In August 2012, 40 goats were released into a park in Regina, a city in Saskatchewan, Canada. Why? To help control unwanted vegetation. Goats will eat almost anything, including weeds, and naturalists decided to put their habits to good use. Said one: “It’s environmentally friendly, chemical-free, great for the community.”
Too bad that wasn’t possible in today’s parable, in which Jesus gave another agricultural picture of the kingdom of heaven (vv. 24–30). In Matthew 13, we read that a farmer sowed good seeds to grow wheat, but an enemy came and sowed bad seeds to grow weeds in the same field. When the wheat sprouted, the truth was revealed. What to do? Pull up the weeds? No, because that might harm the genuine wheat. Separating one from the other would have to wait until harvest time. Then the wheat would go into the barn and the weeds into a fire.
Later, Jesus explained this parable to His puzzled disciples (vv. 36–43). The farmer is the Son of Man, Himself. The field is the world. The enemy is Satan. The good seeds are the “people of the kingdom,” or genuine believers. The bad seeds are the “people of the evil one,” including counterfeit believers. They are growing side-by-side in this present age. The harvest is the “end of the age.” The harvesters are angels, servants of God.
There are two eternal destinies here. The weeds, “everything that causes sin and all who do evil,” will be pulled up and thrown into a “blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” The wheat are the “righteous [who] will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (see Dan. 12:3). For us now, one lesson is discernment. Not all who say “Lord, Lord” will enter His kingdom (Matt. 7:21–23).
Go Deeper
How can we tell genuine from counterfeit believers? What warning should we take from this parable?
Pray with Us
Holy God, as we try to live well in community, please give us discernment. Guide us to love those who need love, and gently correct those who need correction. Make us more like You.
While everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat.Matthew 13:25
