A journey can sometimes be an arduous thing. The voyage from point A to point B is not always painless. But that pain is nearly a guarantee when an enemy works to insure it. I always find it remarkable that folks who ascribe to atheism do so while blaming God for everything bad that happens in the world (if there was one); but fail to ever attribute any of the pain and suffering to the devil, His enemy. It is as if there is only one responsible party for anything bad, but the other guy just continues to not exist. Even in atheism, the devil continues to pull off the great deception of just never being there for anything bad. But in Christianity, this deception takes the form of “forgetfulness”? Somehow Christians think there are bad people in the world, but seem to forget they face the chief of all evil in their journey away from self. On occasion we remember there is a devil, but in general seem to think he couldn’t possibly affect “our” lives (perhaps with disease, temptation that leads to failure, or even death itself). But he does, and he remains very active as Jesus reminds us so long ago.
Imagine planning a vacation to Disney World (home of the 6ft rat 😊). But then everything that could go wrong, does go wrong. Some call that Murphy’s Law (perhaps the devil’s middle name is Murphy?). Bad coincidence is survivable, though not enjoyable. It would however not make for a great vacation to say the least. We think of our vacations as an escape from stress, not a deepening of it. But now imagine that same vacation plan you create and begin to set in motion. This time, the circumstances beyond your control are cooperating fully, but your wife is not. This time, your wife not only resents going, she is determined to make your vacation as miserable as possible. You do not just lose your wallet, she steals and hides it. You did not just forget your reservations number at the hotel, she not only stole your paperwork, she secretly cancelled the reservations without anyone knowing. This behavior is not designed to keep you from going, perhaps she is unable to do that, but it is designed to make every inch of going as hard as possible, and as miserable as possible. That, is the role the devil plays in your spiritual journey. He is unable to stop you from movement, but he is unwilling to concede a single inch without inflicting as much distraction, failure, pain, and misery as it is possible to inflict upon you along the way. And it is not the will of God, it is the will of His enemy.
So the argument emerges, why not just prevent him (Satan) from doing it – perhaps kill him to keep him from this? But then, without any kind of test, would you ever know what you “truly” believed, and how much you truly believed it? Without test, would you really know how much you trust God to save you, or would you believe you did it all yourself? And when the devil uses human agents to accomplish his goal of making your journey miserable, can you possibly consider killing the messenger who needs redemption and reconciliation as much as you do? Bad children are still children. You do not execute your two-year-old because she intentionally throws milk at you. You do not kill her because she hits her sister. These behaviors are what need to go. But your daughter remains your daughter even when her actions cause pain to others, and ultimately to you, and God. In the eye of God, “bad” people, are children He is still trying hard to redeem. And sometimes your spiritual journey is made more difficult by people who act as agents of the enemy whether they know it or not. Something that again, is not new.
Matthew documented a parable of Jesus in a continuing line of parables that addressed this in chapter thirteen of his gospel. He picks up with the words of Christ beginning in verse 24 saying … “Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: [verse 25] But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.” Before we decipher the meaning of this parable which Jesus explains in further texts we will read before proceeding, there are a few other items of notice. First, this is the second parable in a line of them that uses farming as the analogy. As stated before farming is not an instant process, it is a growth process. It takes a farmer’s care if a harvest is to be gained. The seeds respond to the work of the farmer, they do not work for themselves. They will need planting, fertilizing, water, sunshine, and earth before what God intended them to become happens. This is in a perfect world. This story begins with introducing intentional means of destruction. Here we learn, that the farmer has an enemy, and the enemy has done something to intentionally hurt the farmer, the seeds are only a mechanism to hurt the farmer, that was the enemy’s only goal, the seeds mean nothing to him.
Jesus decodes this parable beginning in verse 36 saying … “Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. [verse 37] He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; [verse 38] The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;” Duh! The explanation of this is kind of exactly what you might expect, but the disciples asked for one anyway. It is good being stupid. Think about it, you could have made assumptions about this story, and hardened those assumptions until no other truth gets in. That is what we do all the time, and we call those assumptions and interpretations – doctrine. Once hardened in tradition we call it core beliefs and we would rather die than open our minds to some other interpretation of the same set of facts. The disciples were smart enough, or rather stupid enough, not to make assumptions of their own, but instead TO ASK TO BE LED by Jesus before putting “anything” in their minds. And this approach works, even today.
As it turns out, the farmer is Jesus the Son of Man. The field is the world. That sentence is sometimes one Christians like to forget. We associate “the world” as being the mission fields, someplace primitive and far away. But the world includes Hollywood, and New York City. It includes gay bars, and for that matter, bars of every kind. It includes places like Kansas, Alabama, and Arkansas. It includes the families within our own churches, and the people within our own families. The world is not exclusive, it is inclusive of everyone, everywhere – in places that are primitive, and in places where sins are committed on purpose by people who should know better, like us. The good seed are the children of the kingdom. We like to think that is us. But we forget that word “children”. We gloss over it like a phrase so often repeated it loses meaning. There are only “children” in this explanation. No adults identified and everyone in the world is included in the meaning. That means you are either following God, or His enemy, and you are not old enough to even think there is a third option. Folks convinced they are adults, are actually children following the enemy who tells them they are adults and in control, they are deceived and they do not know it, because they do not want to admit the truth, told by The Truth.
