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

 

 Another parable He put forth to them, saying:  "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 owner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field?  How then does it have tares?  He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.'  The servants 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 harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn."'"

 

- Matthew 13:24-30 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus taught,  "When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none.  Then he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.'  And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order.  Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.  So shall it also be with this wicked generation."  While He was still talking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him.  Then one said to Him, "Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You."  But He answered and said to the one who told Him, "Who is My mother and who are My brothers?"  And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, "Here are My mother and My brothers!  For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother."

 

  Another parable He put forth to them, saying:  "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 owner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field?  How then does it have tares?  He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.'  The servants 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 harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn."'"  Today's lectionary reading skips over the beginning of chapter 13 (Matthew 13:1-23), in which Jesus told the parable of the Sower, and introduced parables as a way to teach and preach in His ministry (see this reading, and this one, give at the beginning of May).  It's important that we review the foundational parable of the Sower, because today's parable builds on the parable of the Sower.   Here Christ shifts His attention from the Sower who sows the seeds of the gospel, to the enemy who has sown his seed among the seed of Christ.  Tares are weeds that closely resemble wheat, but their grain is indigestible for human beings.  My study Bible notes that, as falsehood came after truth and false prophets came after the true prophets, so the Antichrist will come after Christ.  Just as the weeds first appear similar to wheat, so the devil fashions lies to resemble the truth.  This is an illustration of heresy, something that seems like the truth but deviates from it, or perhaps is what we might call a half-truth.  My study Bible also notes that the devil sows while men slept -- indicating that heresy and lies creep in where people are apathetic.  Additionally, we are told that this explains why the Church neither condemns nominal members, nor judges those who are outside the Church (1 Corinthians 5:12-13).  Just as wheat would be destroyed in weeding out the tares, my study Bible says, so also many people who might ultimately find salvation would otherwise be lost if condemned before Christ's judgment. 

 

 We have observed over the course of the past few readings, as Jesus disputed with the Pharisees who have now begun to plot against Him, a dire warning to those whose hearts and minds are so closed as to rule out the capacity for repentance.  These men rejected the healing miracles of Christ, calling them demonic, or asking Him to produce a "sign" on demand for them.  As this 13th chapter of Matthew begins, Jesus turns to teaching the crowds in parables.  A parable invites the hearer to think more carefully, to pay a particular kind of attention.  Oftentimes a parable will create reflections within us, pinging upon memories, or giving a particular kind of light to some circumstance in our lives, opening up insights.  And the same parable, heard at different times, will bring different reflections, or add a different kind of light to yet another detail that becomes important at that time.  All of this is related to how we see and how we hear spiritually, related to our capacity to open hearts and minds to the truths Christ is telling us, to His word, and to Him.  The parables invite us to open our hearts to the deeper truths hidden in the simple stories of every day life for an agrarian society, where planting, sowing, and harvesting were familiar to everyone.  But today's story of the wheat and the weeds give us additional characteristics to notice in the context of Christ's disputes with the Pharisees and scribes.  They teach us that it's important to pay attention, that we're responsible for the truths we're offered.  It also teaches us that we need to look closely, to discern, to be aware of what is truth and what is a half-truth, and not to be complacent or apathetic.  If our digestion depends upon looking closely at the difference in a crop of grain, then we need to think about what our minds will "digest" and about the outcome of something good and nutritious or something that really doesn't feed us well.  Jesus gives us the parable of the Wheat and the Tares (or Weeds) to teach us that we need to look closely, to evaluate what we see and hear, and to hold firmly to the truth He gives, because it is the standard by which we judge what else is offered.  St. Paul writes, "All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify" (1 Corinthians 10:23).  We might start with this understanding of discernment, if only to grasp that what sounds good on the surface might not actually be helpful or good.  The parables teach us that Christ wants those who will be awake and alert to the spiritual truths He gives us, and also for us to be paying attention.  Those who respond care enough about what He offers to open our minds to His truth, and grasp it well enough to separate truth from misleading appearances.  Let us not be asleep or apathetic to what goes on around us.