It was good seed. The owner made sure of that. It was very important for him to have a good crop of wheat, so He was very careful to plant only good seed in his field.
Most of us like good bread to eat, but there would be no bread without fields of wheat. The owner with the good seed had an important job to do, not only for himself, but also for all the people. That good seed was carefully planted before sunset that day.
The owner had workers too, and when nighttime came, they all slept. As the days passed, something wonderful went on under the ground, and before long they saw the little green wheat shoots breaking through the planted field. It was so good to see the tiny plants ... but something was wrong! Some of the little green shoots did not look quite right.
Weeds! said the workers. Who planted weeds?
The workers went at once to the owner who had planted good seed in his field and asked him, Didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where did the weeds come from?
The owner knew. An enemy has done this, he said.
And if the owner is Jesus, the Son of God, He saw what happened in the dark night when the workers were all asleep. You see, this story is a “parable,” a story that Jesus told to help us understand why so many wrong things happen around us and in our own hearts. We have an enemy, Satan, who tries to spoil everything that God has done. Satan does his work secretly, in the dark, so that you won’t know. “Aha, this is fun!” he says, but he does not tell you the end of the road.
Shall I tell you what God says about the end of the road for those weeds that were spoiling the crop of wheat?
The workers saw the weeds beginning to grow and asked, Should we go and pull them up? No, said the owner. If you do, you will pull up the good wheat along with the weeds. Wait until harvest time, and then I will tell the reapers, “First gather together the weeds and bind them in bundles to burn. Then gather the wheat into my barn.”
Those workers were very wise men, because they said in their hearts, The owner knows. Their plan was to pull up the weeds, but the owner knew that would destroy some good plants too. The workers couldn’t tell for sure which were good plants and which were weeds.
Since this is a parable, those plants are like real people—maybe like you or me. Maybe everybody knows you and I are sinful, or maybe people think you and I are quite good. It isn’t what everybody thinks that is important but what God decides.
At harvest time, the weeds were bound up in bundles and burned. There are many people who will be sent into everlasting fire. God is the One who decides. He has seen us in the daylight and in the dark all during our lives, and He knows.
You may read this parable in Matthew 13, but it does not tell everything. It does not tell you that Jesus loves sinners like you and me. The same Saviour who gathered the good seed into His barn is the same Saviour who died for sinners. “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation [deliverer] for our sins” (1 John 4:1010Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1 John 4:10)). He wants you in His home in heaven forever, and He wants you to be His very own right now.
Jesus Himself told this story as a big red STOP sign to warn you that hell is very real. There is wonderful love in the heart of Jesus, who went all the way to Calvary and died there for sinners like you and me. Will you come to His loving, open arms right now?
ML-05/11/2008