Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father

 

 Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house.  And His disciples came to Him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field."  He answered and said to them:  "He who sows good seed is the Son of Man.  The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one.  The enemy sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age,  and the reapers are the angels.  Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age.  The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire.  There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.  Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

 

- Matthew 13:36-43 

 

Yesterday we read that, after telling the parable of the Wheat and the Tares, Jesus gave the people more parables:  "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches." Another parable He spoke to them:  "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened."  All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:  "I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things kept secret from the foundation  of the world."

 

  Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house.  And His disciples came to Him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field."  He answered and said to them:  "He who sows good seed is the Son of Man.  The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one.  The enemy sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age,  and the reapers are the angels.  Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age."  Here, as He did also with the parable of the Sower, Jesus gives an explanation in private to His disciples regarding the second parable He gave, that of the Wheat and the Tares, also known as the Wheat and the Weeds (see Thursday's reading).  Again, we note, as in the parable of the Sower, Jesus is the Sower, the Son of Man.  But the good seeds sown here are the product of His word, the sons of the kingdom.  That is, the believers that have taken in His word, and become a new people of the Lord thereby.  The enemy, who sows his own seed, is the devil.   And those who take in that seed, receive it, and are nurtured on it, are the sons of the wicked one.   But the harvest time is the end of the age -- and those sent to do the harvesting are the angels of the Lord.  

Jesus teaches, "The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire.  There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.  Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"   Note that at the end of the age, Christ's Kingdom is all in all, and it is those sons of the wicked one who are the interlopers, the ones who don't belong.  Here Jesus details what that means:  the things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness.  This is about what is done, let us note -- offenses and lawlessness.  And those who practice this will be, like the tares or weeds, cast into the furnace of fire.  Wailing and gnashing of teeth are images from Jewish Scripture (particularly the Book of Enoch) concerning descriptions of Sheol or Hades.  "Wailing" and "gnashing" indicate anguish and despair, mourning and anger, a poisonous kind of grief.  For this again is the Kingdom, a place where time as we know it does not exist.  Worldly time and and the eternal state of the Kingdom play a role in Christ's recent teachings.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught that His parables reveal things that have existed since "before" the creation of the world and time.  These parables reveal things kept secret from the foundation of the world, and He is the One who can do that.  He is the One who was with God before the world, who in the beginning already "was," who was with God, and through whom all things were made (John 1:1-5).  In that passage from John we also read, "in Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it."  But in this time of the harvest at the end of this age, there are those who are cast into the furnace of fire, and then those others, the righteous, who perhaps even in the midst of this fire will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.   There is the patristic understanding that the fire we associate with hell and the divine energies of God are one and the same -- it all depends upon how compatible we are with those energies, with the divine reality of this Kingdom.  When it is fully manifest, in that time "when all things are made subject to Him," and when God is "all in all" (1 Corinthians 15:28) then midst that divine light that is the life of men, even then the righteous will shine forth as the sun.  For now -- and even at the time of Christ's Incarnation -- this light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot comprehend it.  For now is the time of seeding and growing, and all grow together as we look to the end of the age.  But the light still shines, and if we but listen and do, it shines in us nevertheless. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:16).  At that time of the end of the age, all will be revealed as it truly is for all to see.  Let us be among those who will shine forth as the sun.

 

 

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

Wheat cropping, Byzantine manuscript miniature, Skylitzi archive

 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

In yesterday's reading, Jesus explained to His disciples the parable of the sower (which we read He preached to the crowds in Tuesday's reading):  "Therefore hear the parable of the sower:  When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart.  This is he who received seed by the wayside.  But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while.  For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.  Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.  But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces:  some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."

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." ' "  My study bible comments that this parable builds on the previous parable of the sower.  In the parable of the sower, Jesus spoke of the difficulties that get in the way of the production of good fruit from the word, the seed cast by the sower.  But in this parable, Jesus gives attention to the enemy, who has sown his seed among the seed of Christ.   My study bible says that as falsehood came after truth and false prophets came after the true prophets, so the Antichrist will come after Christ.  Just as the tares, or weeds, first appear to be similar to the wheat, so the devil fashions lies that in some sense resemble the truth.  That these are sown while men slept indicates that heresy and lies creep in when people are apathetic.  Moreover, it gives us a sense of our own need for "wakefulness," awareness.  My study bible adds that this parable also explains why the Church neither condemns nominal members, nor judges those outside the Church (1 Corinthians 5:12-13).  Just as wheat would be destroyed in weeding out the tares, so also, many who might ultimately find salvation would otherwise be lost if they are condemned before Christ's judgment.

