A) We are in the heart of parable country. What does that mean? Matthew 13 is loaded with parables, and Jesus brings a few more to the forefront to help us better understand the Kingdom of God. By the way, for those who are trying to make a distinction between the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of our Lord, and the Kingdom of Heaven, there is none.
B) Enter the story of the wheat and the weeds. This parable is easier to grasp than most others, simply because it’s shorter. Further on down the text, Jesus explains this parable as well. The kingdom is likened unto a farmer who plants good seed in a field. Guess who the farmer is? It’s Jesus. Guess who the good seeds are? It’s the people of the kingdom.
C) At night, when darkness has its cover, an enemy of the farmer plants weeds amongst all the wheat. Guess who the enemy is? It’s the Devil. Without getting too far into the weeds (get it? That’s a joke), we need to recognize that there is an enemy that plants people close to us to try and wound us and affect our growth. By the way, the weeds are people who belong to Satan. We might not want to hear this, but they have made the commitment not to be touched by God. Those are the people that satan is controlling and influencing. That’s why the gospel talks about finding freedom through Jesus Christ.
D) The question in the parable is how does the Farmer want to take care of the weeds and wheat that are together? Does He want to pull out the weeds? In other words, shall there be a rapture of the bad, so to speak? But in truth, the Farmer says “no, you’ll hurt everybody if you do it that way. We’re going to have them both grow together until the harvest.” “Then at harvest time, we will separate the weeds from the wheat and burn them, while placing the wheat safely in a barn.
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