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 

 

 We are reading through chapter 13 of St. Matthew's Gospel, in which Jesus begins to preach in parables to the crowds.  Yesterday we read another parable which He put forth to them, 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 again Jesus explains the parable in private to His disciples, while it was preached in public to the crowds.  This parable builds on the previous parable of the Sower, while we can find His giving of the parable of the tares of the field here.  As Jesus explains to His disciples, the enemy who sows the seeds of the tares is the wicked one, the devil, and the tares (or weeds) represent his "sons."  As previously explained when we read the parable, tares are weeds that closely resemble wheat, but they are indigestible for human beings, inedible.  The wheat represent the sons of the kingdom; those who feed on God's word and live it and become sons by grace.  Jesus indicates that all grow together in the world, until the end of the age.  Here He teaches that it is He, the Son of Man, who will send out his angels to be reapers, gathering all -- those things that offend and those who practice lawlessness, to be thrown into the furnace of fire.  Then, He says, the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.

 

As was noted in the reading and commentary of His giving of the parable to the crowds (see Thursday's reading),  my study Bible explains that as falsehood came after truth and false prophets after the true prophets, so the Antichrist will come after Christ.  In this parable, the weeds (tares) appear to be similar to the wheat, and this is the way that lies so often present themselves, as half-truths or perhaps we may call them "crooked truths."  Heresies are such.  It also explains why the Church does not condemn nominal members or judges those who are outside of it (1 Corinthians 5:12-13).  As the wheat would be destroyed in weeding out the tares, so many people who might ultimately find salvation would otherwise be lost if condemned before Christ's judgment.  It's important to remember at least two things about this parable.  First, the tares are so many, and so intermixed among the good wheat, that they can't be removed before the time of the full harvest.  Second, that as human beings, we don't live in a steady state of being.  We are changeable beings.  Indeed, salvation itself is only possible because of this quality of change and changeability, which is linked to our living in time and not in an eternal state.  Our lives are lived moment by moment.  At any particular moment, we might get a very partial picture of ourselves.  Therefore, judgment cannot happen through our limited perspective, for just as my study Bible indicates, we don't know that if ultimately people will come to salvation, no matter where they are or how they are at any given moment (or how they seem to be to us, for only Christ fully knows the hearts of people).  We don't have the full picture; that belongs to Christ.  And since we are time-bound beings (we live in time), and salvation and repentance are always available to people, we simply don't know the final outcome of anyone's life.  It's also important to know that this furnace of fire is the same fire of the Holy Spirit that we know, but so much depends upon our own acceptance of where God would lead us in terms of the fulfillment of who we can be as "sons of God."  What we cling to is what burns in this fire if we cannot dwell within it, if we are not compatible with it in the kingdom of heaven.  But let us take heed of the wicked one, and know that we are meant to be responsible for what we learn and accept from God, for so much depends upon the seed we keep and nurture and take in, and which grows in us -- to become sons of the kingdom, or of the wicked one.  For this is also our malleable capacity. and our freedom to choose what we love in our hearts.

 

 

 

 

 

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 

 

On Saturday, we read that Jesus gave another parable to the crowds, 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!"  Jesus gives to the disciples in private the explanation of the parable He told to the crowds, just as He had also done for the parable of the Sower, the first of the parables He began teaching.  See Matthew 13:1-23.  In today's reading, Jesus is explaining to the disciples the parable of the tares of the field, found in Friday's reading.   A note in my study Bible on this parable explains that it builds on the previous parable of the Sower, but here the focus is on the enemy who has sown his seed among the seed (or word) 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 weeds in the parable appear similar to the wheat, so the devil fashions his lies to resemble the truth, as is the case in heresies.  That the devil sows while men slept indicates that heresy and lies creep in when people are apathetic. 