I've recently had occasion to attempt to revive a garden that had been sadly neglected for quite a period of time.  This parable of the tares (or weeds) and the wheat reminds me somewhat of that garden, for the various kinds of weeds that somewhat resemble the desirable plants were so tangled into one another that it was impossible for even a seasoned gardener to separate them.  What were once planted even as decorative plants became invasive, covering over beautiful flowering plants, or intertwining with other bushes.  Just as Jesus recommends through the owner of the wheatfield, the only thing to do, for the most part, was to pull them all up together.  To tear out one was impossible to do without damaging the other.  Maybe it would help for us to understand that the word for tares in the Greek of the Gospel (ζιζάνιον/zizanio) has come to be used for children when they misbehave, as a metaphor for "wild" --- uncontrolled and uncultivated.  In the garden, it is possible for any seed blown by the wind to take root.   In the parable, Jesus gives us a sense of how our world really is:  we'd all like it to be perfect, and perfectly orderly.  It would be wonderful if each of us were handed clear truth on a platter, without the distractions of every other kind of influence somehow mixed in to our lives.  But this is simply not the way that things are.  In the parable of the sower, Jesus spoke of the obstacles that get in the way of the word taking root and bearing fruit within the soil of the heart.  He explained to His disciples that the distractions include the "cares of this world" and the "deceitfulness of riches."   Moreover there are persecutions and tribulation that will come to those who bear the word.  But the fruitfulness of the one who is able to keep and cultivate that word on good ground is extraordinary.  In today's reading, He gives us (and the disciples, of course) more seeming obstacles to the harvest of His word and His ministry.  There is not simply His good seed sown in the world as His word.  There is also seed sown by an enemy.  This is seed of that which distracts and makes life difficult for those who would harvest the good wheat, that which truly feeds the people with what is good and nourishing for them.  Heresy is a kind of half-truth, something which sounds good, but really isn't -- the same way that the tares or weeds resemble the wheat, but are in fact not digestible and not good for human beings.  Moreover, we can see how, especially in the world in which we live today -- where every influence is at our fingertips on our phones or computers or other forms of mass public media -- all kinds of ideas and assumptions proliferate for us to choose from.  There is every influence, and with every possible motivation, streaming into our lives.  Parents are concerned for their children, as immature minds without experience are vulnerable to predators.  So it is, also, with Jesus' message of the wheat among the weeds, which make it hard to distinguish the good from the bad, especially to those without sufficient experience to already know the difference.  No human being is born with perfect knowledge; everything for us is a long learning curve.  And so it is especially with our faith.  For many of us, we have tradition -- such as the early Councils of the Church -- to help to guide us.  We have the saints who came before us, and in particular those are are called the Fathers and Mothers of the Church, who considered every problem that met the faithful in the early centuries of Christianity and along the way.  We have, to guide us, what is called "economia" in Greek theology terminology.  Economia is the practice of mercy in terms of the things we don't clearly and absolutely know within the sphere of our imperfect world.  We do the best we can with what we have and know.   Christ preaches mercy: in today's parable the wheat and weeds must grow together until the harvest, and in effect we are given a perfect example of what economia means.  That is, until the final harvest, the ultimate judgment of Christ at His return, we do the best we can with what we do know and within the default practice of mercy.  We cling to the truth and to the good wheat, we read the Scripture, we pray, we look to tradition and those who came before us with their experience, and we must remember which "manner of spirit we are of" (Luke 9:54-56).  The good and the bad grow together in the world we live in, the false and the true, and sometimes it is very hard to distinguish the two.  What sounds good and feels good is not always good at all.  Let us note that the enemy sows his seeds "while men slept."  Jesus isn't just speaking about the vineyard owner or the workers, but the condition of human beings.  When we're not aware, all kinds of things slip in under the radar, so to speak; that is, while we're not looking or paying attention.  And in His pragmatism for His fledgling followers and the Church that is to come, He advises us that this always will be the case.  So let us not allow the dizzying array of seemingly endlessly distracting weeds, things which require our work and labor to distinguish and learn about, to dissuade us from what we know is good, what we cling to in faith.  Let us continue to understand that this is simply the way He's told us from the beginning that things are, and do what we can to cultivate good crops and our own fruitful harvest.  The importance of our own awareness and the teaching of experience cannot be discounted.  Let us remember that everything is done with the "rule" of mercy, and count ourselves blessed that it is so.

Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field

 Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house.  And His disciples came to Him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field."   He answered and said to them:  "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.  The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one.  The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.  Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age.  The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire.  There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.  Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

- Matthew 13:36-43

On Saturday we read that Jesus taught another parable to the multitude, saying:  "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches."  Another parable He spoke to them:  "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened."  All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:  "I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world."

Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house.  And His disciples came to Him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field."   He answered and said to them:  "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.  The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one.  The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.  Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age.  The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire.  There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.  Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"  Here is Jesus' own interpretation given to His disciples in their "headquarters" (Peter's family home in Capernaum) for the parable of the Wheat and the Tares (Friday's reading).  

 We note the growth of the seed, the word, into the good wheat.  This gives us some idea of the action of the word of the Son of Man, how it works in us.  As shown in the parables of the Mustard Seed and the Leaven (above, from Saturday's reading), its effect is growth and transformation, a type of change that affects our substance.  So much so, that Jesus calls the good seeds in the parable the sons of the kingdom.   Sonship not only indicates children, those who belong to a particular household or family (in this case, the family of the kingdom),  but also those who will inherit.  The sons of the wicked one are those who grow in the word of falsehood, suggesting to us that seeds are planted that are misleading, half-truths, meant to resemble truth but missing the mark.  It tells us of the extreme need to be diligent in discernment, and to care passionately about what is true and what is not.  There is a commitment implied here, and not found only in this dimension of faith but also in various examples in Scripture, that tells us that what we choose to make part of our lives becomes a part of ourselves.   We are made for a sort of  connectivity with our world, with ideas, with others -- and so what "connection" we choose becomes as important as who we are ourselves.  The Kingdom invites us to participate in it, becoming its sons (for we all inherit, male and female), but so does that which is not the Kingdom.  We don't remain neutral by denying that we need discernment, because we will always make choices.  This is simply the nature of life itself, the field in which we live.  We are thinking, rational sheep.  That is, we have been given the gift of consciousness.  To be sleeping is to be apathetic, to not care, and to not use the gift we've been given.  It means that we will lose what we have (25:29).  Jesus gives us other examples of those who do nothing with their gifts, and fail by remaining in that "neutral" place (see, for example, the parable of the Talents).  To love and desire truth is perhaps our greatest asset.  This desire within us keeps us loyal to Creator and author of truth, and is so much more than a cold rationality, but demands of us a deeper kind of perception.  St. Basil, commenting on Genesis 1:1, teaches:  "It is He, beneficent Nature, Goodness without measure, a worthy object of love for all beings endowed with reason, the beauty the most to be desired, the origin of all that exists, the source of life, intellectual light, impenetrable wisdom, it is He who 'in the beginning created heaven and earth.'"  The seed of the good word of the Son of Man associates and seeks to unite us with Creator, a sacramental return to this origin, an alliance which leads to sonship in the Kingdom.  The real choice for the love of these good things, of beauty and truth, is in the heart.  It's there that we find the desire for more to life than what we find apart from God's love.

Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field

Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house.  And His disciples came to Him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field."  He answered and said to them:  "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.  The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one.  The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.  Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age.  The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire.  There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.  Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

- Matthew 13:36-43

On Saturday, we were given two more parables in Christ's preaching.  Chapter 13 of Matthew's Gospel is one in which Jesus begins this practice of preaching in parables, and He gives us His reasons for it.  He taught:   "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches."   Another parable He spoke to them:  "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened."  All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:  "I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world."

Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house.  And His disciples came to Him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field."  He answered and said to them:  "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.  The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one.  The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.  Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age.  The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire.  There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.  Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"  Again, as with the parable of the Sower, Jesus preaches in parables to the big crowds, and when He is with the disciples, He explains their meanings.   In Friday's reading and commentary, we went over the parable of the Wheat and the Tares and discussed its implications.  Here, Jesus elaborates Himself -- this parable is about the end of the age.  It's also a picture of the time in which we live, the age inaugurated by the Incarnation.  Jesus' seeds have been sown, but coming soon after is the "enemy."  There are many images offered of just what the Antichrist is, but what we can note from this passage is that the spirit of the Antichrist is linked to the devil.  Again we note that the tares are weeds that closely resemble the wheat; it's hard to tell the plants apart.  So it is with falsehoods, with sophistries:  things that sound good but are misleading.  Jesus' focus to His disciples in explaining the parable is about the Judgment, the end of the age, the separation of all that follows one way, from the other.

 Jesus speaks of "those who practice lawlessness."  Let us remember Jesus' time and place.  "Lawlessness" is given in the context that includes the whole history of  Jewish Scripture, the Law of Moses.  But always, there is a deeper context to "law" for Jesus than the literal laws of Moses, and certainly more than the traditions of the elders, to which the Pharisees hold so strictly.  There is the law written on the heart, also spoken of in the ancient Scriptures and given to us by the prophets.  See, for example, Jeremiah 31:33, which teaches about a new covenant:  "I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people"  (NKJV).  Lawlessness, then, becomes the province of those who cannot worship in spirit and and in truth,  without this law in their minds and hearts.  Again, as Jesus repeats over and over again, reflecting the words of another prophet, Isaiah, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"  These are the spiritual eyes and ears of the "heart," so to speak, the true center of a person, where spiritual perception takes place in the intersection of spirit, soul, mind, and strength.  How we perceive becomes so important in this context.  It's all connected to the heart, which in Scriptural language is the true place we receive understanding, the word, these seeds of Christ who is the Sower.  Isaiah (in the same verse above, Isaiah 6:10) speaks of hearts grown dull, also quoted by St. Paul in Acts 28:27.  This word for what has happened to the hearts of these people is variously translated as "calloused," "stupid," "hard," "dull."   In both the Greek and the Hebrew, the word is "fattened," meaning thickened, coarse, hardened -- indicating an inability to perceive.  Psalm 119:60 sums up Jesus' juxtaposition of the lawless with those who can perceive:  "Their heart is covered with fat, but I delight in your law."   So those who perceive or care about such law, and those who do not, live side by side in the time in which we live now.  We grow together.  Jesus places Judgment solely in His own hands, those of the Son of Man, and His angels whom He will send out.  In the meantime, we all grow together.  How is the seed planted?  How do we provide good soil in the heart?  Jesus will speak of the greatest commandment as that which teaches we are to love God with all the heart and soul and mind and strength (and the second one, like it:  to love one's neighbor as oneself).  Let us think about how what we love and nurture in the heart is ultimately related to how we perceive and who we become -- the love of God linking those who would be "neighbors," like the good plants in the field.  All is linked to what we do with our hearts, how we nurture the love of God so that we grow in that love, and most importantly, how we are open to that love and wisdom God will plant.  A hardened heart, waxed with fat, is one that cannot receive and cannot feel.  To whom does our heart respond?

First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn

 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

In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught His disciples about the Parable of the Sower, after explaining to them why He was speaking in parables to the crowds.  Jesus said, "Therefore hear the parable of the sower:  When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart.  This is he who received seed by the wayside.  But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while.  For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.  Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.  But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces:  some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."

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." ' "  Here Jesus builds on the previous parable of the Sower.  The good seeds are sown, but "while men slept," the enemy comes and sows seeds of his own.  Tares are weeds that closely resemble wheat; it takes effort and knowledge to tell the difference between them.  My study bible likens this to falsehood that comes after truth, and false prophets that come after true ones:  even so, the Antichrist will come after Christ.  The devil, it says, fashions his lies to resemble the truth.  We must take note that this happens while men are sleeping:  heresy and lies creep in when people are apathetic.  My study bible tells us that this parable also explains why the Church does not condemn nominal members, nor judges those outside the Church (1 Corinthians 5:12-13).  It says, "Just as wheat would be destroyed in weeding out the tares, so also, many people who might ultimately find salvation would otherwise be lost if condemned before Christ's judgment."

