The Messy Kingdom Mixture
Matthew • Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 56 viewsFaith in Jesus requires patient endurance because until he returns to set all things right, we will have a messy mixture of belief and unbelief in his kingdom.
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ”
He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ”
Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. 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. He who has ears, let him hear.
and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. 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. He who has ears, let him hear.
MT13.36-
MT13.36-
MATT13.
Introduction
Introduction
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” is one of the most well known documents coming out of the Civil Rights Era. I’d known about that letter pretty much for my whole life, but it wasn’t until I was grown that I paid attention to the fact that it was King’s response to a letter written by some Alabama clergymen on April 12, 1963. Their letter was a joint statement expressing their concern over a series of demonstrations by their Negro citizens which were directed by “outsiders.” They wanted to strongly urge their own Negro citizens to withdraw from supporting these demonstrations, and to “unite locally in working peacefully for a better Birmingham.” In the statement they said,
We recognize the natural impatience of people who feel that their hopes are slow in being realized. But we are convinced that these demonstrations are unwise and untimely.
In reply to their concern over the untimeliness of the demonstrations, Dr. King said,
Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct-action campaign that was “well-timed” in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard the word “Wait!” It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This “Wait” has almost always meant “Never.” We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that “justice too long delayed is justice denied.
“…[W]hen you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a Negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite knowing what to expect next, and are plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of “nobodiness” – then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait. There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair. I hope, sirs, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience.
“I hope you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience.” “Justice too long delayed is justice denied.” A constant cry of the Civil Rights Movement was, “What do want? Justice! When do we want it? Now?” Bearing under the weight of an intolerable situation for too long seems impossible. There comes a time when the “cup of endurance runs over.” With not quite the eloquence of Dr. King, Popeye the Sailorman would say, “That’s all I can stands, I can’t stands no more!”
We are almost 55 years removed from the writing of that letter, but we hear those words and they resonate. Not simply because of King’s eloquence, but because we know ourselves how hard it is to wait for something of immeasurable value. And I’m not talking about material things. You can’t put a price on justice. In many respects you can’t put a price on physical health. You can’t put a price on peace of mind. And when those things are lacking, it’s hard to exhibit the fruit of the Spirit called patience. It’s hard to wait. Yet, the nature of the kingdom of God is that there is a present reality and there is a future glory. In other words, there is an already and there is a not yet. And God calls us to live in his kingdom right now with that future glory in mind. Because of this reality those who commit their lives to following Jesus Christ will regularly look like fools in the eyes of those who don’t. In our text today, Jesus focuses on the nature of God’s kingdom right now in real life. And he explains it as a messy, unavoidable mixture of belief and unbelief. He knows that having to deal with evil is tiring—evil that is done by others, and evil that still comes out of ourselves—it makes you tired and impatient for things to get better and stay better. Yet, at the very same time he implies the necessity of patient endurance for those who would follow him. Here is my favorite definition of the kingdom of God. I’m giving it to you because we see it worked out in this parable.
Vos – “To Jesus the Kingdom exists not merely where God is supreme, for that is always and everywhere true, but where God supernaturally carries through his supremacy against all opposite powers and brings man to the willing recognition of this.”
In this parable Jesus explains how the kingdom of heaven can be present in the world while not yet wiping out all opposition. From this text I want to discuss three things. I want to share with you what Jesus says about the King, the Enemy, and the Kingdom.
The King
The King
Every kingdom has a king. And in the kingdom of God, or the kingdom of heaven as Matthew prefers, the King is God. And look at the identity of the King in this parable. This chapter in Matthew’s gospel is full of kingdom parables. The parable we’re looking at is the second one in this chapter, and Matthew says in v. 24 that Jesus put another parable before them, saying, “the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field.” Down in v. 27, this man is called the master of the house. And then when Jesus and his disciples go away from the crowds and into the house, in v.36, the disciples say to Jesus, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” The first thing that Jesus does in his explanation is identify who the master is. He says in v.37, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.” I’m the Sower of the good seed. I’m the master of the house. “The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom.” Not only am I the master, the field I’m talking about is not some little plot of land somewhere, but the field that I own is the whole world. I am Lord and Sovereign, not just over the church, but over the whole world. And because the world belongs to me, I have the authority and the power to plant good seed in it.
