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Summer Quarter 2023: The Righteous Reign of God
Unit 2: Jesus Envisions the Kingdom
Sunday School Lesson for the week of July 23, 2023
By Jay Harris
Lesson Scripture: Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
Key Verse:
“Let both of them grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.” (Matthew 13:30)
Lesson Aims
- To be introduced to all the dynamics going on in the parable of the wheat and the weeds
- To consider the wisdom that the planter uses in waiting until the harvest to deal with the weeds
- To learn of Jesus’ use of the term “Son of Man” in his teachings
- To ponder life in the world in which the children of the kingdom share the field with evil influences
- To explore the question of why evil exists in the world God has made
- To describe the age in which we live, the war against the devil, and Christ’s victory at the harvest
- To think about the judgment, our call to faithfulness, and the role of grace in our response
- To understand what we are to do (witness) and not do (judge) until the harvest
- To lean into our mandate to witness in a winsome and non-judgmental way
- To envision the righteous shining like the sun in the kingdom of the Father
Introduction
We are continuing our study of the righteous reign of God, which we began exploring through the eyes of the prophets. Then, we began viewing the kingdom of God through the lens of Jesus in Matthew’s gospel.
In the previous lesson we began looking at the collection of teachings that are found in the 13
th chapter of Matthew. This collection features parables, which are known for their power to evoke feelings and imaginative thinking and move people to action. These parables help the listener imagine the kingdom of heaven and the ways the reign of God might show up in daily living. Parables help us do this because the images in them are taken from daily life. A common feature of daily life in biblical times was the agrarian life that surrounded everyone and fed everyone. Everyone could relate to these images.
We learned from the Parable of the Sower last week of the special affinity between the action of seeds and the way God’s word is implanted in people’s lives and the way it bears fruit. Today’s parable, in some ways, continues this theme, but it also adds very important themes.
The Parable with an Enemy
In the parable we are studying in this lesson, Jesus brings in an element of drama. There is an enemy in the story.
24 He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field, 25 but while everybody was asleep an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and then went away.
The enemy in the parable has an evil purpose, which is to sow weeds in the planter’s field of wheat. The enemy did this while everyone was asleep. The enemy sneaked into the field and did his evil deed without anyone knowing. He would therefore avoid detection and get away with his crime. Because seeds take a while to sprout up, the planter would find out what evil had been done to him only when it was too late to do anything to prevent the harm being done.
26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. 27 And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?’ 28 He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The slaves said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’
It was only later, after the good wheat and the weeds grew and appeared together, that the work of the enemy was discovered. The workers asked a question to which they already knew the answer: “Did you not plant good seed in your field?” They would naturally wonder how the weeds came to inhabit the field. The planter knew it was an enemy that had done this. Everyone would realize that this enemy had been cunning, sneaky, and mean and had gotten away with his crime. Everything about it smacked of evil.
In comparing this parable to the Parable of the Sower, how does the introduction of an enemy in the parable change the way you feel as you explore its meaning? To what are you paying closer attention?
The Wisdom of the Planter in Dealing with the Enemy’s Work
The workers wanted to do something. Their first instinct was to go out into the field and gather the weeds. They knew however to ask the planter.
29 But he replied, ‘No, for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. 30 Let both of them grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’
The planter told the workers not to pull up the weeds while the plants were growing. He did not want the good wheat to be uprooted when the weeds, roots and all, were pulled out of the ground. The root systems of both the wheat and the weeds would be intertwined with one another. Only when the wheat plants had produced their harvest would it be okay to uproot the weeds. The weeds would be gathered first and bundled to be burned. Then the good wheat could be harvested and gathered into the barn to be threshed and collected for consumption. The planter knew how to make the best of the situation created by this enemy. The wheat harvest would be saved. When the story ends, the enemy is still at large.
Stories involving planting and harvesting naturally divide up into stages. You never harvest in the same season that you plant. There is the planting and growing season, and then the harvest season. You work and wait during the planting and growing season. God does his work during the growing season. Then, you hope for a good harvest and lots of work to do bring it all into the barn and eventually end up on the table.
There is still the matter of the enemy. One of the great Christmas classics is the movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life” by Frank Capra, starring Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey. The movie ends very happily. Uncle Billy and George’s wife, Mary, are able to rally all of George’s friends to raise the money that went missing. More than that, George learned that he really did make a difference to a lot of people. What does not get resolved is the fact that the evil Henry Potter did not reveal that he secretly pocketed the money that Uncle Billy thought he had lost. The movie made history because the movie ended without bringing the bad guy to justice, which was unprecedented.