 

Jesus' explanation of the parable of the Wheat and Tares makes it very clear that He speaking about judgment.  As we reviewed in the commentary on the reading in which He first gave the parable (here), there is a type of weed which closely resembles wheat, but it's toxic for human beings.  So, first of all, we could think of the seed as that which grows something; there is a  clear message here about what type of crop is produced.  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus warned His disciples of false prophets to come, in what is a parallel teaching to this parable.  He said, "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" (Matthew 7:15-19).  We can see the parallels, even in the allusion to the trees that don't bear good fruit being thrown into the fire.  But let's think of this important metaphor of Christ that He used so often, about the seeds that spring up into "good" or "bad" plants.  If we take this understanding of the enemy's seeds as lies that mislead and trick people (especially if, like heresies, they bear a resemblance to truth, such as in half-truths), then what we hear from Jesus is how building our lives on lies or partial truths leads to a bad outcome for us as persons, in the wholeness of who we are.  So the foundations of the soul, of real identity, also depend upon how we're nurtured, what we base on own growth upon.  Like plants, human beings are in a constant state of growth or change, one way or another.  We go in one direction or another, and it all depends upon how we're nurtured and what start we give ourselves each day.  In another way of looking at the parable, we might take it that we want to make sure we're ingesting the good wheat (as in the Eucharist), the things that nourish us for our best spiritual health in life, because this determines the growth of the soul.  In light of Christ's strong assurance here of a judgment to come, and the giving of His interpretation of the parable, He asks us yet again to take this quite seriously, because our very lives truly depend upon it.  The growth of the soul in life is something many people find it easy to forget about, given how busy modern life can be.  We find ourselves consumed with cares regarding work, family, keeping our lives and loved ones safe and in good care, our housing, and all manner of things we are constantly demanded to pay attention to.  It's so easy to lose focus on that slow growing, quiet inner life that concerns the state of the soul.  But nevertheless, there it is, and there it always is.  People notice us hardening our hearts; we can get to the place where we don't recognize what we're doing to ourselves in the face of these "necessities" of life.  But Christ has taught us that there is really one thing most needful, one thing most necessary, in the story of Martha and Mary (found here at Luke 10:38-42).  In light of all of His teachings, we can say that when we forget about this most needful thing, our lives are upside down, disordered in terms of what is most necessary for us.  At this time, many of us are gearing up for the period of the holidays, in which we will be bombarded with all the things that seem "necessary" for those holidays.  Black Friday, the time of the great sales in stores in the United States, is already being advertized -- all a part of the rush for things we "need" for the holidays.  But on the contrary, it's the time (in the Northern Hemisphere at any rate) when nature is slowing down, getting ready for the needful rest of winter, the earth's necessary Sabbath.  We should perhaps keep in mind that the holidays we celebrate are "holy days," and the very reason for celebration should not be lost. We give thanks to God for our blessings.  It may be a national holiday, but its roots are in our faith.  Of course, the same is true for the Nativity of our Lord, Christmas.  From the earliest times of the Church, the great and most celebrated holiday was Easter, the commemoration and celebration of Resurrection.  Christmas has been built up into the major holiday it is to a great extent by advertising and sales. We're all encouraged to give, but the hastening of so many things to prepare, to buy, to fix, to show, and all that goes with it, often seems to miss the entire point of the festival and the season.  The little family in Bethlehem, taking refuge in a cave used for farm animals, should serve to remind us that love, joy, grace, and God's glory in the message of the angels are in the midst of all of it, and this is in contrast to the anxieties that are stoked in the ways we celebrate.  It's also in tremendous contrast to the sense of competition and comparison it seems to create.  Many people are lonelier than ever at this time, or perhaps feeling want in the face of all the celebration that others seem to be doing.  With our social media what it is now, this is ever-increasing as studies confirm.  So let us remember, as we go into this "quiet time" toward winter that we need our Sabbath as does the earth and all of creation; and we need to remember God.  Remember the good growth Christ urges us toward, and what we need for the kind of persons He calls us to be, for nurturing that in ourselves and in our families, friends, communities.  Remember anything we have to be grateful for and give thanks to God, remember Christ the infant who would give Himself for the life of the world.   Let us put aside time for the things which are most necessary, so that we may grow into the "good trees" bearing the good fruits Christ desires.  Let us set aside time for the things which are most important and needful of all, and order our priorities His way.  For righteousness is about good order, right relations to ourselves and all else as Christ would order them.  Let us make time for the good seed He sows in us.

