The Parable of the Weeds and the Wheat -- a study of Matthew 13:24-43
- mww
- 3 minutes ago
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We should expect to find non-Christians all around us.
Bible Study Ideas and Commentary for Matthew 13:24-43
Matthew 13 is a compilation of parables. Jesus used parables in part as an act of condemnation of the opposition rising against Him. But He also used them to help His followers memorize key truths. In the parable of the weeds, it's that God allows Satan's activity in the world in part to protect His own people (!), but His judgment is coming.
“Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.” (13:36)
Getting Started: Things to Think About
Parables!
I'll say more about parables below, as well as more about where we are in Matthew, but for right now, know that we are in a very famous chapter of parables (my other personal such favorite is Luke 15). Parables are amazing. You might start your time off with a question like, "Do you remember someone using a parable to teach you a lesson?" This doesn't have to be a biblical parable -- Jesus isn't the only teacher allowed to use a parable. Or perhaps you've used a parable to teach your own kids a lesson?
What makes a parable so memorable? (And yes, we will get into the difference between a parable and an allegory or a fable.)
Parable Quiz Time!
Another take on this would be to give the first line of one of Jesus' parables from the Bible and see if your class can (1) identify the parable and (2) explain the lesson. My experience with parables is that they get into our memories like songs; we might think we're terrible at memorizing things, but we know song lyrics and we know parables. It's just proof of how powerful they are as teaching devices.
Weeds!
This week, we're just focusing on the "parable of the weeds". In that parable, an enemy attempts to ruin a man's crop by sowing poisonous weeds in it. What's your experience with weeds? This is a chance to let the green thumbs in your group shine. My guess is there's a universal hatred for weeds. Why? What's so problematic about weeds?
Related to that, let group members describe the lengths to which they go to remove weeds from their gardens. [Disclosure: I don't garden, so I'm far less concerned with weeds than I am moles. But substitute the word "mole" for the word "weed", and I'm right there with you in all our neurotic glory!]
The point of this topic would be to help everybody appreciate the danger of weeds. And then, we'll study what/who those weeds represent . . .
Nuisance or Danger?
We're going to find out that the weed in question in this week's passage was quite dangerous. It looked a lot like wheat but was poisonous. If you have stories about weeds that are actually dangerous, that might help set the proper tone.
For me, it's always poison ivy. Yikes!
Farming!
Jesus loved to use farming and fishing as settings for His parables; most of His audience would have been extremely familiar with one or the other, so they would have understood what He was getting at. We have a lot of hobby farmers around here, so you should be able to get some experience-based answers.
What are the biggest challenges to you in farming? Based on what I've heard from you guys -- critters, disease, drought, weeds, price of fertilizer, price of equipment -- it's a wonder to me that anybody can grow anything.
To me, that's why Jesus' introduction of an enemy who was actively trying to sabotage a man's harvest would have really gotten everyone's hackles up. Farming is hard enough as it is!
Sabotage!
I'm just having a blast with these one-word ideas that really don't need a lot of explanation. To me, sabotage is something you see in a movie or read about in a book. (Unrelated: Sarah and I love the music video for "Sabotage"; we have no idea what they're saying, but the video is hilarious.) But clearly sabotage is something that happens all around us.
Have you ever been the victim of sabotage? Maybe at work or at school? I have not, and I can only imagine how that would make me feel. Life is hard enough without someone actively trying to ruin your work. If we can capture the "feeling" from sabotage, we can begin to understand what Jesus was trying to tell us about Satan.
Where We Are in Matthew
Matthew has now taken us into the next of Jesus' "discourses"
First Discourse: The Principles of the Kingdom (ch 5-7)
Jesus demonstrates His authority (8-9)
Second Discourse: The Workers of the Kingdom (10)
Rising opposition (11-12)
Third Discourse: Parables of the Kingdom (13)
And then chapter 14 starts the "second half" of Matthew, where things really ramp up.
You'll notice that I use slightly different wording each time I share an outline (unless I say I've copied them). The further we get into Matthew's Gospel, we realize more of the groundwork he laid earlier. The Kingdom of God had come, but not in the form or the way anybody had expected.
In the previous section of Matthew, Matthew illustrated how conflicts were springing up around Jesus. And in the very next section, Matthew highlights some of Jesus' parables.
You might ask, "Why?" Well, so did the disciples. And Jesus answered!