This is an obvious point. All you’ve got to do is read the text, and you’ll see that clearly. Here’s why I point it out though. Because Jesus is the King, the work that the devil is doing in this parable doesn’t surprise him or discourage him. The enemy’s work surprises and discourages his people. Jesus said a man sowed good seed in his field. But then, in v. 25,
but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’
while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ ()
When the servants see the weeds grow up with the wheat, they ask the master, “Where did these weeds come from?” How did this happen? Do you want us to go gather these weeds? Did you notice, in v. 36, when the disciples asked Jesus to explain the parable to them, they didn’t say, “Explain to us the parable of the wheat and the weeds in the field.” They said, “Explain the parable of the weeds in the field.” On their minds was the presence of the weeds and what it meant. In the explanation Jesus says down in vv.38-9 that the weeds are the sons of the evil one and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. Even though y’all were sleeping when he did his work, I know him, and while he thinks that he’s thrown me off course, the existence of weeds and wheat together in my field for a time is a part of my plan. So, I will continue to plant children of the kingdom in the world until it is the harvest time.
At that time, he says in v.41-3, “The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all lawbreakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace…Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” Does the kingdom belong to the Son or to the Father? The answer is “yes.” Because Jesus Christ is equal in power and authority with God the Father, he can describe the kingdom as belonging to him and belonging to the Father.
So, whether we like it or not, Jesus is the King of the world. And that means every creature in the world and every institution in the world owes allegiance to Jesus Christ. There is nothing in this whole world that is irrelevant to the kingdom. There is nothing that falls outside of his authority. Nothing in the world that the king doesn't care about. You owe your allegiance to Jesus. Your company owes its allegiance to Jesus. Your business owes its allegiance to Jesus. Our government owes its allegiance to Jesus. I know the church isn’t the state, and the state isn’t the church. They have different roles and responsibilities, but they don’t have different masters. Jesus is King and Lord over both. We’re good at separating. We’re good at separating religious life from work life, from our community life, from our social life, from our family life, from our recreational life. We try to make the realm of religion and faith only private and personal. However, Jesus doesn’t give us the option of sitting on that fence.
The only option is to say he’s not King, and that means he’s a liar. It’s clear from this parable that there’s no middle ground.
The Enemy
The Enemy
Even so, life now in his kingdom is messy because of the enemy’s work. The enemy’s work doesn’t surprise Jesus in this parable, but it does surprise his people. And I know that not everyone will believe this truth. There was a time in my life when I didn’t believe it. But the enemy is real. The devil is real. This is the second kingdom parable in this chapter, and this is the second time Jesus talks about the enemy, the devil, in describing what the kingdom of God is like. The first parable was about the sower and the seed. In that parable, Jesus says in vv. 3-4 of this chapter, a sower went out to sow, and some seeds fell along the path and birds came and devoured them. When he explained that parable to his disciples, he tells them in v. 19,
When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path.
“When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path.”
Part of the point he is making is that every time the message of the kingdom is preached, every time the gospel is preached, there is spiritual activity. Just like the King is actively planting good seed, the evil one is actively working to encourage unbelief by snatching the word from those who refuse to believe. (He who has ears...)
So now, in this parable the devil appears again. This time Jesus describe him as the chief enemy of God and good. Make no mistake about it, the devil is real. And he’s actively at work encouraging hostility and wickedness in the world and in the church. Just because it may be difficult for our sophisticated American ears to hear and believe, doesn’t mean it’s not true.
In v.28, after the servants ask about the weeds, the master says, “An enemy has done this.” The word translated here as “enemy” is two words in the Greek text. The literal translation is, “a hostile man.” This enemy of the kingdom is not friendly at all. He is hostile by nature, and seeks to steal, kill and destroy. He is a liar and a deceiver. He tries to do his work under the cover of darkness. Jesus said he came at night while people were asleep and not looking, and he planted weeds among the wheat.