 

 

 

 

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 

 

On Saturday, we read that Jesus taught another parable to the crowds, 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 Jesus is explaining the parable taught in Friday's reading, as the disciples request in private to "explain to us the parable of the tares of the field."  It's important to understand that tares are a type of plant that resembles wheat, but is considered a weed that is indigestible for human beings.  This parable of the tares of the field is one Jesus told immediately following the parable of the Sower, and it builds upon that parable.  The attention here is focused on the enemy who has sown his seed among the seed of Christ.  My study Bible comments that, as falsehood came after truth and false prophets came after the true prophets, so the Antichrist will come after Christ.  In the similarity of the weeds (tares) and wheat, we see how lies, falsehoods, and half-truths can bear resemblance to truth.  Those who follow become sons of the wicked one through participation and living the life of the falsehoods, just as sons of the kingdom are those who live the life of His word.

Clearly, this parable of the "tares of the field" is a parable of judgment, and it expresses Christ's pronouncement and prophecy of a judgment to come.  We should remember that Jesus taught in the original parable that both wheat and tares should grow together, so as not to uproot any of the "good seed" -- and that both should grow together until the time of the harvest has come.  So, clearly, the harvest is the time of judgment, at the end of the age.  Many people today seemingly reject notions of judgment, but that's not what Christ is teaching here -- and He's being very clear about it.  One thing we can be certain of is that this time of the harvest (the time of judgment) will come at the end of this age.  We simply have idea when that is.  In fact, when questioned about it, Jesus refused to give fodder to speculate.  See Matthew 24:36-44.   The only things He did tell His disciples (and therefore the Church) is that "of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only," and that "the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect."  Moreover, what we can come to understand as well is that there seem to be two kinds of time in the picture that we're given of worldly life and heavenly life.  Here in this world, we follow a linear kind of experience of time.  But the time of the life after this one seems to be different, and so the rules about change and the experience of whatever that life is like are different.  Moreover, Christ has said that that next life offers a complete transformation of life.  When quizzed by the Sadducees regarding a woman married successively to seven brothers (Matthew 22:23-33), Jesus responded:  "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven. But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living."  So, from Christ's words, we may conclude that a complete transformation of life takes place, and also that time is experienced differently, as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob all live to God, although their lives did not overlap in worldly time.  We simply cannot calculate the complete understanding of what kind of changes these mean for us, nor how judgment is enacted considering such things.  What we do now is that what we choose in our worldly lives -- and whether or not we pay attention to Christ's words and seek to live by them -- does make a difference.  We're repeatedly told in different places in the Scriptures that our compassion and capacity for mercy makes a great deal of difference to our ultimate disposition and the judgment at the end of the age (for example, Matthew 25:31-46; Luke 16:19-31).  From Christ's teaching today, we may conclude that we grow spiritually, in some sense, like plants grow -- and it depends upon the seeds from which we grow.  In the parable of the Sower, Jesus emphasized what kind of soil His word can take root in, and grow and produce spiritual fruits.  Here, to be either sons of the kingdom or sons of the wicked one depends on what we choose to grow upon and cultivate; without the seed of Christ, people commit things that offend, and practice lawlessness.  Ultimately these will result in judgment.  There is a clear distinguishing here between what is cast into the furnace of fire, and the righteous who shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.  But of that time we don't know, and we are all given the time of our lives to repent, to turn around and follow Him.  Let us at least take this parable, and His certain warnings about judgment, seriously while we live in the world.  

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, let him hear!"

 

- Matthew 13:36-43 

 