13:10 Then the disciples came up and asked him, “Why are you speaking to them in parables?” 11 He answered, “Because the secrets of the kingdom of heaven have been given for you to know, but it has not been given to them. 12 For whoever has, more will be given to him, and he will have more than enough; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. 13 That is why I speak to them in parables, because looking they do not see, and hearing they do not listen or understand.
The parables themselves are a consequence of the conflict. They are a sign of God's judgment on those who are opposing Jesus.
Matthew adds his own explanation a few verses later:
34 Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables, and he did not tell them anything without a parable, 35 so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled: I will open my mouth in parables; I will declare things kept secret from the foundation of the world.
To be expected, Matthew found this to be fulfilled of prophecy. In this case, he's quoting Psalm 78:2 -- in that Psalm, Asaph recounts the history of the Jews and how they consistently failed to learn the lesson from it. They repeatedly saw God in action, but they failed to understand what God was doing or why. Asaph saw his job as making sure the next generation heard the stories and learned the lessons. And yes, that's all true, but Jesus saw His use of parables as even bigger than that.
At the end of this chapter, Jesus explains the point:
13:51 “Have you understood all these things?” They answered him, “Yes.” 52 “Therefore,” he said to them, “every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom treasures new and old.”
In other words, the kingdom of God is both something old and something new. The Pharisees, who are leaning entirely on the Old Testament and their interpretation of it, are missing the new thing God is doing. But conversely, other false teachers will demonstrate their heresy by failing to recognize the continuity of God's current activity with His eternal plan first revealed in the Old Testament.
This verse is itself a parable -- the parable of the house owner -- and it demonstrates why Jesus shifted to parables in much of His public teaching.
So, that's a lot! Parables
reflect the rising opposition to Jesus,
connect the past with the present,
give Jesus' followers a picture of their future, and
delineate between Jesus' followers and detractors.
About Parables
The last time we studied Matthew, Lifeway focused entirely on the parable of the sower from this chapter --
In that post, clearly, I talked about what a parable was. I'll repeat a little of that post here.
You can start with Nathan's parable of the sheep stealer (2 Sam 12) to establish the purpose of a parable. It uses an illustration from "normal" life to establish a clear moral teaching. That established, we realize that Jesus used parables to create a "vision of kingdom living".
[Aside: Modern Parables. Because most of us don't live in a culture like Jesus', you'll find attempts to recast these parables in "modern" terms. Like Modern Parables | Tim Challies. We will never tell a story as well as Jesus did, but I support those efforts just like I support translations of the Bible into vernacular.]
Here's a full list of Jesus' parables:
New Cloth on an Old Coat (Matthew 9:16, Mark 2:21, Luke 5:36).
New Wine in Old Wineskins (Matthew 9:17, Mark 2:22, Luke 5:37).
Lamp on a Stand (Matthew 5:14, Mark 4:21-22, Luke 8:16, Luke 11:33).
Wise and Foolish Builders (Matthew 7:24-27).
Moneylender Forgives Unequal Debts (Luke 7:41-43).
The Rich Fool (Luke 12:16-21).
The Watchful Servant (Luke 12:35-40, Mark 13:35-37).
The Faithful Servant (Luke 12:42-48, Matthew 24:45-51).
Unfruitful Fig Tree (Luke 13:6-9).
The Sower and Four Types of Soil (Matthew 13:3-8, Mark 4:3-8, Luke 8:5-8).
Wheat and Tares (Matthew 13:24-30).
A Growing Seed (Mark 4:26-29).
A Mustard Seed (Matthew 13:31-32, Mark 4:30-32, Luke 13:18-19).
Yeast (Matthew 13:33).
Hidden Treasure (Matthew 13:44).
Valuable Pearl (Matthew 13:45-46).
Fishing Net (Matthew 13:47).
Owner of a House (Matthew 13:52).
Lost Sheep (Matthew 18:12-13, Luke 15:4-7).
The Good Shepherd (John 10:1-18).
Master and His Servant (Luke 17:7-10).
The Unmerciful Servant (Matthew 18:23-34).
The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37).
A Friend in Need (Luke 11:5-8).
Lowest Seat at the Feast (Luke 14:7-14).
Invitation to a Great Banquet (Luke 14:16-24).
The Cost of Discipleship (Luke 14:28-33).
The Lost Coin (Luke 15:8-10).
The Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11).
The Unjust Steward (Luke 16:1-8).
The Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31).
Workers in the Vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16).
The Persistent Widow and Crooked Judge (Luke 18:2-8).
A Pharisee and Tax Collector (Luke 18:10-14).
The Talents (Luke 19:12-27, Matthew 25:14-30).
The Two Sons (Matthew 21:28-32).
