Today was parable day as I followed Jesus into Matthew 13.  To be honest, parables are like riddles, and while I rock at puzzles, riddles make my head hurt.  Fortunately, the disciples were also riddle challenged, so Jesus explained His parables to them. I found the one about the wheat and tares particularly interesting today, so naturally, it becomes fodder for my blog.

In Matthew 13:24-30 Jesus gives the parable of the wheat and tares. Then in verses 36-43 He explains the parable. Let’s discuss, shall we?

In the parable, a man sowed good seed into his field, and then an enemy came in, unseen, and sowed weeds among the wheat seeds. When the wheat began to sprout, so did the weeds. So the servants asked the field owner if they should go into the field and pull up the weeds. The owner said no, let them both grow together, because if you try to pull up the weeds, you might pull up some of the wheat too. At harvest time, my reapers will gather the weeds and burn them, and then they will gather my wheat and bring it into my barn.

Jesus then explained that He represents the man who sowed the seed. The field is the earth, and the seed He sowed are Christians (sons of the Kingdom). The weeds are the sons of the wicked one, sown by Satan. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.

So, I need to process this, and by process, I don’t mean create doctrine. I mostly mean speculate.

I am God’s good seed, and He has sown me into the world. I am where I am because He has planted me here. At the end of the age, I will be part of His great harvest, but I was not planted alone. I am planted with other seed like me, and together we are the harvest. My purpose is the same as theirs…to bring forth a crop…to bear Him fruit.

But the wheat is not alone. As it turns out, the earth is not just a wheat field. Not yet. The enemy has planted his own sons in the same field with the son’s of God, and it is God’s intention to leave them there, for now. Until harvest time. In the meantime, what does the wheat do about all these weeds?

Wheat and weeds, growing closely together. And by God’s own intention, the weeds are not to be gathered out of the field, because of the possibility of pulling up wheat. Could it be that sometimes wheat can look like a weed? If so, God clearly doesn’t want that ‘weedy looking wheat’ accidently pulled up with the weeds…which means God still considers it wheat, even if it looks like a weed. But I’m just speculating. Then again, if I’m wrong, what do we do about Peter? Remember him? Denied Christ three times. Was he wheat that became a weed and then turned back into wheat? Or was he wheat that looked suspiciously like a weed for awhile… wheat that Jesus prayed for.

I think sometimes, wheat is afraid of weeds. So they attempt to carve out a section of the field that is “weed free”. They don’t associate with weeds, won’t work in the same place that weeds work, won’t go to school with weeds, and can be heard treating the weeds with great contempt, despising them because they aren’t wheat. Wheat can become very distracted from their purpose (bringing forth fruit) because they are so busy watching and chastising the weeds. For being weeds.

I think wheat acts like that somtimes because it’s forgetful. That’s all. The wheat has simply forgotten.

“Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.” Colossians 1:21

Wheat forgets that it was once a weed.

I think my speculating might make me a little unpopular. At least with the wheat. Especially the forgetful ones.