Jesus’ audience would probably note that the enemy in the story does not get brought to justice and is still at large. The audience would be left with a lot to ponder. Even without the explanation that follows, it is clearly a story of good and evil. Metaphors abound in the story to fire the imagination. People would be pondering how to apply to their lives the wisdom of waiting until the harvest to act.
What are situations you can think of where the better part of wisdom is to wait? What positive things happen in this time of waiting? What is being avoided by not rushing into action?
Jesus’ Explains the Parable and the World in which Christians Live
Like the Parable of the Sower, we get to hear an explanation that the rest of the crowd did not get to hear.
36 Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.”
In the last lesson, we learned that there would be people in the crowd who did not need the explanation to understand the parable. The message in the parable was accessible to them. Likewise, there were those in the crowd that, even if they heard the explanation, would not get it because they were not receptive to the message of the kingdom of heaven. They would leave confused. Parables worked this way by design.
The fact that the disciples got to hear the explanation does not set them above the crowd, nor does it set them below the crowd. The good thing is that we get to hear the explanation.
37 Jesus answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man;
The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. Who is the Son of Man? Let’s look at Jesus’ use of the title, Son of Man. Son of Man is a messianic title. The prophet Ezekiel was fond of populating his visions with a character addressed as “Son of Man” or “Mortal One” as a mediator between God and the people. Son of Man is a representative of the divine, but one who shares our characteristics enough to represent humanity before the divine.
Let’s ponder why Jesus did not simply say, “I am the one who sows the good seed,” or “God is the one who sows the good seed.” The answer is that in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Jesus did not go about openly saying that he was the Messiah. This is referred to as the Messianic secret. Jesus allows, and even prefers, that others call him Son of David or the Christ rather than referring to himself this way. Jesus wanted people to come to this conclusion through the Holy Spirit. Jesus reveals his true identity in all of its fulness only near the end of the story in the gospels.
The Son of Man sows the good seed. The sowing of the good seed is the work of God through God’s chosen mediator to bring about the kingdom of heaven, the reign of God.
38 the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one,
The seed in the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:1-9; 18-23) is the word of the kingdom of heaven, the message about God’s reign. In this parable, the metaphor of the seed encompasses the people who are receiving this word and living by it. They are called children of the kingdom. They are the people living according to the reign of God.
The weeds are the children of the evil one. They are the products of the seed of the enemy. They are living a life that could be called “anti-kingdom.” They are the ones who are working against the children of the kingdom.
Jesus gave us a lot to ponder when he said that the field is the world. The wheat and the weeds share the open field together. The children of the kingdom do not live in stone fortresses or ivory towers. They share life in the world with the children of the evil one in the same way that the wheat and the weeds share the open field.
What does it mean to you that children of the kingdom do not live in stone fortresses or ivory towers? In what ways do you experience the children of the kingdom and children of the evil one coexisting together in the world, as if sharing an open field? What dangers do you envision? What about opportunities?
Why Evil Exists in the World God Made
We are told that the enemy in the parable, who sowed the seeds of weeds among the wheat, is the devil.
39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels.
What Jesus is doing in this parable is describing life for his followers in the world. There is recognition that life is not easy for those who are called to live according to the reign of God. There is an answer for why life is difficult for those who are working and praying for God’s kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven. There is an evil force loose in the world that is actively seeking to undo what God is doing.
From ancient times, God’s people have wondered why evil exists in the world God has made. What this continuing theological conversation explores is referred to as “theodicy.” Theo-” means “God” and “-dicy” means “just.” Theodicy asks the question, “If God is good, and God made the world, why does evil exist in the world?” Theodicy is the attempt to justify the ways of God toward humankind, particularly with the existence of evil in mind.
In the parable, the devil is the cause of evil, but it should be remembered that the devil is not equal to God. In scripture and in Judeo-Christian tradition, the devil is a fallen angel, who because of his pride and jealousy against God, rebelled against God, leading away other rebellious angels. You could say that evil is bigger than the devil because the same tendencies that lead to sin in us led the devil at one point.
Why does evil exist and persist in the world? The answer is because God allows free will. God allows free will because God wants our response toward him in love to be of our own free will and not forced or coerced or programmed into us. Giving humans and angels free will allows the space and opportunity to choose independence from God and even rebellion against God over a loving relationship with God.
Since the devil is not God, his power is not unlimited. Humans have the power to resist the devil and resist sin. Sin diminishes our lives in two ways. One way is when we give into sin and sin rules our lives. Another way sin affects us is when others have sinned against us. People can also become victims of sinful systems. This is why being children of the kingdom means answering the call to work toward the liberation of people from sin, oppression, and exploitation.
What do you think of the free will that humans are given? What does free will say about the love you offer to God? Would you agree that free will is a risky proposition? How would you advance the argument that the risk that God takes is a risk worth taking?