There are times when everyone wonders why God allows evil people to do evil things.  Considering all the splits in the Church (if we consider Christ's Church a universal whole), we may wonder why there isn't some great revelation from above or why Judgment doesn't happen sooner to clear it all up!  How many people would wish for Christ's return into the world to deal with the messy problems of filtering out heresy from truth, true teachings from false, and to put an end to our questions?  Jesus answers an important anxiety here by telling this parable, about allowing the tares to grow side by side with the wheat.  Nothing happens until the final harvest, which is the Judgment.  Until that time, we "grow side by side," so to speak, with things that may be evil, that mislead, that aren't really good for the world.  And this is the state of things right now in the time we're in.  We await the harvest when everything will be "sorted."  It's important that we remember Christ has given us this parable.  I hear all too often questions about why God would allow one thing and another to happen, but here, right from the beginning and during Jesus' ministry, we are given a parable that explains and gives to us this picture of the authentic and true growing side by side with the false.  As such, it seems to me, our focus must be on our own growth, taking care to nurture those who also seek what is true.  The Judgment isn't up to us.   But we are given this parable in order to be aware, and in order to know the importance of discernment.  Not practicing judgment doesn't mean we don't evaluate the true from the false teachings.  It doesn't mean we're not on the watch for "false prophets" whom Jesus has likened to wolves in sheep's clothing.  Here in the parable, Jesus teaches that the enemy sowed the bad seed "while men slept."  And in His preaching, as in the Sermon on the Mount, He's taught us to be alert, awake, always watchful.  He taught, "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them" (Matthew 7:15-20).  We are encouraged to discernment, to watch the "fruits" so that we can understand the false from the true.  In these metaphors of growth in examples from nature -- plants and trees -- we're given a strong reason for patience, forbearance, and awareness.  The false and the true will grow side by side, and it's up to us to learn to tell the difference even as we are in the current time, the current circumstance.  Sophistry will give us many examples of words that sound good, but are misleading or falsely reasoned.  Whatever complaints we may have about the world in the times we live in, or even the difficulty of our faith, one thing we know is true:  this is the picture Christ has given us of His will for this time, and as such, it's up to us to do the discerning in our own lives and in our own choices.  We focus on the good growth, the true word, and we do our best to help nurture and grow others.  We work at discerning the true from the false.  We stay alert.  Christ tells us that the "bad" are not uprooted before their time is so that the good grain also takes hold and grows to harvest.  Jesus' teaching here fits with the instructions He's given His disciples to be "wise as serpents and gentle as doves."  So it is in our world, in this time as we await His Return, His harvest.

Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field

 Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house.  And His disciples came to Him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field."  He answered and said to them:  "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.  The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one.  The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.  Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age.  The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire.  There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.  Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

- Matthew 13:36-43

Jesus' ministry has entered the phase in which He has begun to speak in parables to the crowds.  This began in our readings with last Tuesday's reading, in which Jesus told the parable of the Sower.  In Wednesday's reading, Jesus explained the purpose of teaching via parables, after His disciples asked, "Why do you speak to them in parables?"  Thursday, He explained the meaning of the parable of the Sower (Therefore hear the parable of the sower) to His disciples.  On Friday, we read that Jesus gave a new parable, that of the wheat and the tares, or weeds, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field."  On Saturday, we read yet more parables given by Jesus: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches."  Another parable He spoke to them:  "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened."  All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:  "I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world."  Today's reading contains the explanation for the parable told in Friday's, that of the Wheat and the Tares.

Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house.  And His disciples came to Him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field."   Once again we notice the private explanation, and the publicly told parable.  The disciples aren't perfect in their understanding, but the desire to know, to learn from the Teacher, is there, in their hearts.  It is this response to which the mystery in the parables calls.

He answered and said to them:  "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.  The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one.  The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.  Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age.  The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire.  There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.  Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"  Again, for the original parable, see Friday's reading.   Jesus introduces a powerful teaching here regarding the end of the age, on Judgment.  It is in the shadow of what comes at the end of the age that the Son of Man comes sowing the good seed.  It's an indication of a powerful choice put before us, a choice that digs down into each of our lives and is seemingly contained in each moment.  It forms and shapes a path, a kind of awareness of what we must be about.  In a way, the consciousness of Judgment becomes a teaching tool for the many dimensions of our lives that come into play here.  We might ask, why is Jesus in the world, as Incarnate Son?  Why at this time should He sow this "good seed?"  The end of the age, and the time of judgment, not even He knows.  But His coming into the world, His preaching, and the prophesy of the end of the age are all tied together.  It sounds a note to us about our choices and their importance, and that we take our lives and the power of choice seriously.  The parable teaches us that we all grow side-by-side, that our inner lives are hidden and really known only to God who is the true judge.  Judgment is left to God, and not to us.  The emphasis again becomes therefore placed on the only thing we really have any jurisdiction over:  our own choices and how they contribute to the state of the world around us.  Do we take in the seed of the word He sows?  We don't have to understand perfectly.  Like the disciples we may need all kinds of explanations.  It may take a long time before we understand anything.  But the desire for the good seed, the endurance in the word -- that which can bear the difficulties, the sophistries, the temptations, even the "deceitfulness of riches" (as Jesus put it when He explained the parable of the Sower) -- it is this desire in the heart He really seeks, our capacity for a strong rootedness.  It all comes down to what we love, what we treasure, what we cherish.  Life will always ask us to make that choice. And love is the greatest mystery of the Kingdom, perhaps its greatest treasure, the strong root we really need.

