Seeds & Weeds

Matthew 13 NLT

34  Jesus always used stories and illustrations like these when speaking to the crowds. In fact, he never spoke to them without using such parables.

35  This fulfilled what God had spoken through the prophet: “I will speak to you in parables. I will explain things hidden since the creation of the world.” (The Prophet Asaph from Psalms 78:2)

 

Jesus shared 7 parables in this setting which wereintended to present truths concerning the kingdom of God. Jesus uses the parables to explain things which have been true since creation but are hidden from plain view. 

 

Have you ever said, “I don’t understand why God did this.” Or “I don’t know why God doesn’t destroy all the evil people in the world.” Jesus gives the answer in parables and then explains them hoping we might understand truths which were established when God began creation.  Let’s begin our study this morning by reading the second parable.

 

Matthew 13:24 ¶  Here is another parable Jesus told: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field.”

• Jesus wants us to understand the truth about His Kingdom. He does not want us believing something not true about Him, His Father, or the Kingdom of Heaven.

• In this parable, Jesus is the farmer. How do we know this? Because Jesus explains the parable later in private with His disciples:

 

Matthew 13:37  Jesus said, “The Son of Man is the farmer who plants the good seed.”

 

• The field is the world … How do we know?

 

Matthew 13:38  “The field is the world …”

 

• God only plants good seeds in the world. 

• What are the seeds? – People! Again, how do we know?

 

Matthew 13:38b “… the good seed represents the people of the Kingdom”

 

So far, we have learned one of the foundation principles of the Kingdom of Heaven:

 

Principle #1: God fills the earth with good people.

 

Matthew 13:25  But that night as the workers slept, his enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat, then slipped away.

• As the workers slept … hmmm …

o This verse is not intended to make us focus on the workers, but rather on the enemy. Jesus’ statement is not intended to lay blame, but hopes to show the strategy and subtleness of the enemy. Much like that sneaky snake in the Garden of Eden.

o The enemy of God chooses his most advantageous time. Most often when people are:

▪ Alone 

▪ Tired

▪ Taking a break

▪ In the dark

▪ Asleep

• Then the enemy slipped in and slipped away without being detected.

• Who is the enemy? The Bible says, “His enemy” – the Farmer’s enemy. We don’t have to look far to know the enemy of Jesus.

 

Matthew 13:39a  The enemy who planted the weeds among the wheat is the devil.

 

• What are the weeds?

 

Matthew 13:38c The weeds are the people who belong to the evil one.

 

In just one verse, Matthew 13:38, Jesus defines the two opposing sides in the great conflict of this world … Seeds & Weeds! Seeds are the people of the Kingdom of Heaven and Weeds are the people who belong to the evil one. 

 

This brings us to our second Kingdom principle for today.

 

Principle #2: The devil fills the world with bad people.

 

Let’s read on … So far God has sown seeds and the devil has sown weeds.

 

Matthew 13:26  When the crop began to grow and produce grain, the weeds also grew.

• When the Church and godly people begin to grow and produce more godly people in the world …bad, wicked, and evil people also grow all around us.

 

Back to verse 25 for just a moment: “While the workers slept …”

• Who are the workers in this parable?

• Jesus clearly explains in Matthew 13:

o The Farmer is Jesus

o The Field is the world

o The Enemy is the devil

o The Good Seeds are good people

o The Weeds are bad people

o The Harvest is the end of the world

o The Harvesters are the angels

o Who are the workers?

• You are the workers in this parable?

 

Keep this in mind while we read the rest of the story and discover our last Kingdom principle for today:Remember who Jesus is talking to and who He is talking about.

 

Matthew 13

27  “The farmer’s workers went to him and said, ‘Sir, the field where you planted that good seed is full of weeds! Where did they come from?’”

28  “ ‘An enemy has done this!’ the farmer exclaimed. “ ‘Should we pull out the weeds?’ they asked.

29  “ ‘No,’ he replied, ‘you’ll uproot the wheat if you do.

30  Let both grow together until the harvest. Then I will tell the harvesters to sort out the weeds, tie them into bundles, and burn them, and to put the wheat in the barn.’ ”

43  Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s Kingdom. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!

 

Principle #3: It is God’s will that seeds and weeds grow together until the harvest. 

 

What are we supposed to do in the meantime?

• It’s called the Great Commission – Jesus explained it to His followers with His parting words … He said:

 

Matthew 28

19  Go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

20  Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

 

• We must do our part so that God can more easily do His.

 

Added Considerations:

 

Malachi 3 NKJV

13 ¶  “Your words have been harsh against Me,” Says the LORD, “Yet you say, ‘What have we spoken against You?’

14  You have said, ‘It is useless to serve God; What profit is it that we have kept His ordinance, And that we have walked as mourners Before the LORD of hosts?

15  So now we call the proud blessed, For those who do wickedness are raised up; They even tempt God and go free.’ ”

16  Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, And the LORD listened and heard them; So a book of remembrance was written before Him For those who fear the LORD And who meditate on His name.

17  “They shall be Mine,” says the LORD of hosts, “On the day that I make them My jewels. And I will spare them As a man spares his own son who serves him.”

18  Then you shall again discern Between the righteous and the wicked, Between one who serves God And one who does not serve Him.