“Weeds, Seeds, and Leaven”
(Matthew 13:24-43)
The Greenhouse ~ 7th Sunday after Trinity
Last week we explored the parable of the soils and Jesus’ interpretation of the parable. So, too, this week we encounter a farming parable with an explanation. In last week’s passage (Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23), Jesus said the seed was the word of the kingdom, and the various soils on which the seed fell reflected the persons who heard this word. Three poor soils could not bear fruit from this kingdom seed; three good soils heard the word and understood it, thereby bearing good fruit.
In Matthew 13:24-30, however, Jesus tells a parable in which the world is the soil, and the seeds themselves are either good or bad. The good seeds are those who belong to Jesus and produce good fruit. The bad seeds are those sown by the Evil One that produce weeds.
Jesus’ explanation, as we read aloud a moment ago, tells us much of what we initially need to know about its interpretation. We learn who the sowers are, what the seeds are, what their fruit is, who the harvesters are, and what the outcome of each “fruit” will be. On the surface, the message is a fairly straightforward message of judgment on a day to come in the future. The good fruit will be sorted from the bad fruit, that is, the children of the kingdom and the children of the devil will be sorted, and the children of the devil will be destroyed, while the children of the kingdom will shine like the sun.
Although the message in this case is straightforward, the two seeds/children that live alongside one another in the present age have been the subject of significant reflection throughout the history of the Church. The most prominent contribution to this discussion comes from Augustine’s City of God, in which he considers the two different kingdoms, the kingdom of God and the kingdom of man, that live alongside each other in this age. Augustine’s massive work explores the ways in which Christians live faithfully as kingdom citizens while simultaneously living in the kingdom of man. For Augustine, the Church will always include a mix of both true kingdom children and those who are merely citizens of the kingdom of man. His conclusions mirror what appears to be the same message in this parable.
But what are we to do in the present age if not tear out the weeds? This question is much more difficult to answer, and the parable of the wheat and weeds does not seem to give much more insight beyond simply waiting for the day of judgment. Here we seem to get some help as Matthew includes Jesus’ parables of the mustard seed and the leaven between the telling of the parable of the wheat and weeds in verses 24-30 and its explanation in verses 36-43.
After the parable of the weeds, Jesus next tells the parable of the mustard seed. Once again, we have a seed sown in a field. The parable of the soils saw the seed as the word of the kingdom, the parable of the weeds saw the seed as the children of a kingdom, and now the seed is apparently the kingdom itself. The mustard seed, the parable declares, is the smallest of all seeds, yet yields the largest fruit of the garden plants. It grows up to become a tree capable of shelter for nesting birds. Certainly, one point of emphasis in the parable is how what is sown small can grow to become large. The kingdom of heaven, this suggests, is likewise small in origin but big in impact. Although this insight is also quite evident, its relationship to the parable of the weeds is not. We will return to this in a moment.
Jesus then tells them another parable, this time a very short one. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and mixed into fifty pounds of flour until all of it was leavened.” Although flour and wheat have some connection, Jesus has moved away from the farming metaphors to one of baking. In the parable of the weeds, the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of man are wheat and weeds that are intertwined, yet distinct, and although not presently separable, will be separated at harvest time. The leaven, however, leavens all the flour. Once leaven is introduced to the flour, it cannot be separated. This seems to suggest a very different meaning than the previous two parables—not different as in contradictory, but different in such a way as to give us further insight into the kingdom. But what might the point of this parable be? Several different interpretations present as possibilities. One of the more intriguing is set forward in the early church (mid-4th C) by Hilary of Poitiers. He sees the leaven as the gospel that joins with the Law and the Prophets. He writes, “This yeast […] makes everything one, so that what the law established and the prophets proclaimed is completed by the added ingredient of the gospel.” Lending support to this claim is the relationship of the parable of the soils which sees the seed as the word of the kingdom. The gospel message of the kingdom being a seed that produces fruit would fit well with the gospel as yeast that brings to fullness of potential and purpose the flour of the Old Testament promises. Moreover, the otherwise strange interlude in verses 34-35 might make more sense if this is the proper interpretation. The parables “declare things kept secret from the foundation of the world,” suggesting that perhaps Jesus does indeed have in mind the gospel’s leavening influence on the prophecies of old.
