THE HARVEST AND THE HEAVENLY KINGDOM
Rev. Bernt P. Tweit
Epistle Lesson; Deuteronomy
26:1-11
Gospel Lesson; 2
Corinthians 9:6-15
Sermon Text; Matthew
13:24-30
In the thirteenth chapter of Matthew, Jesus says, "the Kingdom of Heaven is like…", eleven times. Today, in our parable of the weeds and the wheat, Jesus uses this parable, (which is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning), to remind us not only of the harvest, but also remind us of the Heavenly Kingdom. This parable of the weeds and the sheath is a picture of the harvest and was told to help us understand the Kingdom of Heaven. Today, we are not only thankful for the harvest of crops into the barn, but we are also thankful for the harvest of people into the Heavenly Kingdom.
As we come to the end of another growing season, we can see that the time for harvest has come for the farmers. When we drive up and down the roads, we can see people along the roadsides selling apples, pumpkins, and squash. We are certainly thankful for that harvest. But today, as we dig deeper into this parable that Jesus spoke, the parable of the weeds and the wheat, we see the similarities and the differences that He presents to us. Jesus explained this parable to his disciples, later in Matthew, chapter 13. The explanation is not a part of our text for today, but I have included the explanation in parenthesis. Based on the text today, we look at "The Harvest and the Heavenly Kingdom."
Jesus told them another parable: "The Kingdom Heaven is like a man (Jesus) who sowed good seed (believers) in his field (world). But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy (the devil) came and sowed weeds (unbelievers) among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’
‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.
The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’
‘No,’ He answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest (the end of the age). At that time I will tell the harvesters (angels): First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’"
The fields contain good and bad
In our text for today, Jesus tells us that the fields contain good and bad. As a boy, I often was asked to weed my mom’s garden. I can remember my mother sending me out into her garden, to pull those weeds. As soon as the weeds appeared, Mom made sure I went out to pull them out!
In our text for today, Jesus asked for the weeds to grow up along side the wheat. He said they should let the wheat and the weeds grow up together and the angels would deal with the weeds at the end of the age. (I sure would have liked to apply that to my Mom’s idea of weeding!)
There is a difference between the garden I weeded, and the wheat field Jesus spoke of. In my mom’s garden, as in yours, vegetables are planted and grown in rows, with dirt paths between. Since you could easily walk in between the rows, the weeds were easy to see. And pulling them, without harming the good plants, was easy enough.
But in a wheat field, it is quite different. Wheat is planted so that all of the sheathes are standing next to one another, with no paths, creating a carpet effect, when you look at it from a distance. If you were to walk into a wheat field to pull out the weeds, you would also do damage to the wheat. Pulling up the weeds in this situation would endanger the wheat stocks, so you just don’t weed wheat.
Let’s look at our text just a little closer this morning to understand what Jesus meant by this parable.
Jesus told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared."
In the fields around Judea, wheat was a crop that was very prevalent. We could say the same thing about our fields in the Midwest, where wheat is grown.
But where wheat was grown, a weed also grew and flourished in those fields. It was difficult to tell the weed from the wheat, until it was mature. The weed was probably something like darnel. It looks just like wheat, until it matures. A passerby could easily be deceived, as to which plant was wheat.
In this parable, Jesus is saying that He has planted the world with believers. At the same time, the devil has planted the world with unbelievers. We all look the same on the outside. We are all human. Jesus is teaching us that wherever He is active, with His gracious ruling in the hearts and lives of people, there the devil is powerfully active in opposition, in the unrelenting effort to frustrate and defeat Jesus’ work of bringing His blessings to sinners through the Gospel. The devil sees to it that some people never let the Gospel get into their hearts. It is because some have let the devil enter into their hearts, taking possession of them, that they oppose and reject Jesus and the salvation He offers, persecuting all who acknowledge and confess Jesus, as their Savior.
Just as weeds and wheat grow together in a field, so it will be true that believers and unbelievers will stand side by side, until the end of the world. Luther once said, "Wherever God builds the church, the devil builds a chapel."
Our text goes on in verse 27, "The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’
"’An enemy did this,’ he replied.
