Weeds Among the Wheat

By Pastor Jeff Jacobs

Unity Lutheran Parish –

St. Paul, Saetersdal and

St. Matthew’s, Granger

A recent Gospel recounted Jesus’ parable about the weeds among the wheat, Matthew 13.  He compared the kingdom of heaven to someone sowing good seed in his field, when an enemy sowed weeds at night.

As both sprouted, the servants noticed the difference and asked the householder whether to pull the weeds.  But he said, “No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat” (Matt. 13:29a).  It was better to let them grow and only separate them at harvest.

When Jesus’ disciples asked for interpretation, they were told the Son of Man was the sower, the good seed children of the kingdom, the bad seed children of the devil, and the harvest the end of the age.  From this, much has been said about keeping one’s own field pure and avoiding “bad seeds.”

But in the parable, the servants knew which were weeds and which were wheat.  The householder knew which were good or bad.  However, the seeds did not know which they were.  They simply grew until harvest, and only then were the weeds burned and the grain gathered.

In the King James Version of the Bible, the weeds are called “tares,” a plant closely resembling wheat, and it’s only when wheat and tares produce heads that the difference is known.  There is sin and evil in this world, yet we presume on the Lord’s authority when we hastily judge who is “bad seed,” who should be “uprooted,” and who are “weeds” in our families or communities.

So let us grow, as we are enabled by Christ’s grace, to bear good fruit… and let us be gracious toward those growing around us, for it is ultimately the Lord’s judgment, not ours, what fruit is borne by them at God’s harvest.