Wicked Tenants (Matthew 21:33-44, Mark 12:1-11, Luke 20:9-18).
Invitation to a Wedding Banquet (Matthew 22:2-14).
Signs of the Future from a Fig Tree (Matthew 24:32-35, Mark 13:28-29, Luke 21:29-31).
The Wise and Foolish Virgins (Matthew 25:1-13).
The Sheep and Goats (Matthew 25:31-46).
That's, just, wow.
You can use any of those parables to illustrate pretty much any biblical point you want to make.
Note: Parables are not allegories. "Allegories" have one-to-one correspondence with something else. If you treat Jesus' parables as an allegory, you'll end up with nonsense like what Augustine did with the Good Samaritan: “the wounded man stands for Adam; Jerusalem, the heavenly city from which he has fallen; the thieves, the devil who strips Adam of his immortality and leads him to sin; the priest and Levite, the Old Testament Law and ministry which was unable to cleanse and save anyone; the good Samaritan who binds the wounds, Christ who forgives sin; oil and wine; hope and stimulus to work, the animal, the incarnation; the inn, the church; and the innkeeper, the apostle Paul.” What is he talking about? If you read the explanation of the parable of the weeds carefully, you'll see that the "one-to-one correspondence" many people think they identify is really "one-to-many" -- a sweeping representation of major things like "humanity" and "judgment" (but see below). It's not nearly so specific as what Augustine did with, well, every other parable. (And further, think about all of the parts of this story Jesus did not "identify".)
Rather, parables simply use a word picture to teach a truth. It can have allegorical elements, but it's still teaching a giant, cosmic truth. (Think of this as the difference, say, between The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings.)
Further: Parables are not fables. Fables are fantastical and fictional (often using talking animals). Parables are always rooted in real-world experiences.
About Matthew 13
I mentioned that we're only covering the parable of the weeds. Here's the whole chapter:
the parable of the sower (13:1-9)
Why Parables? (13:10-17)
the parable of the sower explained (13:18-23)
the parable of the weeds (13:24-30)
the parable of the mustard seed (13:31-32)
the parable of the yeast (13:33)
Why Parables? (13:34-35)
the parable of the weeks explains (13:36-43)
the parable of the hidden treasure (13:44)
the parable of the pearl (13:45)
the parable of the net (47-50)
Why Parables? (13:51-52)
It's a pretty amazing chapter. If we had more time, I would encourage you to give a summary of "the point" to each parable and describe the full picture Jesus paints in this chapter. Even if you don't think you have time for that, it would be a good exercise on your own.
Jesus only ever explains two of His parables -- both of them here.
Part 1: The Parable of the Weeds (Matthew 13:24-30)
24 He presented another parable to them: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while people were sleeping, his enemy came, sowed weeds among the wheat, and left. 26 When the plants sprouted and produced grain, then the weeds also appeared. 27 The landowner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Master, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Then where did the weeds come from?’ 28 “‘An enemy did this,’ he told them. “‘So, do you want us to go and pull them up?’ the servants asked him. 29 “‘No,’ he said. ‘When you pull up the weeds, you might also uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At harvest time I’ll tell the reapers: Gather the weeds first and tie them in bundles to burn them, but collect the wheat in my barn.’”
I recommend teaching this like Matthew did. Read it out loud and then let everybody try to say what they think it means. Yes, Jesus will tell us what it means, but not right away. We're supposed to struggle with it first!
[Note: the kingdom of heaven is not "like a man" but "like the situation of a man who". Also -- the "sleeping" is not there to suggest laziness on the part of the workers but stealthiness on the part of the enemy.]
Everybody should react differently to it. That's what makes parables so powerful. For example, this makes me think of the disclaimers on bags of grass seed. (No, really.) Here's a page from a garden supplier:
So, the "enemy" is the very supplier you're buying your seed from!!! 🤯 No, I'm kidding. But that's the sort of reaction I want everyone to talk through.
A few questions in particular y'all need to cover:
why would an enemy do that? seems petty and spiteful and wanton
how did the landowner know it was an enemy's action?
what might have happened if the servants hadn't asked their question?
I think it's important to establish the destructiveness of the enemy (spoiler: we learn it's Satan). And two, I think it's just as important to establish the value of getting input before making a decision. The master had a perfectly understandable reason why he didn't want the servant to start pulling weeds.
What kind of weeds were these?
