"Don’t get mad,
get even." How many times have we tried the revenge approach and find we were
the losers in the end? The lie we are told today is “revenge is sweet.” The
problem is it turns quickly into a bitter pill.
Being an identical twin has its
advantages and setbacks. One of the things I disliked as young kid was my
identical twin brother and I always got identical presents. If they were
different, we might fight over them. All gifts were the same in every way. One
of the problems this created was distinguishing his toys and things from mine.
I remember we had identical looking
piggy banks. One day my twin brother told me he had accidently broke my piggy
bank. I was mad and how did he know it was mine he broke and not his. The more
I thought about it, the madder I got. We lived in a two story house with a
concrete backyard. I thought, “I’ll show him” and I tossed his piggy bank out
the two story window and watch it shatter into a million pieces.
Later that day my brother apologized to
me and told me how bad he felt for breaking my piggy bank. He told me I could
have his. At that point, I felt so bad, I did not have the courage to tell him
I had destroyed his. He eventually found out.
Jesus parable of the wheat and tares is
a very misunderstood parable. We hear things like this parable is about
Christians and false Christians----Not so! It is about the world and not the
church. There is a spiritual pattern in this parable we can apply to the church
but Jesus plainly says the field is the world and not the church.
Others have suggested the parable is
about weeding out tares from the wheat---Not so! This parable is not about us
judging who is going to heaven and who is not. Some think this parable is about
how tares can become wheat before Jesus returns----Not so! This parable is
about evil in the world and not evangelism.
Jesus spoke powerful spiritual truths
through parables. The parable of the wheat and tares is essentially about God
shining in the life of the believer who produces good fruit for God’s
kingdom. Listen to the reading of God’s
Word,
The
kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men
slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But
when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared.
So the servants of the owners came and said to him, “Sir, did you not sow good
seed in the field? How then does it have tares? He said to them, “An enemy has
done this.” The servant said to him, “Do you want us then to go and gather them
up? But he said, “No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the
wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of
the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and
bind them together in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn”
(Matthew 13:24-30)
A Tale of Two Sowers
What we find in this parable is both
good and evil in the world and the underlying question is which are you? The
good sower is Jesus who plants God’s word in our hearts to produce good fruit.
There is an evil enemy sower named Satan who plants bad seed to destroy the
works of God. Jesus goes on to explain this parable in verses 36-43. God’s
desire for each of us is to have his word and Spirit planted so deep within us
that it produces positive spiritual fruit.
Are you walking in fear and exhaustion,
despair and death or are you walking in faith and love and joy and life in
Christ? When we apply Jesus words to our own lives, his seed grows spiritual
power and life in us. Are we praying honestly, seeking God fervently, singing
songs worshipfully, obeying Jesus faithfully or are we just going through the
motions?
Nobody wants to ask this difficult
question today, “Am I a real follower of Jesus or a planting of the Devil?” The
problem for many people today is they don’t even believe there is a Devil, and
if there is, they are certainly not following the evil one. We think real evil
people are crooks or lawyers or politicians----never us.
In Jesus day, all Jews were viewed as
God’s chosen people. Despite all the immorality, idolatry and even taking
revenge on one’s neighbor like this parable illustrates, they thought they were
born into God’s kingdom by simply being in the line of Abraham. Some might
think this is strange but don’t we do the same thing today? How many people
think if you are born in America
This is exactly why we need to hear the
parable again. Am I wheat or a tare? Am I doing God’s work to please myself or
God? Am I surrendering my loyalties and priorities to Christ or something else?
Is my life producing Christ’s fruit and righteousness or am I simply following
the lusts of my flesh?
How many times do we run into people
who claim they are Christians who demonstrate no spiritual fruit or spiritual
power in their lives? Can that person be me?
Let Them Grow Together
Jesus focus is to cultivate wheat and
not weed out tares. I know there are some of you who say, “I have sown good
seed in my home, where did the tares come from?” Jesus answer is it is a work
of Satan. Our focus is to cultivate the fruit of God’s Spirit and God’s
patience within us. If we think it’s our job to go into the weeding business,
this may actually show you are a weed. Don’t do it Jesus says!
When Jesus tells a story or a parable,
what we often miss is the question behind Jesus words. The question behind this
parable is “Why doesn’t God do something about evil?” The whole gospel story is
God has! Jesus death, resurrection and ascension decisively dealt with evil.
When will evil be destroyed? It will at the end-time great judgment when all
wrongs are righted.
Scripture tells us that our fight is
not against tares but the enemy Satan (Ephesians chapter 6). It is not my job
or your job or anybody else to judge whether you are a Christian or not---that
is God’s job. Jesus says, “Let them grow together.” There is a judgment beyond
our judgment and God’s judgment is the only one that counts in the end.
Be extremely glad that God is your
judge and not your neighbor. I had a friend who had such low self-esteem that
he was scared and terrified of God. He felt he never measures up and always
fell short of God’s grace in his mind. No matter how hard he tied, it was never
enough! One day he discovered he didn’t have to earn God’s love but that he
already had it. Jesus parables have a way of sneaking up on us and changing
everything.
What we discover in this parable is not
what young people like to say to older Christians, “Please don’t judge me” or
what some older Christians have never completely understood, God’s kingdom is
about radical grace and mercy and not your performance. God’s compassion and
patience is always there waiting for us.
By Jesus living word taking shape in
us, we no longer have to walk in fear. No more living in the shadows or
worrying who is in or who is out in God’s kingdom. We no longer have to compete
or strive against one another or look good. IN this parable we find a place to
rest our weary souls in God’s protective loving arms and that is enough.
Let me end with these comforting and
challenging words by Jesus our great Shepherd. John 10:9-16, 27-30 is where
Jesus says,
“I
am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out
and find pasture. The thief comes to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have
come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
I
am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. But a
hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the
wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and
scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care
about the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by
my own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My
life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them
also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and
one shepherd. . .
My
sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I have given them
eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out
of my hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no
one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one.”
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