The reality of the enemy and his work is not new. It began way back in when Adam and Eve fell into sin. From that time forward he has been at work planting weeds. The theme of the first book Genesis is, “God’s promise to establish his kingdom through his grace that overcomes human sin.” Genesis was about the kingdom of God. And in , when God pronounces his curse on the devil he says,
“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel.”
What Jesus says about the evil one sowing weeds in the world is not new. Satan started sowing seeds in Genesis. Here’s the thing though. We might miss how crafty the enemy is if we’re not paying attention. Yes he comes at night and plants weed seeds among the wheat seeds. But this is a specific weed that Jesus is talking about here. This weed is a plant that looks like wheat as it grows. That’s why the master’s workers are so surprised. The weed and the wheat grow up together looking the same. You can’t tell the difference until they begin to sprout, until they begin to bear their fruit. The wheat plants produce wheat, and the weeds produce nothing. That’s why Jesus says in v. 26 that when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. Before that, you couldn’t tell the difference.
The difficulty for Jesus’ disciples, who would not have questioned the existence of the devil, was, now that the Messiah has come, now that the King is here, how is it that he hasn’t done away with the enemy and put an end to all evil? This is always the question that those who follow Jesus have to struggle with. And Jesus’s lesson in this parable is that it’s not that simple. I have a plan that might not make sense to you, but is ultimately for the benefit of my people. We have that same impatience with evil, and want things to get better soon. We see gun violence and gang violence. We see people at war and nations at war. We’re tired of such overt evil. But I need you to notice this please. Jesus talks here about a more subtle form of evil. He’s talking about weeds that look like wheat.
This isn’t like what you read in a passage like . God calls Jeremiah as his prophet, his messenger, his mouthpiece. He tells Jeremiah, “I’m going to give you some hard things to say. It’s going to be rough for you. They’re going to wage war against you, but don’t be afraid because I’m with you to deliver you.” There are times when Jesus talks like that to his followers. He tells his disciples in ,
“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
MATT5.11
“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
But that’s not the kind of evil resistance that Jesus is describing here. He’s talking about undercover evil. People who look like they’re children of the kingdom, but they’re not. They’re really doing the enemy’s work. I can say this…but there is a particular place in the here and now where you find weeds that look like wheat. It’s in the church…
“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” But that’s not the kind of evil resistance that Jesus is describing here. He’s talking about undercover evil. People who look like they’re children of the kingdom, but they’re not. They’re really doing the enemy’s work. I can say this…but there is a particular place in the here and now where you find weeds that look like wheat. It’s in the church…
When they ask him in v. 28 whether he wants them to go and gather them. He says in v. 29, “No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them.” The roots of the weeds would intertwine with the roots of wheat plant underground. So, there couldn’t be a separation until harvest time. There will be a harvest time, but life in God’s kingdom right now is messy not just because of all the overt mess, but because he’s allowing weeds that look like wheat to remain. And he’s allowing the weeds that look like wheat to remain in the church!
The Kingdom
The Kingdom
Why would he do that? Why would the King let the enemy plant weeds in his kingdom? Why would he let that hostile man plant in that portion of his kingdom that’s supposed to be committed to him, the church? Why would he let the enemy mess with the church?
We’ve talked about the King. We’ve talked about the Enemy. Let’s look at the kingdom. Yes, the kingdom that Jesus describes is not just the church, it is the entire world. And he is the King. What’s more is that he’s the eternal king. He’s on the throne right now. He’s reigning right now. What had escaped the disciples was the “already/not yet” aspect of the kingdom of God, the “right now,” vs. “future glory” aspect of the kingdom. What had escaped the disciples was the need wait; the need to live right now, pursuing righteousness and justice, pursuing reconciliation and peace with patient endurance. They missed it because they misunderstood the nature of life in the kingdom.