In chapter 13 of Matthew's Gospel, Jesus has introduced parables in His preaching to the multitudes (beginning with the reading from Tuesday last week).  He taught the parable of the Sower, then gave an explanation for why He speaks in parables to the disciples, as well as an explanation of the parable of the Sower.  Then He taught the parable of the Wheat and the Tares.  On Saturday, Jesus taught the parables of the Mustard Seed and the Leaven, 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 of 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, let him hear!"  In the reading from Friday, we reported my study Bible's lengthy note on this parable.  One thing we can note clearly about this parable is the way Jesus refers to seeds as that which produce the ultimate fruits that identify what kind of plant grows.  That is, since He explains this as a parable about human beings, we understand sons here to refer to the children, or fruits, that spring from the seed.  What that implies for each one of us is that whichever kind of "seed" we allow to be planted within ourselves (that is, in Scriptural language, the ground of the heart), what is produced for us becomes identity.  If the "bad seed" is implanted in ourselves, we grow to become sons of the wicked one, in Jesus' language.  The good seeds of the Son of Man grow sons of the kingdom.  We are ultimately malleable, in Jesus' imagery, and what we take in determines who we become.  Let us be aware that the language implies inheritance, and those who are members of a particular house:  sons is meant for all of us, of any gender, as it gives us a sense of identity or name of a house to which we belong and which we carry with ourselves.  The idea of identity is similar to what we find in the teaching of St. Paul on sexual immorality.  Just as Jesus says here that the seed we take in and harbor determines whether we are sons of the kingdom or sons of the wicked one, so St. Paul teaches that with what or whom we associate in the body also creates identity for us (see 1 Corinthians 6:12-20).   In this context, we must recognize that we are united with Christ in Baptism.  So there is a sense of the plasticity or malleability of identity that is important in these teachings.  Our identity is not rooted in some permanent sort of fixture that never changes, and neither should our sense of inheritance be so either.  The Gospels stress repeatedly that it is not enough to be descended from illustrious forbears to take on the identity of those righteous people; what is essential is that we be like them, we do as they did.  Using similar imagery from agriculture, John the Baptist preached to the multitudes:  "Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."  In our modern lives there is a great deal of emphasis and interest in ancestry and genetic codes.  This gives us a type of orientation that would seem to imply that identity is not malleable or changeable, but fixed.  But in the viewpoint of Scripture, even the body is subject to that with which we interact, the things with which we choose to feed ourselves, whether we speak of something physical, emotional, spiritual, mental.  We need to understand that what we choose to dwell upon or spend time upon can become a part of identity, forming and shaping the self.  What we choose to admire or idolize makes a difference.  Let us take seriously this repeated understanding that we grow to be "like" that with which we feed ourselves, what we take in and focus on, and consider how a garden or farm needs constant work, pruning, uprooting of what we don't want, and vigilance to remain in its most beautiful and healthy state.  

 

 

 

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 

 

In chapter 13, Jesus has begun to speak to the multitudes in parables.  He began with the parable of the Sower.   Then the disciples asked Him why He speaks in parables, and He explained His use of parables to them.  Finally, in yesterday's reading, He explained to the disciples meaning of the parable of the Sower.  He taught them,  "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."'"  This is called the parable of the Wheat and the Tares.  It builds on the previous parable of the Sower (see above).  Tares are a kind of weed that resembles wheat.  My study Bible comments that here Christ gives attention to the enemy who has sown his seed among the seed of Christ.  As falsehood came after truth and false prophets came after the true prophets, my study Bible says, so the Antichrist will come after Christ.  Just as the weeds first appear to be similar to the wheat, so the devil fashions his lies to resemble the truth.  That the devil sows while men slept indicates that heresy and lies creep in when people are apathetic.  The 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 people who might ultimately find salvation would otherwise be lost if condemned before Christ's judgment.  

