Matthew 13_24-43      The Wheat and the Weeds

Rev. David Holwick  Y

First Baptist Church

Ledgewood, New Jersey

July 12, 1992

Matthew 13:24-30,36-43


ARE YOU A WHEAT OR A WEED?



  I. Gardening experience.

      A. Most gardeners struggle with weeds.

          1) Rototill.

          2) Herbicide.

          3) Pull by hand.


      B. Biblical gardening.

          1) Pull up an easy chair.

          2) Sip lemonade until September.

          3) Use a machete to hack your way to your cucumbers, carrots,

                and whatever tomatoes haven't rotted.


      C. All you need for a full pantry is an easy chair and friends

            like Sam Mino.


II. This parable is about Biblical gardening.              13:24-30

      A. Landowner plants good seed in field.


      B. Enemy sneaks in at night and sows weeds (tares).

          1) Probably darnel, which looks like real wheat while young.

          2) So many weeds, servants realized something was wrong.

              a) Tell landowner.

              b) Obvious someone out to get him (still common in Mideast).


      C. Weed out?

          1) Sensible, because darnel weed is poisonous.

          2) Two problems:

              a) When immature, difficult to distinguish from wheat.

              b) Roots intertwine, so pulling up one destroys both.


      D. Owner decides to practice "David Holwick gardening."

          1) They will be allowed to grow, then separated at harvest.


III. Interpretation of parable.                          13:36-43

      A. Unusual for Jesus to interpret parables.  (Only two others)


      B. Seven characters are identified by Jesus:

          1) Landowner = Jesus.

          2) Field = world.

          3) Wheat = those who belong to God's kingdom.

          4) Weeds = those who belong to the devil.

          5) Enemy = Satan.

          6) Harvest = end of the age.

          7) Reapers = angels.


      C. At first glance, parable is simple.

          1) Characters are laid out, and the theme is Judgment Day.

          2) Actually, parable is much more complicated.


IV. Two approaches to modern interpretation.

      A. Situation is real Christians and phonies in the Church.

          1) The church is not pure and we shouldn't be too quick to

                boot sinners out.  Wait for God to do it.

          2) Since the parable is about the Kingdom of heaven, this must

                refer to the church.

          3) The earliest interpreters applied parable to the church.

              a) Augustine even said a mix of good and bad Christians

                    proves a church is genuine.

              b) A church with only "good" Christians would be suspect.

              c) Therefore we should not be fanatical about rooting out

                    the bad apples.


      B. Situation is Christians and non-believers in the world.

          1) Both co-exist until God comes in judgment.

              a) The whole earth will not be converted.

          2) Jesus' interpretation plainly says the field is the "world,"

                not the church.

          3) The Kingdom of heaven is NOT the same thing as the church.

              a) Jesus uses different terms for both.

              b) The Kingdom of heaven seems to be broader than the church.

              c) Revelation 11:15 speaks of the kingdom of the world

                    becoming the kingdom of God at the Second Coming.


      C. Combination of both views may be the best.

          1) In verse 38 the field is called the world, yet in 13:41 the

                weeds are taken out of the Kingdom.

              a) The Kingdom is not identical with the church, but the

                   church is part of the Kingdom.

              b) Therefore weeds must be in the church as well.

          2) Whether First Baptist, or the village of Ledgewood, there are

               weeds among the wheat, and both look the same.


  V. Five applications that can be made from the parable.

      A. It is not our task to make the world pure.

          1) It is distressing to see how many wicked people are in world.

              a) They will be there until the last day.

              b) We will not save them all, nor even a majority.

          2) The duty of the Church is not public morality, but preaching

                the good news of Jesus.

              a) We are not to judge non-Christians.

                  1> God pulls up the weeds, not us.           13:41

              b) We are to preach salvation.

                  1> Wheat is not "nice weeds."

                  2> Wheat is transformed weeds.

          3) Morality is definitely a concern for those IN the church.

              a) Weeds are condemned for "causing sin and doing evil." 13:41

              b) Early Quaker to Cromwell:  It is not enough to have the

                    Bible, we must live it.

              c) The genuineness of what we believe is proved by what we do.

                  1> The righteous should shine.


      B. Unbelievers shouldn't make excuses because the church is not pure.

          1) Non-believers often say church is full of hypocrites.

              a) Usually it's just an excuse.

              b) Also hypocritical, because you're saying you're better.


          2) Jesus never says the church is perfect, and neither should we.

              a) Jesus hung around sinners.

              b) He didn't come to save the "righteous."

          3) If someone says the church is full of hypocrites, tell them

                there's always room for one more.


      C. Not all Christians are real.

          1) Some church members actually belong to Satan.

              a) He can masquerade as an angel of light.    2 Cor 11:14-15

          2) Sometimes we find out, sometimes not.

              a) Perhaps they abandon Christianity.

                  1> (Example of Ledgewood deacon)

              b) Others do not abandon the faith, but their hypocritical

                   lifestyle makes you wish they would.

          3) Don't be surprised that such people exist.

              a) Some are even behind pulpits like this.

              b) Remember that Jesus warned you.


      D. Beware of premature weeding.

          1) Christians should want the church to be as pure as possible.

          2) Purity one of the motivations behind the Baptist movement.

              a) Others accepted members from birth on.

                  1> Baptists required profession of faith from members.

                  2> Reason we vote on new members - chance to reject them.

              b) It is hard to pull up weeds, but we can watch that the

                   enemy doesn't sow them.  (vigilance in church)

          3) Desire for purity can get out of hand.


              a) Evangelist Jack Van Impe saw this happen in his ministry.

                 Beginning in 1969 he led crusades which reached more than

                    10 million people.

                 In the early days he invited any evangelical church to

                    participate.

                 But soon his co-workers began to grumble.

                    They complained about "weedy" denominations taking part.


                 So he allowed only Baptist groups to participate.

                    Nazarenes, Methodists, Mennonites, and others banned.

                 Then they began cutting questionable Baptists.

                    -Baptist General Conferences, Free-Will Baptists, etc.

                 Finally, the few independent churches who were left

                    started to ban each other.

                 It got to the point where purity was defined as pantsuits,

                    hair over the ears, and wire-rimmed glasses.

                 Attendance at his crusades went from tens of thousands to

                    a few hundred.

                 In 1980 Jack Van Impe quit in disgust.

                    He stopped organizing crusades.

                 With a broken heart he wrote in a religious magazine:

                    "The only meaningful label in eternity will be

                          'Christian.'"                              #2162

              b) Pulling up every last weed can damage a lot of wheat.

                  1> No church is absolutely pure, not even ours.

          4) We have to do our best and leave the rest to God.


      E. Judgment is coming!

          1) God can, and will, judge the world.

              a) Create moral problems?  No, it solves them.

              b) God's very character demands judgment.

              c) All hypocrisy and sin will be shown for what it is.

          2) Jesus says it will be a terrible day of weeping and gnashing.

              a) Appears to indicate conscious suffering.

              b) Harsh, but Hell is consistently taught by Jesus.

              c) We all face the critical decision:  for Jesus, or against

                    him?


VI. Fruit inspection.

      A. Where will YOU stand on that day?


      B. You are either wheat, or you are a weed.




Copyright © 2024 by Rev. David Holwick

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