Do you remember when the devil tempted Jesus in the wilderness? Back in , Matthew tells us about the last temptation. Satan took Jesus to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. The devil said, “All these I’ll give you if you bow down and worship me.” What was the offer? It was, “Get all the glory without any struggle. Get kingdom glory without wrestling with and overcoming evil.” But, of course, Jesus would not take possession of what was rightfully his without going through trial, suffering, death, and resurrection. Thus, his people (the sons of the kingdom), don't get to that future glory without the same resistance of evil by the power that he supplies. The harvest, Jesus says in v, 39, is the end of the age. What are the very last words at the end of Matthew’s gospel? It’s Jesus, saying to his disciples after his resurrection, “I am with you always, to the end of the age.” You press forward, following me, making disciples in the messy mixture of weeds and wheat. You’re not going to be able to root out all the weeds. Don’t worry about that. Just know that I’m with you in the middle of it.
Jesus has to explain to them and to us what the kingdom of God is like because it is not what they expected. The disciples impatiently wondered, “how is it possible for the kingdom to have come without at the same making a separation between the wicked and the good?” Jesus says, “That time of ultimate separation will come. I will indeed remove every cause of sin and every law-breaker from my kingdom. So, those who reject me should not somehow think that they are off the hook. Harvest time is coming, and justice will be applied to those who reject me. And that justice is nothing short of eternal punishment, the fiery furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And for those who have rejected self-righteousness for my righteousness will at that time so reflect the glory of God that they will shine forth like the sun.
But until then, patient endurance is required because Jesus is still at work sowing good seed in his kingdom. That’s the point. The harvest time has not yet come because Jesus is busy planting the gospel into the hearts of men, women, boys, and girls all over the world and bringing them into the kingdom to the glory of God. And harvest time will not come until he is finished bringing every son and daughter that he has chosen into his kingdom.”
So what does this mean for us? Let me leave you with two implications for us right here today.
The wheat and the weeds are growing together and look alike. They couldn’t tell the difference until they saw the fruit. It’s not popular, but the Bible always calls us to self-examination. This is the “sobering warning” part of the text. The King, because he is God, knows the hearts of all people and knows all those who belong to him. And every person has the responsibility to examine themselves as to whether they are in the faith. When the apostle Paul speaks to the Corinthians about the Lord’s Supper he says in , “Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink the cup.” In he says, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realized this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? – unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” The examination is not a checklist of rules that I’ve followed. It is an examination of my trusting in Christ and the change He brings because of that trust (faith, repentance, love for God and neighbor). And the point of the self-examination is the assurance of faith.
A second implication is the question posed by Hendrickson in his commentary,
“Let him take to heart the meaning of the parable, not only by being attentive, patient, hopeful, and trusting, but also by examining himself, and this to ask not only, ‘am I represented by the wheat, or by the tares?’ but also, “Have I, in my impatience, forgotten to ‘let both grow together until the harvest,’ or am I willing to await patiently the decision of the Son of Man at harvest-time?”
As people, organizations, governments, groups, etc, blatantly disregard or operate in direct opposition to the word of God, Christians get angry and frustrated. And rightly so. I ought not be satisfied to just accept first my own sin, then the sin around me. There’s a problem if I take a “oh well” attitude toward the craziness of this world. It’s not OK to reject Christ. It’s not OK to disregard the law of God. But if this already/not yet nature of the kingdom teaches us anything it is the reality of enduring faithfully in a world that will not acknowledge the kingdom that has come in Jesus Christ.
Not only that, but as we serve the Lord wherever we are, when the actions of others offend us or when we find ourselves suffering for the faith because the wheat and the weeds are still mixed together, we learn from this text that there is one true enemy and it is not those who offend us or cause us to suffer. What this means is that the patient endurance that we’re called to is expressed, at least in part, by our patience toward and forgiveness of others. You see, the children of the kingdom are not the reapers. They're not the ones who'll be gathering the weeds. That's the angels' job. The children of the kingdom's job is to live by faith in the King. Not kill the enemy or his seed.
Here’s what understanding the messy kingdom mixture can do. Knowing that there is a future glory when the children of the kingdom will shine forth like the sun, knowing that the person causing my suffering is not the ultimate enemy, knowing that from a kingdom perspective justice delayed is never justice denied because the reason for the delay is that King is still sowing good seed…the Lord uses these truths to give us the great grace and patience needed to serve and love even those who stand against us while we wait for the glory to come.