He put before them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; 25but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. 26So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. 27And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, “Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?” 28He answered, “An enemy has done this.” The slaves said to him, “Then do you want us to go and gather them?” 29But he replied, “No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. 30Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’
Literally, vss. 24-26: "Another parable he set before them saying, 'The kingdom of heaven was compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but, while they were sleeping, the hostile one came and sowed zizania in the midst of the wheat and then left. When the plants grew up and produced fruit, then the zizania were brought into the light."
Chapter 13 of Matthew is made up of a string of parables, many introduced by alle, "another," which gives the chapter a cohesive quality which it might otherwise lack. Jesus starts off by saying that the kingdom of heaven was compared to, or was like, a man who sowed good seed. The verb is aorist (past tense) and may be a reference to the preceding parable of the sower.
The man sowed "good seed" in the field, but "while they were sleeping, the hostile one came." The good seed is doing fine on its own and does not need a 24/7 watch. The farmer and his helpers may certainly sleep. The word NRSV translates as "enemy" is exthros, which does mean "enemy"--even more, a hostile and personal enemy.
The enemy sowed zizania--otherwise known as tares, darnel, cockle, or, even yet more high-falutin', lolium temulentum. It's a weed that, especially in its early stages, looks like wheat, but instead of producing edible grain, produces only bitter-tasting seeds. At maturity, the weight of the grain in the wheat bends the heads down. Since there's not much of anything in the heads of darnel, the plant continues to stand straight. Darnel is, thusly, a plant of "air heads." It looks pretty good, in other words, but there's nothing there. One wonders: What does that say about the relationship between the kingdom and the enemy?
This also explains why after the plants grew up and produced fruit, it was then that the weeds "appeared." The word is ephane, which comes from the word for "light," and is in the passive voice. "Brought to light" would be a good translation. This suggests that it was the fruit of the good seed that illuminates the failure of the weeds to produce fruit.
Literally, vss. 27-28: "But the slaves went to the ruler of the house and said to him, "Lord, did you not sow good seed--kalon sperma--into the ground? Then from where does it have weeds?" He made known to them, "A hostile human being has done this." The slaves said to him, "Do you wish us to go and gather them?"
The word sperma appears forty times in the New Testament. Usually, this means not the seed itself, but the offspring of the seed. This sense of the word should be kept in mind. Indeed, in verse 38, Jesus will identify the good seed--the kalon sperma--as the "children of the kingdom."
Jesus identifies the enemy as exthros anthropos--a "hostile human being." In other words, the enemy is a created being, not a divine being. The devil, or the enemy, is not on par with God. The scriptures can get pretty fuzzy about the original of evil, but the power of evil is never placed on the same level as the power of God.
The slaves of the householder, those closest to the actual operation of the farm, are the first to consider action. "Do you desire for us to go and gather (the weeds)?" Do you want us to respond to this initiative from the hostile enemy? How are we to fight back?
Literally, vss. 29-30: "But he declared, 'No, lest gathering the weeds, you may root out the wheat at the same time. Forgive both to grow together until the harvest. And, in time of harvest, I will tell the reapers, 'First gather together the weeds and bind them into bundles to consume them by fire, but gather together the wheat into my storehouse.'"
How are we to fight back against evil? By doing nothing! Granted, there will be an eschatological solution, but that is God's work. In this life, evil is to be suffered, not resisted.
This, of course, is exactly what moral crusaders do not want to hear. They're on a mission, after all, to root out evil and get people to straighten up. Such people are dangerous. They're quite liable, in one of their moralistic crusades, to go into the field and start tearing the whole farm up. In their zeal, they are, unwittingly, and rather cluelessly, willing to rip out the good along with the bad.
Which is why I like to say that good people trying to do good can do much more real damage than bad people doing bad. Bad people doing bad results in individual acts of criminality. Good people trying to do good can result in inquisitions, pogroms, and concentration camps.
Notice that, in response to the query of the slaves, Jesus flatly says "no" to the idea of tearing out weeds. Then he says, "Forgive them to grow together until the harvest." The word is aphete. It may be translated as "permit," "allow," or "let," but it's most frequent meaning is "forgive." The word occurs 156 times in the New Testament. About a third of them are regularly translated as "forgive," and probably more should be. Evil is to be dealt with through letting it be, permitting it, forgiving it.