The Greek word is zizanion. It refers to a specific weed called "darnel"
It looks shockingly like wheat (that's an image from Wikipedia) and took careful observation to recognize it. Eating it causes nausea and can even be fatal. Sowing it in another field was considered at best a crime and at worst an act of war.
In other words, this act wasn't just petty or spiteful (as modern readers might think). This was dangerous, reckless, and intended to hurt people and ruin the field owner.
This bit of Bible background is worth sharing -- it's something Jesus' hearers would have caught right away, but our modern word for "weed" is just too broad.
Part 2: The Parable of the Weeds Explained (Matthew 13:36-43)
36 Then he left the crowds and went into the house. His disciples approached him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.” 37 He replied, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; 38 the field is the world; and the good seed—these are the children of the kingdom. The weeds are the children of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. 40 Therefore, just as the weeds are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather from his kingdom all who cause sin and those guilty of lawlessness. 42 They will throw them into the blazing furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s kingdom. Let anyone who has ears listen.
I'm combining the lesson's parts 2 and 3 into one. You can break the verses up as you see fit.
Did you not understand the parable at first hearing? Don't worry -- neither did the disciples. But the disciples were rewarded for their persistence, just like Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount and other parables -- ask, and you shall receive.
Jesus is the "Son of Man" (we've talked about this a bunch) and He sowed the seed (see the earlier study on the parable of the sower). If the field is "the world", then we're obviously talking about a mission that's far greater than Israel. But also, the field is not the church, as some have interpreted. Jesus is not specifically talking about non-Christians in the church. [Note: that interpretation is how Reformers like Calvin justified their "baptize everybody into the church" approach to church membership; that's not what Jesus said.]
In the world, there are "children of God" and "children of the devil". There is no other category. One can move from darkness to light, but not the other way.
So, having established who the players are, ask your group to back through the parable and ask what it means. Substitute "Jesus" for the master, "Satan" for the enemy, "Christians" for the wheat, and "non-Christians" for the weeds. Jesus does not identify the servants (they are separate from the reapers/angels), and they aren't the point anyway.
The weeds grow up among the wheat. And they are diabolically placed by Satan (whether or not they know it). I think we can safely conclude that there will be non-Christians in churches and in Christian organizations; that seems to be pretty clear from the context.
But God says, "Don't get rid of the non-Christians." Why? The answer to that question can help us understand a lot about the world we live in.
(A big part of your answer had better include the fact that before you were a wheat, you were a weed!)
In verse 41, Jesus says that the angels will gather not just the "children of the evil one" but also "everything that causes sin". I've heard some say that "children of the evil one" are "everything that causes sin". Maybe? A parable can handle that kind of interpretation, and there's no doubt that Satan uses people to tempt other people to evil. But I think this is Jesus' way of describing heaven to us and giving us confidence in it. After all, we know our own tendency to sin, right? We don't need someone else's help to want to sin. But in heaven, not only will non-Christians not be present, but neither will those temptations or tendencies, even within ourselves. I find this a very encouraging description of heaven!
The point is that until the end of history, there will be evildoers among the Christians, and that is according to God's design. One day, at the final judgment, Jesus will separate the wheat from the weeds. Matthew chapter 25 is even more poetic about this. Note: "the kingdom of the Father" = "the kingdom of the Son" = "the kingdom of heaven" = "the kingdom of God". Each phrase has poetic purpose.
Lifeway seems to really focus on the "weeds/non-Christians in the church" and the "make sure you're really a Christian" application. That's absolutely important -- no soul is more important to you than your own because that's the only one where you have direct responsibility. But Jesus is also calling our attention to all of the lost souls in the rest of the world -- they will face the judgment of God at the end of the age. And how many of them will never have any idea they were a pawn of Satan.
Jesus tells the disciples the meaning of this parable (1) to warn them about the opposition from all sides they will face (including, for example, Judas), but (2) to make the stakes of their ministry clear. They are going to be passing along these teachings to the next generation, and Satan will oppose them at every step, but souls are at stake.
Hell is a real and terrible place. Heaven is a real and wonderful place. If you need to take your group on a study of those two concepts because they don't think that a parable is sufficient source of doctrine, then by all means do so. Jesus is very clear about the reality of heaven and hell throughout His teaching.
So there you go. Yes, give the application of making sure you're not a weed among wheat. But even more, make sure everyone understands why God allows the weeds to remain and why that's good news for them. Spend your closing talking about how God wants you to handle "living among weeds". Where you are and who you're around is no accident. Yes, Satan is actively trying to manipulate your life, but we know from the rest of the Bible that Satan can only do what God allows him to do. That courage in that.