"The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’"
The owner’s servants looked out into the wheat field, once the wheat and weeds were starting to come up. They could tell the difference between the two plants, as they were becoming mature, and noticed the weeds among the wheat. When the owner’s servants noticed the weeds among the wheat, they were distressed. They could not understand how the weeds got into the wheat field.
The owner, who knows all things, knew how the weeds got there. It was the work of the evil one, who opposes all that he was trying to do, and who was attempting to ruin the whole field.
The servants were eager to correct the situation. If they had their way, they would have marched through the field and pulled up every weed, right then and there. But the owner knew that such a plan would not be wise. He knew that if you were to go and pull out the weeds from the wheat field, you might also uproot the wheat.
"’No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest.’"
The servants longed to see things right, but the main purpose the owner had in preserving the weeds in the field, was so that the wheat would not be harmed. All of the wheat was important and precious to him. The owner did not want a rash decision on the part of the servants, to let one single stalk of wheat to be uprooted. The owner’s main concern was not to get rid of the weeds, as soon as possible. He would take care of them in due time. His main concern was preserving the wheat. All of the wheat was important and precious to him, and he would not allow the rash action of the servants to harm a single wheat plant.
In this world, it is the truth that believers and unbelievers will grow together, standing side by side, until the harvest. The "plants" will appear to be very similar, but they are actually quite different.
How about us today? At the harvest, the end of our lives, or at the end of the world, how will God see us? Will He see us as wheat, or will He see us as a weed? Both weed and wheat will bear fruit, however the fruit of the weed is not good. Have we borne any good fruit?
When the wheat and the weeds are growing together, and they become mature, there is a difference to be seen. It is said that with these weeds, they can harbor fungus and a disease can grow in them. I found out, in my study for this sermon, that the disease could be very deadly, especially for the livestock that the wheat and weeds are fed to. It is called, A.R.G.T., annual rye grass toxicity. In the last 30 years, thousands of cattle and sheep have died, because of the fungus that has grown in that weed.
Does God see you, does God see me, as a weed that grows up, and all it really deserves is to be is bound together, cast into the fire and burned? Or does God see you as wheat, with golden heads of grain that have a very wonderful purpose.
Not only did Jesus not want the wheat to be harmed, but also there was another reason. As Augustine, who is a church historian once said,
"Those that are weeds today,
may be wheat tomorrow."
The unbelievers might yet repent. And the Lord, who desires the repentance of all people, will give them every opportunity to do so. That really is God’s desire in this life, isn’t it? Believers are not harmed, but strengthened in their faith. And, those who are unbelievers, may turn to the LORD, and yet repent.
God desires
all men to be saved
and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Even on their deathbed, God loves those who turn to Him, who repent of their sins and come to know Jesus as their Savior.
The final harvest will
gather the good and destroy the bad.
The field contained good and bad. This world is filled with both believers and unbelievers. At the final harvest, just as with the wheat and the weeds are separated from one another, the believers and the unbelievers will also be separated.
"At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them into bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn."
In this parable, Jesus’ aim is for us to ask ourselves, "What will the final judgment mean for me? Am I like the wheat that the angels will gather together and store in the heavenly kingdom? Or, am I like the weeds that deserve to be tied into bundles and burned in the fire?" In other words, Jesus wants to lead each one of us to search our hearts, to see if there is any secret unbelief there – the unbelief that will be relentlessly exposed at the final harvest.
Today we are thankful for the harvest of crops in the barns, but we are also thankful for the harvest of believers into the heavenly kingdom. Believers know Jesus, as their Savior. God has justified you. He regards you and treats you as innocent and righteous, as if you have never sinned, because of Jesus’ death on the cross. He sees you as wheat, as the hymn writer says in the hymn Come, You Thankful People, Come.
All the world is God’s own field,
Fruit unto His praise to yield.
Wheat and tares together sown,
Unto joy or sorrow grown.
First the blade and then the ear,
Then the full corn shall appear.
Lord of harvest,
Grant that we
Wholesome grain and pure may be.
For the Lord our God shall come
And shall take his harvest home,
From his field shall in that day
All offenses purge away,
Give His angels charge at last
In the fire the tares to cast
But the fruitless ears to store
In this garnet evermore.
We pray that God keeps our faith strong, until He harvests us into the Heavenly Kingdom.
Amen.
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