to a field in which the master has sown good seed, and yet the enemy comes after him and sows weed seed over the top of the wheat. The servants are concerned about what to do, but the master instructs them to wait until the harvest to separate them, so as not to harm the growing wheat. Then, at harvest, the weeds will be burned, while the wheat is gathered and stored safely away.

In the context of Matthew 13, we know that the seed sown is the Word of God. Now, since it is from God, we know that the Word is good. In last week's lesson, the prophet Isaiah proclaimed that the Word of the Lord comes from His mouth from heaven to earth, and it accomplishes the purpose for which He sent it. The Word of God does what it says. When He says, “Live,” you come to life. When He says, “Rain,” it rains.

From today's parable we learn that the Word sown over the soil will bring forth “sons of the kingdom”, as Jesus says. These sons are planted by the Son of Man. They are His precious possession, and He has planted them exactly as they should be. The faithful people of God are created by God precisely according to His purpose. You are just what He desires, because He created you. Jesus has planted you where you are, and He has sent the Holy Spirit to call you to faith and to water and tend you. He loves you tenderly, and desires only that you bring forth good fruit according to your calling in life.

The Holy Spirit has indeed called you to faith in Christ, and continually strengthens and nourishes you with the rich grace of God. Rooted in Him, you will bring forth fruit worthy of your calling as a child of God. Some will produce thirtyfold, some sixtyfold, some a hundredfold. But all Christians will bear fruit in the Gospel.

However, that task oftentimes proves rather difficult. If the world were populated only with Christians, and if all Christians were perfect in their faith, you would have no problem bearing fruit a hundredfold for God. But the enemy of God, the devil has come along and messed that up. On top of the good seed sown by the Son of Man, he has sown weeds. Growing up among you are those who are not of the Son of Man, but of the devil. In every gather of men, there will be some who do not believe as they ought.

Any farmer or gardener knows that, no matter how good your seed or how hard you work, weeds will always come up alongside the good plants. Sure, you can try to pull them out as they sprout. You can spray for them. But there will always be weeds. And you have to be careful not to damage the desirable plants in your quest to rout the weeds.

Likewise, Jesus tells us, you will keep mixed company in this life. There will always be those around you who will not believe in the Gospel. Some will be people you know. Some you will not know. Some will be evident. Some will not. Of course, their fruit will bear witness to their character. But you can't go around cutting people down because they don't go to church.

You will live in this mixed bed and be surrounded by weeds. Sometimes they will be thicker than others. Sometimes you will find yourself closer to the wheat. But do not be deceived – you are not weeds. By the grace of God, you are wheat, planted by the hand of Christ to bear fruit for Him. Do not let yourself be carried away by the wanderings of the weeds around you. Do not let yourself be choked out by what surrounds you.

Though the weeds come up quickly and sometimes alluringly, they are hollow and shallow. The cares of this life strike at them, and they fall. The gods of this age desert them, and they wither. The sun of hardship and tribulation shines upon them, and they melt. They have no support, because they have no lasting root.

Not so with you! You have been planted in good soil. You have been called to faith in the Holy One of Israel. You are the good seed, which will yield good fruit. You will yield good fruit because you are planted in the soil of the cross. From this life-giving, rich, abundant seed-bed you spring forth in sprout and bud, and you will grow up in faith to produce manifold fruit of faith. Jesus Christ has died on the cross to forgive your sins, and the sins of the whole world. He has secured salvation for all who believe. The instrument of death for our Lord becomes the seed-bed which provides you with your life in Christ. Planted and rooted in the cross, the very blood of Christ becomes the food that sustains you in your growth in faith.

The water and the blood that flowed from our Lord's side have become the nourishment that cause your growth in the new life of faith. His grace won for you becomes the catalyst for bringing forth the fruits of faith in abundance. Being rooted in the cross and watered with the blood of Christ, you cannot help but bring forth good fruits. The blood of the martyrs and saints serves further to fertilize and enrich your faith, as you receive their encouragement and examples of holy living.

Though the rain falls on the just and the unjust, the weeds lack the deep, secure roots which reach to the cross, and therefore they look healthy, but are hollow, empty stalks. They lack the rich blessings of faith that come from being rooted in Christ. They may look nice, but they will never bear the fruit that you will, because they lack the fountain and source of life.

Therefore, when the Lord of the Harvest comes at the appointed time, the angels will take you from this field into the house of the Master. There you will rest safe from the enemy. When at last you reach the storehouse of the Master, no thief will break in and steal, no moth or rust will destroy, and no evil will plague you.

At that time, the weeds will be gathered and burned. The judgment will come, and all evildoers will be cast out into the lake of fire, as the Scriptures declare. But you and all believers in Christ will be gathered into the courts of our Heavenly Father. There you will remain for life everlasting. You will shine like the sun, because you are filled with the Spirit of God, and you will reflect the glory of the Son of Man. You will shine with the glory of the Lord which you will share eternally because your life is hidden in Christ.

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.