The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field

 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 the 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

In the past several readings, Jesus has just introduced the use of parables into His ministry.  In Tuesday's reading, He gave the crowds the parable of the Sower.   On Wednesday, we read that His disciples asked Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?"  Yesterday, we read that Jesus explained for the disciples the meaning of this particular parable of the Sower:   "Therefore hear the parable of the sower:  When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart.  This is he who received seed by the wayside.  But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while.  For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.  Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.  But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces:  some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."

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 the 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." ' "  My study bible has a note on this parable, explaining that "the parable of the wheat and tares builds on the previous parable of the sower.  Here Christ the Sower gives attention to the work of the enemy, the devil, who comes to sow his own seed after the fruits have multiplied.  Falsehood comes in after truth:  after the prophets came false prophets; after Christ will come the Antichrist.  The devil fashions falsehood and heresy to resemble the true Faith:  the weeds look somewhat like the wheat.  The evil one also comes while everybody is asleep.  While the devices of the evil one do not extend into heaven, in this age he intermingles the counterfeit with the Kingdom.  This parable explains why the Church does not expel her nominal members.  To weed out the tares is to disrupt the wheat.  Those who are watchful and remain faithful will shine forth as the sun forever."  In readings next week, Jesus will also explain to His disciples this parable, just as He explained the parable of the Sower in yesterday's reading.

Of particular note, it seems to me, in this parable is the concept of the two types of grain growing side by side.  One is false, the other is the good grain.  But, as my study bible pointed out,  they resemble one another.  One looks very much like the other.  The importance of this recognition is highlighted and given meaning by the fact that Jesus is introducing here the concept of Judgment -- the Judgment at the end of the age.  It also introduces the idea of tolerance, a kind of tolerance that tells us a few things:  First, that judgment is up to God; second, that it's not up to us to disrupt the life of this world with our own upheavals or violence in any sense as this may cause the good grain to be torn from the roots.  In yesterday's commentary, we spoke of the necessity of the rootedness of the good seed, in discussing the parable of the Sower, and if we look carefully at this parable, there is also an important sense in which the rootedness of the good grain is the great goal, the most important consideration.  So again, in light of Judgment, and Christ's teaching here about the end of the age and the work of God, we turn back to this same principle that the essential job we have is to ensure the rootedness of the good grain in our own hearts.  With a good root, a plant can grow and produce good fruit, giving a good yield, a good crop.  It all depends on how deep the roots grow within us.  Tares, by comparison, are a kind of "weed" -- and its root system does not grow deep.  It's another way in which today's parable plays and reflects off of the earlier parable of the Sower, and we learn accordingly.  It also seems to suggest, in light of that parable, that  all the things Jesus explained in yesterday's reading that hinder the rootedness of the good seed will also take their effects on those with shallow roots, such as the weeds.  Faith needs the inner rootedness to endure.  Let us see that in this analogy, roots are hidden and not seen, and therefore going by this example again, Jesus' point is made:  we're not the judges.  Let us find ways to nurture our rootedness, and thereby nurture the rest of the field of "good wheat" to do the same.  Let us be about the business of enduring and growing in our faith; it is our rootedness that gives us strength.

Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father

Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field." He answered and said to them: "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

- Matthew 13:36-43

In recent readings, we have been exploring Jesus' ministry of teaching the crowds in parables. If we were to take this week's readings in context, we must first start with two readings of awhile back: The Parable of the Sower, and Therefore hear the parable of the sower. This week, we read the readings that follow, beginning with Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares? In the parable of the Wheat and the Tares, Jesus told a story of the sower who planted good seed of wheat, so that it began to sprout and grow a crop. But while all men were asleep, an enemy came and sowed tares or weeds, so that they were all growing together. The man told his servants not to gather the tares, lest they disturb the good crop. But at the harvest time, he 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." In yesterday's reading, Jesus told two more parables about the kingdom: the parable of the mustard seed that grows into a large tree, so that even the birds of the air build their nests in it, and the parable of the leaven -- hidden in three measures of meal until all was leavened. The Gospel tells us: All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables, and without a parable He did not speak to them, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: "I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world."

Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field." As with the parable of the Sower, Jesus' disciples come to Him later, in private, away from the multitudes to whom He preached, and they ask Him to explain it to them. This teaches us that although the parables invite us in to hear and to understand, it is not certain that we all simply have all the answers. Instead, they engage us. It is important that we understand that Mystery invites us in; the mysteries of the Kingdom are those that welcome us, start us on a road, His Way -- and into engagement with Him, the Teacher.

He answered and said to them: "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one." Once again, as we discussed in the previous reading in which Jesus gave this parable to the crowds, we are confronted with a world in which good and evil live side by side. Those who choose for the kingdom, and those who do not - who may be, in fact "sons of the wicked one"- live side by side. This is the state of the world; sometimes the differences are subtle. The tares resemble the wheat.

"The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age." This gives us a sense of time and the evolution of the world. As we live side by side with good and evil with subtle and perhaps hard to detect differences, we are in a time when all grows together. And we have time. Judgment is at the end of the age, the end of the age inaugurated by the Incarnation, in which we still live. All still grows together, and we are called upon at all times to make choices, to accept the good seed, or perhaps that which chokes it or mimics it. We are called to discern, to make good choices to treasure what is good in ourselves and in our hearts. But Judgment is clearly in the hands of God and God's angels, and that is at the end of the age.

"Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" We really don't know when this will be or what it will be like. The Judgment itself is a mystery in the hands of God, of Christ. All we know is that we live in the present age, in which all grow side by side, and in which we are called to be discerning, to "have ears to hear!" We make choices, and hopefully learn, grow, produce the fruits of spiritual choice. But there are two promises here -- that the tares, the counterfeit that resembles the good crop, will somehow perish. There are many ways of thinking of fire. The Holy Spirit also appears as fire in Scripture. Fire is fully oxidizing (see the parable of the leaven in yesterday's reading), it is purifying -- it will burn that which cannot withstands its energies. In a fire test, it is the pure gold that remains and "shines forth as the sun." Let us consider, then, what we truly treasure, the things with which we identify and from which we take our identity, that remain within us as a part of us -- and think of life as lived in a kind of fire, a kind of testing in this age, and the fire of the Spirit that calls to us for response.

We don't really know what "hell" is necessarily. Some profound Christian writers have taught that hell is a state of mind. We can't practice this Judgment ourselves; that is reserved for Christ and comes at the end of this age. When asked by His disciples, even He said He did not know when that time would come; this is a part of the great mystery of the Kingdom, in the hands of the Father. But if we think about fire as an energy of the Spirit (as in the burning bush that was not consumed), then we can think of the time in which we now live and make choices as a time of testing by the fire of the Holy Spirit. Are we going to be like the Spirit? Will we become like that which can withstand this fire, the pure gold that is tested in a furnace of fire? Is it this that we will treasure in our hearts? Or is it the counterfeit, the fool's gold, the lead we carry with us in life? Let us not be like the tares that will be consumed in the fire, let us take our choices seriously. Let us have ears to hear! Let us make a commitment, and find His Way.

Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?

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 the 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

In yesterday's reading, Jesus continued speaking to those who wished to test Him. He spoke about the importance of choice, specifically in terms of how we accept or reject the work of the Spirit. This is following the readings in which He condemned the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, and in which He compared the Gentiles who accepted the work of the Spirit in Jewish Scriptural history to the scribes and Pharisees who seek to test Him. Yesterday, He continued, teaching about the importance of choice. When an unclean spirit leaves a person, He said, "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." Later on, as He spoke to the multitudes, He was told that His mother and brothers were waiting outside to speak to Him. He said, "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." In today's reading, we skip forward in the Gospel. It is after Jesus has introduced His technique of teaching in parables in His ministry. The readings that come just before this one in the context of Matthew's Gospel are: The Parable of the Sower and Therefore hear the parable of the Sower.

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." Over the course of the past few readings, Jesus has been speaking about our response to the Holy Spirit in the world. Specifically, He spoke to the scribes and Pharisees who failed to perceive the work of the Spirit in His ministry and healings (they had accused Him of casting out demons by the power of demons). If we take today's parable in the context of the readings we have just been through since Sunday (Pentecost), we see the tares as those who cannot accept the Spirit in their hearts. Jesus has just told the parable of the Sower; here the man plants good seed but at night, "while men sleep," the enemy sows bad seed - the tares or weeds that grow among the wheat. These are wild plants, that resemble wheat, but do not yield the fruit for bread. Perhaps we can read the "counterfeit" wheat that doesn't yield fruit as that which has not the substance that makes for our "daily bread."

"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.' " We are in a cosmic picture of the world, our world, the one in which good and evil are side by side. How does this happen? How do we see our way between the counterfeit and the real?

"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 the 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." ' " In a later reading, a couple of days from now, Christ Himself will explain His parable. But for now, let us ask ourselves questions. Christ is speaking to the public in parables; parables are so that "those who have ears may hear" -- and those incapable of receiving will not. How are the wheat and tares separated? What will happen at harvest? When is the harvest? How do the two live side by side?

My study bible has an interesting note on this parable: "The parable of the wheat and tares builds on the previous parable of the sower. Here Christ the Sower gives attention to the work of the enemy, the devil, who comes to sow his own seed after the fruits have multiplied. Falsehood comes in after truth, after the prophets come false prophets; after Christ will come the Antichrist. The devil fashions falsehood and heresy to resemble the true Faith: the weeds look somewhat like the wheat. The evil one also comes while everybody is asleep. While the devices of the evil one do not extend into heaven, in this age he intermingles the counterfeit with the Kingdom. This parable explains why the Church does not expel her nominal members. To weed out the tares is to disrupt the wheat." While the note in my study bible speaks of heresy and doctrine, we can apply this to the least minutiae, all the choices we have to make, in our lives. What are our choices? How do we accept or reject the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in the world? Especially in a time of brokenness, when we are witness to the things that don't create good but evil in the world, and great pain and suffering, that is the time when we accept or reject: when what is in our hearts truly makes the difference between turning and being healed or not. This is the point at which we consider the great questions posed to us in this little parable. Why is there evil? Why does evil grow side by side with good in our world, in this "age" in which we live? Note that in the context of the Gospels, good and evil can be side by side indeed, amongst nominal community, amongst family, or even among the first apostles chosen by Jesus. While we await the Judgment at the end of the age, what is our witness now? Where is truth? What is our testimony? Remember, it all depends on whether or not we have ears to hear, our response to the grace that calls to us and is there for us, awaiting the choice in our hearts. In the context of the parable, we understand it to be confusing, something that calls us in to fathom, to take seriously - even in the depths of the heart. How do you go forward in the world of wheat and tares?

Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field

Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field." He answered and said to them: "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

- Matthew 13:36-43

Over the course of the past week, Matthew's gospel has introduced us to Jesus' use of parables in His preaching. We began last week on Tuesday's reading, with the parable of the Sower. Then, in the next reading, Jesus' disciples asked Him why He preached to the multitudes in parables. In Thursday's reading, Jesus explained to His disciples the meaning of the parable of the Sower. On Friday, we read of Jesus' teaching of another parable, the parable of the Wheat and the Tares. Finally, in Saturday's reading, Jesus gave us two more parables -- that of the Mustard Seed and the parable of the Leaven. The reading taught that Jesus spoke to the multitudes only in parables, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: "I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world." See The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed.

Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field." In today's reading, Jesus explains the parable of the Wheat and the Tares, which we read in Friday's reading. In our commentary on Friday, we discussed the parable in depth. Today we receive Jesus' words about it to His disciples. We note first that Matthew is careful to say that Jesus first sent the multitude away and then went into the house. So, we have a picture again that this is in private; explanations are only for the disciples and not for the crowds.

He answered and said to them: "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels." Aside from the fact that this is Jesus' careful explanation of the parable, we note something new that we didn't speak of in the previous commentary on Friday. Jesus is clearly laying out a plan for the age, and for the end of the age. He is speaking about Judgment. Up until now, we have had a clear sense first in His temptation in the wilderness, then in His healings and signs, and in His teachings, that He is bringing His kingdom into this world, which is ruled "by the prince of this world." But here He is making a clear statement that the Son of Man has come to lay claim to this world, and that He is Lord over it. When He chastised the Pharisees for their hard-heartedness, He taught that the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath. But now, He is expanding that claim for His disciples.

"Therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth." This is here a decisive claim about the end of the age, and the aims of the Son of Man. So strong will be His final claim to this world, that those who cannot abide by the values of the kingdom, who cannot in effect accept His teachings for themselves, will be "cast into the furnace of fire," like the tares. He is here to change the system, to claim ownership, to uproot the seed of the enemy. But this will happen through a time of growth together, and not until the end of the age. It will also happen through freedom; all are free to choose, all are free to act throughout the age.

"Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" When the kingdom is finally claimed and realized, the righteous will shine forth as the sun in their Father's kingdom. This is a dazzling kind of a hint at new life, a new world. We don't really know what is to come after this age and in the next. But Jesus gives us a hint here of light. It is a time of understanding, and enlightenment, and clarity. But this we are not given much knowledge about. Justice and righteousness will be revelatory. When Jesus teaches, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" it is another hint at the importance of mystery, that we have a responsibility for our own receptivity and understanding. In the life of the world now, it is a time when all grow together, and He's out to reveal those with ears to hear and to search them out, and to reveal mystery to them through His parables.

Often we approach the stories of Jesus -- especially in the synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke -- as if these are cautionary tales, told so that we understand what is happening. But in Jesus' words, I hear more than that. Jesus is teaching us about mystery, and the nature of the kingdom. His very use of parables is so that we are invited in, to come to understand, and to let us know that there is much, much more to be invited in to hear, and to be revealed. He hints here of the end of the age, and the dazzling light like the sun that all the Father's children will clearly bear. In these words, and in the nature of the parables, Jesus is hinting about so much more that can be revealed, into which we can become initiated. But we must have ears to hear! His disciples are not just there to be fed with His explanations, but they, too, must have ears to hear. They, too, must be challenged, even by His explanation, and move forward in light, in their own spiritual growth, as disciples. So let us pose the questions to ourselves. Do we think we have all the answers? Or do the parables -- and the explanations -- simply invite us in? Are we ready to receive more? How can our own light grow, so that we may "shine forth as the sun?" Remember that Jesus has already taught that His disciples are to be the salt of the earth, and the light of the world. One day this light will be clearly revealed to all -- but until that day, we are to work at bearing and increasing that light in the world, and the spiritual fruits that come from discipleship. It is up to us to have ears to hear, so that we bear His light now, within us, in the present age -- and in the age to come.

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

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 the 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

In our recent readings in Matthew's gospel, Jesus has introduced parables in His preaching. On Tuesday, we read the parable of the Sower (Behold, a sower went out to sow). In Wednesday's reading, Jesus was asked by His disciples why He taught in parables (Hearing you will hear and shall not understand,And seeing you will see and not perceive). In yesterday's reading, Jesus explained the parable to His disciples. He explained the different places where the seeds fell, the good ground, the stony ground, the birds that snatched them up, the weeds that choke. Each was a state of receptivity within a person of the word Jesus teaches, and the faith that takes root, or fails to. Jesus explained the various conditions in the world that lead to failure for the seed to take root, and also the fruitfulness of the word for which He is searching in each of His followers, in those who have spiritual ears to hear. See Therefore hear the parable of the sower.

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." Here, Jesus begins again another parable. We remember that parables are like windows -- they open to give light on something. Here Jesus' parables are giving us windows on the kingdom, to teach us something of its nature, and about the faith that He is teaching and looking for in us. In yesterday's reading, Jesus explained the parable of the Sower to His disciples -- the sower is sowing seeds in a world beset by problems that will act against this kingdom, against the word taking root in the hearts of people, and He taught about the things that will act against steadfast faith. Here we have another window on the kingdom. The enemy, or the "ruler of this world," will sow tares among the good crops.

"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.'" Jesus gives us a picture of our world. We recall His words to the apostles before sending them out on their first mission: "I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves." In this sense, the "enemy" is the "wicked one" of yesterday's explanation of the parable of the Sower. My study bible points out a classic commentary that shows us that the weeds and wheat look alike. Both are intermixed in the field.