If this is correct, then we have in these three parables messages of mixed seeds with a future separation, a seed that has exponentially large yield, and yeast that brings unity and growth but cannot be separated. On the surface, these are compatible, but quite different messages. So why does Jesus tell them together?[1] Because if we pause long enough to inspect each parable, we find an important message contained in all three: patience.
In the parable of the weeds, the wheat and weeds must be separated for the wheat to be of any use, but any attempt at separating them in the present would inevitably lead to pulling up much of the wheat from its roots, which both knowledge of farming and the parable of the soils makes clear would ruin the wheat. Instead, the farmer must wait for the harvest, watching as both grow in the present, knowing there will be a time in the future when the sifting can take place. In the parable of the mustard seed, we see the end result of a large tree, but we also know that from its origins as the smallest of seeds, the process will not happen overnight. The kingdom of God will grow from small origins to a mighty tree that provides rest for those who abide in its branches, but it again requires patience. Finally, the parable of the leaven rests likewise upon patience. For those who have made bread with yeast, they know that the leaven, once introduced and kneaded in, must have time to rise. Like a mustard seed, the leaven will grow and multiply, but it takes time.
All three parables, then, though emphasizing different aspects of the kingdom of heaven, nevertheless all make sense only in a context of waiting. And this waiting is perhaps the truest of all truths when it comes to the kingdom of heaven. When Jesus starts His public ministry, He proclaims that the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand (Mark 1:15). The kingdom has indeed been inaugurated in the life and work of Christ’s incarnation, death, resurrection, and ascension. But like these three parables, the fulness of the kingdom of God awaits a future harvest, and any attempts to hasten that process in the present, like pulling the weeds early or baking the bread before the yeast has risen, would have devastating consequences. Rather, we must learn to wait patiently for the Lord’s timing, trusting that the smallest of seeds will grow into a mighty tree if we will simply wait for God’s design to work itself out in His time.
But that’s often the challenge: His time. Sometimes we feel like God’s Word has failed. Sometimes we feel like His promises will not come to pass. But God tells us to trust and to wait. Habakkuk 2 is a beautiful example of this reality. The prophet sees the wicked triumphing and the righteous suffering, and he rightly wonders why, since this is not God’s design. God’s response: “For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay” (Hab 2:3). Habakkuk learns this lesson, eventually reaching a point where he can trust God even when the evidence is lacking.
“Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive oil fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.” (Hab 3:17-18)
God’s faithfulness has been proven over and over again, so despite the seeming evidence against it, Habakkuk learns to trust, and so should we.
God’s Word, Isaiah 55 says, will not return void, but will accomplish all which He purposes for it and succeed in all things for which He sent it. Jesus’ parables make a similar promise—the wheat and weeds will be separated, but not yet; the mustard seed will be a large tree in which the birds can abide, but not yet; the leaven will leaven the whole of the flour and provide food for the hungry, but not yet. In each case we must wait, just like the sower who plants the seed in the field and waits for the harvest. Each of these cycles are an opportunity for us to spend our lives waiting in patient expectation for God to lead us out in joy and lead us forth in peace. Amen.
Discussion Questions
Have you had any experience with farming, specifically the patience required of preparing the soil and planting the seed and then waiting for the harvest? Is this a good metaphor for the waiting experienced in the Christian life?
What are some ways we can become more patient in the Christian life? How do we wait with hope? Does the appearance of weeds threaten this hope? What do metaphorical “weeds” look like in reality?
[1]Or, why does Matthew record them together?
Photo Credits:
Feature image Photo by Wesual Click on Unsplash
Wheat image: Photo by Janosch Lino on Unsplash
Wheat Picking image: Photo by Paz Arando on Unsplash
Kneading Bread image: Photo by Pierre Bamin on Unsplash
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