NL 126: Parables of the Kingdom

image: photo of Salvadora persica, commonly known as “The Mustard Tree” Mehdi.sq, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Matthew 13:24-43

Initial Thoughts

  • Last bunch of weeks we were in the first discourse (Sermon on the Mount, Mt. 5-7), this is the third discourse (Mt. 13), we skipped the second discourse (Mt. 10) and will get to the fourth divorce (Mt. 18)

  • Kingdom of Heaven- Jesus’ favorite topic - first of the “Kingdom of Heaven is like…” parables

  • Constant reversal - takes typical images of what someone would think the Kingdom of God looks like and turns it upside down:

    • Banquet- attended by the poor, prostitutes, and lepers

    • Bread - not unleavened Manna, but filled with yeast

    • Field - with a weed, a tree and birds

    • Field filled with wheat AND weeds 

Bible Study

  • Surprises in the parable according to Warren Carter (there are always surprises in a parable)

    • The master is sowing the seed, despite the fact that he has slaves.

    • The master knows that the weeds were sowed by an enemy - and not just natural wild growth

      • Slaves question the quality of the seed, but master assures them that the seed is good.

    • The master allows the wheat and the weeds to grow side by side.

  • Interesting side note from Elizabeth Johnson at workingpreacher.com:

    • “What Matthew most likely refers to, however, is darnel or cockle, a noxious weed that closely resembles wheat and is plentiful in Israel. The difference between darnel and real wheat is evident only when the plants mature and the ears appear. The ears of the real wheat are heavy and will droop, while the ears of the darnel stand up straight.”

  • Judgment or Grace

    • First thought might be judgment - weeding the kingdom

      • “While the parable’s symbolism is readily accessible, some interpreters are rightly disturbed by its analysis and implications. For example, the parable’s presentation of two antithetical types of plants presents a view of human beings that hardly reflects the complexity of human life.” (Warren Carter)

      • “We may find the dualism of this text troubling. It seems that there are two groups of people in the world -- children of the kingdom and children of the evil one, wheat and weeds -- and that their destinies are fixed from the beginning. Jesus says that at the end of the age, the angels will "collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin (σκάνδαλα) and all evildoers, and will throw them into the furnace of fire" (13:41).” (Elizabeth Johnson at workingpreacher.com)

    • This is a word of judgment from within the community. 

      • “The interpretation of the parable found in verses 36-43 applies the parable to the time of the church. The risen Christ sows good seed in the world and thus creates the church. Into the midst of this church the devil sows people who do not belong in the kingdom… Matthew is greatly disturbed by the mixed state of the church, which contains many who enthusiastically call Jesus Lord, but refuse to follow his ethical teaching” (Douglas Hare, Interpretation: Matthew)

      • “Matthew assures himself and others that a day of reckoning will come to these pseudodisciples.” 

        • Even if we cannot tell apart the weeds and the wheat, God will be able to.

        • This means however, that we need to leave such matters up to God, and not be in the business of doing the separating ourselves.

    • Also grace- not our job to weed, but only to grow and tend the field

      • Hyperbolic language - we don’t cut off our foot after we walk somewhere we shouldn’t, Peter isn’t really Satan, .

      •  In 12:50, Jesus declared his family to comprise those who do “the will of my Father in heaven,” a descriptor that might embrace a wide and surprising variety of people.

      • “So perhaps we should not press the logic of the parable too literally. In the world we know, weeds do not become wheat. Yet Matthew's story holds out hope even for those who stumble -- yes, even for the one whom Jesus calls a stumbling block!” (Elizabeth Johnson at workingpreacher.com)

  • Theodicy - The question of Evil - Why does God allow bad things to exist and even flourish? For the sake of the good seed- the wheat

    • Omnipotence and Other Theological Mistakes by Charles Hartshorne

    • Can God just snap “his” fingers and fix the world? No, because God chooses to limit Godself out of love for us and our ability to grow into fat wheat (and risk us growing into fat weeds - see above)

    • Barbara Brown Taylor - "that growth interests him more than perfection and that he is willing to risk fat weeds for fat wheat. When we try to help him out a little, to improve on his plan, he lets us know that our timing is off, not to mention our judgment, and that he does, after all, own the field."

    • Both wheat and weeds have a place in God’s Kingdom

      • Does not define different people but different things

        • We do not separate people into wheat and weeds, but we can identify the good seeds (that draw us close to God and neighbor) and the veil seeds (that draw us away from God and neighbor)

  • Interpretation (vv.36-43)

    • Most likely added by a alter evangelist or the early church

    • Transforms the parable into an allegory

    • “Allegorical interpretation was common in early Christianity. Like Br’er Rabbit stories of the slaves and their descendants, this kind of story make it easier for insiders to speak to one another without attracting the retribution of outsiders.” Michael Joseph Brown, True to Our Native Land: An African American New Testament Commentary

  • We are not called to weed the garden

“Jesus does not, however, say whom the slaves represent.

Perhaps the slaves represent the disciples, or anyone who hears this parable and its interpretation. Who among us has not questioned why God allows evil to grow and thrive? Who among us has not wanted to take matters into our own hands and root out the evil in our midst? The master stops the slaves from doing anything of the sort. For one thing, it is not so easy to tell the weeds from the wheat, and for another, their roots are intertwined below the ground. Rooting out the weeds would uproot the wheat as well, doing more damage to the crop than leaving the weeds to grow.” (Elisabeth Johnson, Working Preacher)

  • Doesn’t mean we simply stand by ignorant of the weeds, injustice or sin.

  • The slaves/ servant rightly identify the wheat and the weeds

  • Prophetic witness is different from judgment

  • Mustard Seed

    • Paradoxes:

      • Mustard-unclean weed (Robert E. Shore-Goss, God is Green: An Eco-Spirituality of Incarnate Compassion, p.65)

        • Would never have been planted in a garden - was prohibited (and foolish)

        • Spreads “underneath” the soil, secretly dominating the garden

      • Birds in the garden

      • Tree in the garden

    • The power and mystery of God

    • Those that seem unwelcome will flourish and attract other “unwelcome Guests”

    • The power of God is such that a tiny weed seed can be made into a great tree that provides for others

    • This parable “speaks of a kingdom which, for all its miraculous extension, remains lowly. Mustard is an annual plant; its perpetuation depends on renewed sowing, and its perennial promise depends on the life of the seed. It is an image which corresponds closely to the picture of the Kingdom of God in Mark: a mystery whose realization will come as a surprise; a reality whose weakness is its power.” (Lamar Williamson, Interpretation: Mark, p. 99)

Thoughts and Questions

  • How do we embrace our calling for prophetic witness while resisting the temptation to “weed” the garden?

  • Are we able to tend the garden and reserve self-righteous judgment until the fruits of the wheat or the weeds presents themselves?

  • Tolerating weeds is frustrating- especially the weeds within ourself- how can we (as the church) help support one another in tending the garden without getting choked by the weeds?

Year 1Eric FistlerMatthewComment