"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 the 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."'" This is a picture of our world, and the understanding of the age in which we live. All grow together, until the time of the harvest, the Judgment. My study bible notes that the tares are sown after the good seed has been sown, so this is a kind of warning against false prophets that will come after Christ, and falsehood that will come after the truth. It notes that "the devil fashions falsehood and heresy to resemble the true Faith" and also that the evil one comes while everybody is asleep. So, "in this age he intermingles the counterfeit with the Kingdom."

So, in today's parable Jesus builds on the parable of the Sower. He gives us another glimpse of the kingdom as it enters into this world, and the ways in which it works. In yesterday's reading, Jesus explained that the parable of the Sower gives us a picture of how "the evil one" or "the ruler of this world" can choke our faith, the "stony ground" that may be within us and the cares of the world that interfere. But here He gives us a picture of something else -- that the weeds and the wheat will grow together. We will hear all kinds of things in the world, and some people will believe one and others will believe another. The startling part of this story is that the tares will not be pulled away -- that will only come at harvest time. So we are given a picture of the need for strong faith. Oftentimes, things will not be obvious, we will live in a world in which wheat and weeds, the fruit of good and bad seed, will be intermingled. The faithful will grow side by side with that which is false, and judgment is not up to us. It is instead discernment we rely on, and patience, and the wisdom of His teachings. This parable also strikes a note of the kindness and gentleness of the kingdom of heaven: all grow together. It is only the Judgment at the end of the age that will separate. And we must be careful not to "sleep" -- we need watchfulness, discernment, prayer. As He said to the apostles after teaching them they are sent out as sheep in the midst of wolves, "Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves." So, how do we practice our faith in this understanding? How do we cultivate the good ground within ourselves for faith while good and bad grow together? Let us consider what it is to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves in the context of today's parable, this new glimpse on another aspect of the life of the kingdom in this world.

The Wheat and the Tares

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

Today's reading appears after the Parable of the Sower in Matthew's gospel. (See Why do you speak to them in parables? and Therefore hear the parable of the sower.) At this point in Matthew's gospel, we are introduced to the notion of parables as Jesus' teaching tool. He continues in today's reading with another parable, also about sowing seed, and harvesting.

My study bible has a note on this passage. It also applies to the verses that will be in our reading the day after tomorrow (37-43), when, as in the Parable of the Sower, Jesus will explain to his disciples the meaning of this parable of the Wheat and the Tares. My study bible notes, "The parable of the wheat and tares builds on the previous parable of the sower. Here Christ the Sower gives attention to the work of the enemy (v.25), the devil, who comes to sow his own seed after the fruits have multiplied. Falsehood comes in after truth: after the prophets come false prophets; after Christ will come the Antichrist. The devil fashions falsehood and heresy to resemble the true Faith: the weeds look somewhat like the wheat. The evil one also comes while everybody is asleep. While the devices of the evil one do not extend into heaven, in this age he intermingles the counterfeit with the Kingdom. This parable explains why the Church does not expel her nominal members. To weed out the tares is to disrupt the wheat (v. 29)."

I think that it's important that Jesus gives us two vivid "word pictures" about sowing and harvesting, because it says to me that he is explaining to us different aspects about the reality of this kingdom. By using different stories involving similar elements, he gives us a viewpoint of different facets of the reality he's trying to teach to us. (Tomorrow's reading - about the Mustard Seed, and the Leaven, will also give us a different perspective using a similar element of sowing.)

In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus taught us about himself, as one who comes sowing the Word. The different elements of that parable were used to explain how various influences take away the effectiveness of the word, his teachings. With that parable, the "enemy" snatched away those sown "by the wayside." The birds who devoured the seed "snatched away" what was sown in the heart that did not understand. In today's parable, the "enemy" does some sowing of his own. He sows tares among the wheat from the good seed. "Tares" in Greek is the word "zizania." This is a kind of rye-grass or darnel which resembles wheat. (Interestingly, it's a common expression in modern Greek to refer to a child who is "acting up" as "zizanio" - the singular form of the word. This can be used in an affectionate way, and no doubt derives from the parable.) So, what we have in this parable is a teaching about that which resembles the crop of the good seed, but is in fact false. This suggests to me ideas that are misleading. In other ways it could be the fruits of the crop that look similar - make a resemblance to the right thing - but in fact are false, not the good crop Christ calls his own.

What it is, in fact, is a parable about judgment, and the idea that all grow together in this world until the end of the age. That this is the nature of our world and our lives in the world, and in the church. We all grow together. We find in our world the true and the false, the good crop and that of the false seed that resembles the true. This is why, perhaps, life can be so confusing - the "right thing" isn't always obvious, and we are given such a dizzying array of choices in life. It also tells us that life is not simple but complex, and leads us to understand that we are to live within this reality. We await the judgment and the end of the age - and we are not the judges.

What does this parable say to you? I hope that all will refresh their memories about why Jesus teaches this way in the reading Why do you speak to them in parables? and consider this one for yourself. What does it say to you? How does it speak to you? Does it sometimes seem confusing that there are so many places to turn to, so many things to choose from and different directions to go? Do we remind ourselves often that this world is meant to be one in which there is an array of variables, of opinions, of false fruit and good? That we need not only discernment, but also tolerance and patience? What is your way to understand this for yourself? I wish you peace, and the patience to await good judgment. And the serenity to persevere despite the difficulties. Seek the kingdom in your heart, in prayer, and find that good seed and help it to take root and bear the good harvest.