Next, Jesus says that "in time of harvest," he will instruct the reapers to gather the weeds in bundles to be burned. The word translated as "time" is kairos, which means "God's time." God will deal with the problem of evil, in other words, and it will be dealt with through the purifying fire.
The purifying fire may not be the most pleasant of Biblical images, but it is a relatively common one. The prophet Malachi spoke of none being able to stand at the day of the Lord's coming "for he is like a refiner's fire (3:2)." The apostle Paul talks of revealing a builder's work through fire. Anything not built on Christ gets burned up (1 Cor 3: 12-15). The whole concept of purgatory grew out of the idea of the purifying fire.
We all have our "weed side"--that part of us which may look good, but doesn't produce fruit. This part will be burned away, leaving only that which is built on Christ. Don't worry. In God's time of harvest, this will be seen and experienced as a good thing. After all, the one who judges us--the one who sends the purifying fire--is really the one who loves us the most.
Our propensity to judge others will be burned away. Our sucking up to heirarchical authority will be burned away. Our subversion of God's kingdom through gender inequality will be burned away. Our trying to see ourselves as better than others will be burned away. Our moralistic fervor will be burned away. Our self-righteous attempt at self-inflation will be burned away. Praise God!
Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached him, saying, ‘Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.’ 37He answered, ‘The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; 38the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one, 39and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 41The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, 42and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears* listen!
Jesus "left" the crowds. Again, the word is aphiemi, which is often rendered "forgive." He went into the house, which, incidentally, may have been his own residence in Capernaum. In the house, the disciples want an explanation for the "parable of the weeds," which shows, right there, that they didn't get it. The parable is not primarily about the weeds, but about the gospel which is "sown" into the world from the beginning. Notice that the "good seed" is never threatened in the parable. No doubt whatsoever is expressed about its ability to germinate and prosper, no matter how many weeds are planted in it.
The kingdom of heaven is not something that will drop in, like some alien space invader, from somewhere else on some distant day in the future. The kingdom of heaven is present right now, and has always been present. This is why some of the language we hear at Christmas leaves me utterly cold. "Love came down at Christmas"? The kingdom wasn't here, but now it is?
Huh-uh. The Word has been sown into the world from the beginning. Jesus doesn't "come down" at Christmas. He "emerges forth." Jesus says so himself in verse 34: "I will proclaim what has been hidden from the foundation of the world," which is, unfortunately, not part of this week's lection.
Literally, vss. 37-38: "He answered, 'The one sowing the good seed--kalon sperma--is the son of man. The field is the cosmos. But the good seed--kalon sperma--these are the children of the kingdom. The weeds are the children of hardships." (Note: The word is ponerou, which could be "evil one," but seems just as likely to be labor, difficulty, and pressed by hardship, which is the word's primary meaning.)
Jesus says that he is sowing good seed and this good seed is the children of the kingdom. Could he be any more obvious? He is generating disciples who live out the ways of the kingdom--open table fellowship, gender equality, non-heirarchical living, inherent worth of every human being, and opposition to oppression. Those who don't follow this way of the kingdom are instead pressed by hardship and difficulty. They suffer the "weight" of heirarchy, scarcity, tribalism.
Then Jesus amps up the language. The opponent is now, finally, identified as diabolos--the devil. The harvest is clearly eschatological--sunteleia aionos, which means something like "the bringing together of everything forever," or "consummation eternal." "The reapers are angels"--again, an eschatological reference.
The son of man will send angels and they will "gather out of the kingdom" all the skandala--impediments that cause someone to stumble--and anomian--lawlessness. These will all be thrown into the furnace of fire. Then, having eliminated our skandala and wickedness, "the righteous will shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of my father."
Again, this is "purifying fire" imagery, along the lines of Hebrews 12: 29: "Indeed, our God is a consuming fire." Whatever is not of God will be burned up--not now, not in chronological time, but in the kairos, in God's time, at the consummation of the universe.
Comments