Matthew 13:36-43

Matthew 13:36-43

Then after departing from the crowds He came into the house.  And His disciples came near to Him while saying, “Explain to use the parable of the undesirable seed of the field.”  And the one who answered said, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.  And the field is the created world.  And these the good seed are the sons of the kingdom.  And the undesirable seed are the sons of the evil one.  And the enemy who sowed them is the Devil.  And the harvest is the end of the age.  And the reapers are angels.  Therefore just as the undesirable seeds are being gathered together and are being burned up in the fire, similarly it will be in the completion of the age.  The Son of Man will send out His angels and they will gather together out of His kingdom all the bait for stumbling and the ones who do deeds of lawlessness and they will cast them into the furnace of fire.  In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.  The one who has an ear, hear!

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Notice once more the pattern that we see with the disciples.  Jesus teaches the crowd and the disciples are confused.  Instead of staying confused, they come to Jesus and ask what on earth He is saying.  They want to know.  They want the deeper meaning.  They are willing to hang around and question and ask.  The very thing that makes the disciple different from the crowd is that they probe for deeper meaning.  The disciples aren’t any smarter or quicker to understand.  They are willing to hang around and be discipled.  They want to give Jesus an opportunity to speak into their life.

Where in your life do you open yourself up for deeper instruction?  Where in your life do you allow others to open themselves up for deeper instruction?  How is this dynamic that we see between Jesus and His disciples mirrored in your life?

Second Thought:

One of the main points of this parable is that Jesus acknowledges that there are dark forces at work in the world.  There is an enemy sowing undesirable seed in this world.  That enemy has a name: the Devil.  In Greek, the word is diabolos (διάβολος).  This is a unique word to use here, because the word diabolos is the Greek word for “slanderer.”  It might make more sense for Jesus to use the word satan (Σατανᾶς) in this context because the word satan means adversary.  The one who sows bad seed is certainly seen as an adversary.  So why would Jesus call the one who sows the bad seed the slanderer rather than use the word for adversary?  I believe this points us to the effect of the bad seed.  The bad seed corrupts the harvest.  The bad seed pulls good nutrition from the field and forces the good seed to fight and compete for the true nutrition that it needs.  In calling the enemy the diabolos, Jesus is drawing us to look more at the effect of the work rather than the doer of the work.  Yes, The Devil is our adversary.  Yes, he is our enemy.  But his work is very dangerous to us, to our genuine relationship with God, and most importantly to other people in the world coming to know God!  It is one thing to know and be wary of the enemy.  It is another thing to also be aware of the work of the enemy so that we can be aware of it and counteract it.

What does the word slanderer mean to you?  In what ways is it accurate to call the Devil a slanderer against God and His ways?

Third Thought:

Jesus gives us a very basic understanding of judgment.  First, sin and those who rebel against God will be gathered and dealt with.  Then, those who remain will be free to shine in righteousness.  I think this is one of my favorite descriptions of heaven even though it is as short as it is.  I often feel like my own sinfulness clings around me and drags me down.  Even when I try to do my best, my sinfulness drags me down and corrupts what I try and do for God!  Sometimes I feel like my sin is a weight around me, pulling me down and restraining me.  But Jesus says that part of the judgment is going to be that the weight is removed.  Sin is going to be carted away and cleared.  Then I will be able to shine in glory.  Then I will be able to shine in the kingdom of the Father as He truly desires me to shine.  What a wonderful day that will be!

Do you ever feel like you are unable to shine as you should?  How will it feel to have the shackles of sin and lawlessness stripped away from you?

Passage for Tomorrow: Matthew 13:44-50