These weeds however are not wicked supernatural agents, they are just humans, doing the bidding of who they follow. And your spiritual journey can be impeded by them. It is like having your husband hide your purse everyday before you leave the house, or your wife hide your wallet. People clinging to false ideas, they are certain are correct, and wanting to share them with you whether you want to hear them or not. Better to both come in surrender and humility before Jesus and ask Him, what does The Truth say in this matter or that one. That act of following, combined with that acknowledge in humility that we need His wisdom, is becoming children of the kingdom. It is attempting to become perpetual students at the feet of Jesus to learn, ignoring all other distractions and purported “wisdom” of men.
So let’s go back to the parable in verse 26 as Jesus continues saying … “But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. [verse 27] So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? [verse 28] He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?” Before we get the explanation a couple things to notice here. Notice that question of the “servants” to the farmer – didn’t you sow good seed, why does it have weeds? Nearly everyone blames the farmer, or God, for the weeds. We do something bad, we blame God for it. We suffer from the bad actions of someone else, we blame God for it. But God says … “an enemy has done this”. There is more than one supernatural actor in this story, and in our world. Satan tempted Adam and Eve, God did not. God warned them how to avoid temptation (stay together, and stay away from it). But we treat the warnings of God lightly believing in strength we do not have, and stumble right into failure without even a second thought, until the guilt of our failure sets in again, or the consequences have immediate effect.
Jesus deciphers more in verse 39 saying … “The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.” In case there was any debate about how weeds get there, they get there because the devil sows them. The devil tempts people into failure after failure until they no longer believe anything but failure is possible. In truth it is less the sin he wins them over by, but instead the notion that “they” could control the sin if they just wanted to try hard enough. Instead of looking to Christ where victory over sin is guaranteed (we do nothing, and Jesus beats it for us). The devil gets people to try to fight him one-on-one, over and over again. He tells Christians you must do your best first before God can help you, or will help you. Christians believe the lie, and so are doomed to a life of failure after failure. If the world would look to Jesus to save them, truly let Jesus do the work for them, salvation would be assured. The kind of salvation that changes what you do, because it changes how you think and how you love. The only thing you “do”, is keep surrendering to Jesus and stay out of the fight.
We return to the parable with Jesus answering the servant’s question about getting rid of the weeds early, picking up in verse 29 saying … “But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. [verse 30] Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.” More here than first meets the eye. The argument about “soon” should have faded a bit. The servants ask the farmer if He wants to move early to get rid of the weeds, and the farmer does not. The farmer wants to wait, give it time. He wants to save everyone, and everyone has that chance. Only this farmer could turn weeds into wheat, and that is what He longs to do. God would prefer to return to a world entirely occupied by wheat, where every weed gave themselves to Him to be transformed. But alas, too many weeds, choose to be weeds, and do NOT want transformation of any kind, even Christians sitting in pews, singing hymns since they were children. A hardened heart, is a hardened heart – where it is sitting, and what it is singing – are not important.
Jesus interprets picking up in verse 40 saying … “As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. [verse 41] The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; [verse 42] And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. [verse 43] Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.” Here is where the rubber meets the road. The criteria for the angels as they sort weed from wheat is perfection. Things that offend, and they that do iniquity – are the weeds that are cast out and burned at the end of all things. Notice it does not read, well Christians that only do iniquity or sin on occasion should be spared. This is not a partial-pass method here. Those that still sin, that still offend, will be cast out. It means that our journey does reach an end, a maturity in Jesus where we will stop sinning, and stop offending. Stop sinning that is our actions and motives coming in harmony with God and the Law. Stop offending, that is we stop teaching others incorrect methods of salvation, stop teaching them to rely upon self, and rely ONLY upon Jesus, to TRUST Jesus to save them, for only He can.
This is the end of our journey, and there is an end to it. Those who remain alive at the second coming of Christ will have already reached the end of our spiritual journey’s. Those who died in that quest, will have the remainder fixed in the twinkling of an eye at the resurrection of the righteous. But the wheat will be perfect at the end of all things, sinning and offending no more. He who has ears, let him hear, are the words of Jesus, The Truth. The criteria of perfection is not a threat, or a death sentence. It is a promise. It is hope. It is a description of what the end of your journey looks like within who you are. It is the gift of Jesus Christ to you, and will happen within you individually. The church does not bring it. Your wife or husband does not bring it. It happens because you submit and surrender to Jesus one-on-one, and only Jesus brings it about within you. Your failures do not prevent it, they are but guiderails to point you back to Jesus, to surrender more, and trust more, to let Jesus bring it about in you. Do not focus on failure, focus on Jesus. Stay your eyes upon Jesus and He will do everything that must be done to save you.
What these stories teach us, is that there is no quick fix, no instant, no one-and-done. But what they also teach us, is that the Farmer will see the harvest complete within each of us His seeds, if we but let Him. The farmer does the work, we become the benefit, and perhaps feed the world, or at least our corner of it, turning every eye back to the farmer Jesus Christ. The seed is not the hero of this story, the farmer is. The harvest itself is not the event of this story, the transformation of the seed is, that transformation happens before the harvest can begin. We must be transformed by Jesus, before our actions matter. We must love before showing kindness has the full effect it could have. Our motives behind what we do matter. And the perfecting of our souls, minds, and hearts IS possible through Jesus Christ as we submit ourselves to Him, and trust Him to do the work.
And there would be more parables in this line before it was over yet …
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