Let's note that Jesus prefaces His parable (and subsequent parables) with "The kingdom of heaven is like . . .."   He's indicating that He is teaching about the reality of the Kingdom He brings into the world, and what we read in the Gospels is, in fact, the gospel of the kingdom of heaven.  That is, it is the great announcement to the world about the reality of this Kingdom that He brings.  The word translated as "gospel" was already in use long before it was used for the message of Jesus.  "Gospels" or εὐαγγέλια/evangelia in the Greek were announcements made about kingdoms in the worldly sense, such as the announcement of Caesar, what great military victories he had, and what great things he would do for the world.  So this announcement is about another Kingdom, the kingdom of heaven, and what that kingdom is like, what it will bring into the world and to its nominal members.  In today's reading, Jesus teaches us about the good crop, and the seed sown by an enemy.  My study Bible offers two different perspectives on this parable, as the Church and her theologians have come to view and to understand various meanings.  One thing is clear, that the distinction between these two types of fruit or crop is hard for human beings to make.  The tares only are truly understood in their effects:  a weed which is not good for human consumption.  In this sense, we can compare it, as my study Bible does, to word and truth that Christ teaches; heresy (as the most effective and misleading lies do) resembles truth in some sense.  Often something that sounds good turns out to be anything but.  We need the experience of spiritual understanding to comprehend the difference.  My study Bible points out that Jesus says the seed of the enemy was sown "while men slept" -- that is, when we are apathetic or not paying attention.  Sometimes we're taught not to pay attention, because it's more convenient.  An acceptable lie doesn't seem to make waves, when the truth just might ask us for something different, or demand our attention in ways that are uncomfortable.  What is clear from the parable is the difficulty of sorting the false from the true, and how the false resembles the true, but is actually sown by an enemy, one with bad intent.  But clearly true judgment comes at the time of the harvest, a metaphor for the judgment that is to come.  If we understand "seed" to be the word (as expressed in the parable of the Sower), then we also might come to understand that the spiritual fruits we produce depends upon what kind of seed is sown in the heart, and takes root within ourselves.  Thus our own diligence becomes more significant; that is, our wakefulness and alertness to what is true and what is false, our own concern as opposed to apathy.  Let us notice how Jesus' parable illustrates at once a principle of tolerance and also of discernment.  The weeds and wheat will grow together until the time of the harvest, so as not to disturb the good wheat.  At that time it will be the job of the reapers to separate them.  But it is up to us to understand the parable and develop a watchfulness about what is actually harmful, but looks like good wheat.  Elsewhere Jesus has taught us that we shall know "by their fruits" (Matthew 7:15-20).   Let us learn from His teaching.

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.

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

In yesterday's reading, Jesus explained to His disciples the parable of the Sower (given in Tuesday's reading).   He 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."'"  My study bible says that this parable builds on the previous parable of the sower (see Tuesday's reading).   The focus here is on the enemy who has sown his seed among the seed of Christ.  As falsehood came after truth and false prophets came after the true prophets (see Jesus' warning at 7:15-20), so the Antichrist will come after Christ.  Just as the weeds first appear similar to wheat, so the devil fashions his lies to resemble the truth.  As the devil sows while men slept, we are to understand that heresy and lies creep in when people are apathetic.  It gives us an important example, also, why the Church does not condemn nominal members, nor does it judge those who are outside the Church (1 Corinthians 5:12-13).  As wheat would be destroyed in weeding out the tares, so also, many people who may ultimately find salvation would otherwise be lost if they were condemned before Christ's judgment.

In the parable of the Sower, Jesus indicated the presence of the wicked one, who comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart.  Here, my study bible says, in this next parable that He gives, He emphasizes the work of the enemy, the wicked one.  The significant thing to notice here is the emphasis on truth, the truth that is in the word that is sown.  Tares are plants that resemble the wheat, but don't produce the grain that nourishes people.  The resemblance is meaningful, because this is the way that falsehood works.   In this description found here in the parable, Jesus teaches us that the difference between truth and falsehood -- and even goodness and evil -- isn't often a glaring and obvious contrast.  Rather, the parable teaches that truth and falsehood closely resemble one another.  Unless one is alert and aware, telling them apart is something we won't be able to do.  Again, as my study bible pointed out, we notice that the tares were sown by the enemy while men slept.  As we learn frequently throughout our lives, what sounds good doesn't always turn out to be so.  It's important to think about this parable in the context of the history of the Church that was to follow in the centuries after Christ, and the many universal Councils that were held to decide matters of doctrine and heresy.  Those were attended by hundreds of bishops; no matter of truth was insignificant.  To modern ears, many times the issues of heresy that were discussed at these Councils can seem to be details or even irrelevant, but that is also a falsehood.  Those "details" make all the difference in terms of what our faith means for us, and how salvation works in us.  While we may think of the wicked one, or of evil itself as something glaring and horrible, completely noticeable to everyone, we delude ourselves with a false assurance that we would know it when we see it.  In Jesus' parable, the wicked one comes while we're sleeping, not in obvious ways.  The tares resemble the wheat, and furthermore they are sown so closely within the field that it is impossible to separate them without damaging the wheat.  The subtlety of this process is exceptionally remarkable, something we are meant to notice and be well aware of.  What is false is not necessarily easy to spot.  It creeps in while we sleep, or are unaware.  The falsehoods produced really closely resemble the good things we need for nurturing and for life.  This isn't an easy task to discern the difference.  Nor are the tares going to be removed; instead truth and falsehood live side by side, intermingled in our lives.  If we're looking for evil, we won't find it in obvious ways.  Instead, Jesus teaches us throughout the Gospel -- and especially as the time of His ministry comes ever closer to the Crucifixion -- that our work as good servants is to be awake, alert, ready for His Return.  We are always to be vigilant about doing the things that we know He wants us to be doing, the work of good servants.  We're to be mindful at all times of Who we serve and what that means we live in our lives, our awareness of Him should accompany all our choices.  We will be distracted by all the tares that are always with us until the harvest.  Let us remember how we are to focus, and keep His word in mind at all times.

