The Parable of the Weeds Explained

Matthew 13:36-43

A young lady was once asked if she had an opinion on how the country could save on electricity usage. She replied that they ought to turn off the lights in the middle of the road. Understandably confused, the interviewer asked, “What lights?” What she meant were the “cat’s eyes”, the retro-reflective safety devices placed in the middle of most major roads. Now, we may have a good giggle at her expense, but her misunderstanding of how these devices work is a good illustration of how the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father at the end of the age. Humans were made to reflect the glory of God as beings made in His image. Sin has dulled our shine, but whenever humans come into the Presence of God, they reflect His radiance, like Moses on Mount Sinai.

But the reflective splendour is reserved for a time yet to come. For now, we live in the world, yet not of the world…the contrast between those of the light and those of the darkness is not as clear as it will be in the future. For now both wheat and weeds stand side by side in the kingdom, growing together until the time for the harvest.

It is at this juncture where Jesus turns away from the crowds and begins to spend more quality time with His disciples. This is critical for any disciple making movement because if they are to duplicate the work of the disciple maker they must be brought to a place of deeper and clearer understanding with regard to the truths of the Gospel. Blind people ought not to lead blind people else both will fall in the ditch, Jesus once said. Disciple makers must be mature if they are to bring unbelievers or immature believers to maturity.

This is an explanation of the parable we have already examined, the parable of the wheat and the weeds. It is very interesting to note that Jesus does not say the Church is the force by which the kingdom is advanced in the world; rather He says that He is the power behind the extension of the Kingdom. We must always remember that while it is our obligation to make disciples, we can only do so because He has been given authority in both heaven and earth and He promises to be with us in our fulfilment of our task at hand. Without Him we cannot advance the kingdom. Just as the retro-reflective safety devices have no power of their own, so we too need the infilling power of the Holy Spirit Jesus promised to give us.

But the worldwide mission of the Church will bring about an environment in which saints and sinners are neighbours…and rightly so. If the salt remains in the saltshaker, how will the food ever be seasoned? In 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 Pauls lists various people who will not inherit the kingdom of God, but then in verse 11 he says, “Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” Paul followed the example of the Lord Jesus and spent most of his ministry time out in the market place and other venues where people gathered. He rubbed shoulders with the weeds with the hope of turning them to wheat. However, we are now going beyond what the parable teaches…

There are three interesting allusions to the prophet Daniel. The first is the glorified Son of Man. In Daniel He receives the Kingdom as He ascends to the Father (Daniel 7:13-14)…and according to Paul, there He will reign until all His enemies are placed under His feet (1 Corinthians 15:25), thus bringing world history to a close.

The second is the fiery furnace into which the wicked are thrown. This may be a reverse image of King Nebuchadnezzar’s fate for those who refused to worship his golden image (Daniel 3). The imagery is rather graphic and awful, but whatever ones view of the final destination for those who refuse to bow the knee to Jesus, we can be absolutely certain that our God is just and altogether righteous in His every decision.

The third image is one we already examined…the righteous shining like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. In the final chapter of the book bearing his name, Daniel wrote about a time that was yet to come in which the wise will shine as bright as the sky and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever (Daniel 12:3). Daniel lived and served faithfully in a pagan setting, never compromising his righteousness and no doubt challenging those around him through his shining example. So, we too ought to shine in the darkness of this world as lights that reflect the holy glory and purity of our God.

Jesus charged His disciples to listen carefully to His teaching. One day He would charge them to teach their own disciples to obey all that He had commanded them.

Like cat’s eyes, we too can only shine in the presence of Jesus. If we are to make disciples as Jesus made disciples we too will need to walk with Him wherever we go, as it is only through Him that our labour in the field will bring a bumper crop at the time of the harvest.