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

 In yesterday's reading, Jesus gave more parables to the crowds. (Chapter 13 of Matthew's Gospel introduces us to Jesus' use of parables, beginning with the parable of the Sower, and then the Wheat the Tares).  Jesus 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!"  Just as with the parable of the Sower, Jesus explains in private to His disciples the parable of the tares of the field (also called the Wheat and the Tares, and given in Thursday's reading).  Jesus explains in terms of Judgment, and the end of the age.  If we look closely at the timeline of the Gospel, we see Jesus' teachings giving us a picture of how His kingdom works since the time it became clear that He will be rejected by the religious leadership.  His Kingdom is one in which we are united in faith; not by nation or people or ancestry.  He has taught that "whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother," giving spiritual kinship as definition of real community.  Here, He teaches about the "weeds and the tares" growing together:  those who belong to this community and those who do not, and are in fact 'sown by the enemy' -- those who are "sons" of the one who works against this kingdom.  In our present state, all grow together.  Jesus has taken pains in the parable to say that to root up one may be to root up the other, and my study bible has commented that the Church does not condemn its nominal members nor judges those outside the Church for this reason:  Judgment belongs to God, and comes at the end of the age -- that is, beyond the time in which we now live.  His teachings give us the picture of community and kinship, but also what constitutes "outside" status and yet resembles the "insiders" and how all live together in the present time.

Judgment becomes important at this stage of Jesus' ministry, because it is clear how He is going to be rejected.  There will be those who follow in faith, and those who do not.  This is the state of our world, and the time in which we currently live -- a time initiated by His ministry and Incarnation in the world.  It is a picture in which distinctions remain somewhat hidden and blurry:  heresy and sophistry resemble spiritual truth, just as the tares are a wild plant that resemble the wheat in the parable.  His parable gives us a picture not only of the world in which we live, in which spiritual struggle is taking place behind the scenes of what we see and know, but also tells us that we bear a kind of responsibility for our part in this struggle.  That responsibility becomes a focus on our own inner life of guarding the heart, searching for truth, knowing ourselves, and also a focus on growth and awareness.  Clearly, responsibility for Judgment is in God's hands, and comes at the end of the age.  So our focus has to be on being good stewards and disciples, bearing the good fruit that features in so much of His teaching in recent readings.  In His examples in yesterday's reading -- of the mustard seed that grows into a large tree, and the leaven that works its way into the whole of the meal -- Jesus gives us pictures of what that growth and that work of faith is really like.  He teaches us about the workings of the Kingdom within us and among us.  He gives us a picture of the "world" He is introducing, the ways of the Kingdom, and how we must understand ourselves in the world if we are to follow in His faith.  Heresy will be among us, sophistry will proliferate and filter into our lives.  But our job is the job of faith, the work of faith, and it becomes up to us to learn what that is from what He teaches.  This is the picture He's given us in His ministry, and we go forward to learn more from Him through the Gospel and our future readings.  The parables give us truth couched in riddles, so to speak, in images from every day life, and it's up to us to desire what they hold for our understanding -- just as the disciples ask Him to explain.  The world works in a way similar to the parables:  hidden in our daily life is the struggle for spiritual truth, for hearts and minds.  If we pay attention, we take that seriously, for that is the working of our faith within us, the struggle He invites us into.   The fire that burns or illuminates is the same fire.  When Jesus teaches, "Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father," He is both expressing that illumination, and also a time of revelation, when the truth that has been hidden but present all along becomes manifest and clear to all.  "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"