The Current Age in Which We Live and the Coming Harvest
When Jesus says that the harvest is the end of the age, Jesus is calling attention to the present age in which we live. We should remember that this present age is the age of the Son and the Holy Spirit and the Church. We live between the first and second coming of Christ. We live in the age whose ultimate destiny is determined by the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross, his victory through the resurrection, and his ascension to the throne of heaven. We live in the age of the Church empowered and led by the Holy Spirit who was sent by the Father and the Son at Pentecost.
There is a vision in the 12
th chapter of the Book of Revelation that describes what the devil is up to in this age and what his limits are. According to this allegory, the devil has been dealt a mortal wound through the sacrificial death and victorious resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. It says,
“Now have come the salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God
and the authority of his Messiah,
for the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down,
who accuses them day and night before our God.
But they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony,
for they did not cling to life even in the face of death.
Rejoice then, you heavens
and those who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea,
for the devil has come down to you
with great wrath
because he knows that his time is short!”…
Then the dragon was angry with the woman [the Church]
and went off to wage war on the rest of her children,
those who keep the commandments of God and hold the testimony of Jesus.”
(Revelation 12:10-12, 17)
Notice the strong affirmation of the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Messiah. In this vision, the devil’s fate has been sealed. It is just a matter of time before the devil is ultimately defeated, but until then he will try to inflict as much damage as possible and turn hearts toward himself and away from the righteous reign of God.
In this present age, between the coming of Christ 2,000 years ago and the harvest at the end of the age, Christians must live as wheat that must share the open field with the weeds planted by the devil. We should be encouraged by the fact that we are the seeds planted by the Son of Man. As seeds, we are full of promise and potential. The call under which we live is to remain faithful. This call guides our conduct.
Have you ever thought about the mortal wound dealt to the devil by Christ’s victory over sin and death on the cross? What does this say to you about the devil’s limitations and the devil’s motivation in this limited window of time?
The Judgment at the End of the Age
We know from the parable that the weeds are to be gathered by the reapers and burned, while the good wheat is to be gathered into the barn. Jesus had more to add in his explanation of the parable.
40 Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, 42 and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Jesus is referring to the judgment at the end of the age. The angels will collect all causes of sin and all evildoers and throw it all into the furnace of fire. In a previous lesson in this study on the reign of God, we saw a reference in Zephaniah to the heat of God’s anger and the fire of God’s passion. In Zephaniah 3:8, God says,
“Therefore wait for me, says the Lord, for the day when I arise as a witness. For my decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out upon them my indignation, all the heat of my anger, for in the fire of my passion all the earth shall be consumed.”
We saw in that lesson that the goal of God’s judgment was not annihilation, but to make the way for a fresh start:
“At that time, I will change the speech of the peoples to a pure speech, that all of them may call on the name of the Lord and serve him with one accord.” (Zeph. 3:9) When God says, “at that time,” God is referring to the time when the fire of God’s righteous anger has burned up all except for that which is pure and enduring.
The description of this type of divine action is echoed in the New Testament, in the Letter to the Hebrews. Beginning in Hebrews 12:26, we are reminded that once more at the end of time, God will shake not only the earth but also the heaven:
“This phrase, ‘Yet once more,’ indicates the removal of what is shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable worship with reverence and awe, for indeed our God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:27-29)
There are multiple illustrations in scripture that describe the same thing. In some places, the image is wheat that has been threshed on the threshing floor, then sifted so that the good grain remains in the sieve, but the chaff falls through and is swept up and burned. In other places, it is the unfruitful parts of the tree that are pruned so that the tree bears more fruit and the pruned branches are burned. In other places, it is the impurities in the ore that are burned away while retaining the pure silver. It is all about what remains after God does his purging and purifying work—what God calls “the fire of my passion.” (Zephaniah 3:8)
It is the remnant which is preserved. Zephaniah describes the faithful remnant:
“For, I will leave in the midst of you a people humble and lowly. They shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord—the remnant of Israel; they shall do no wrong and utter no lies, nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouths. Then they will pasture and lie down, and no one shall make them afraid.” (Zeph. 3:12-13)
This was the turning point of Zephaniah’s message. After all the purging has gone on, what can remain is a totally transformed people with whole-hearted devotion, unified in their service to the Lord, humble, authentic, and resting in God’s grace and protection. This was God’s goal all along in allowing events to unfold which try and test God’s people.
The faithful remnant does not consist of those who were merely spared, but it consists of those who have gone through a process of refinement. In the Book of Revelation, the faithful remnant consists of two groups of people. One group consist of those who remain on earth after catastrophic devastation who turn to the Lord and grow in their faith. Another group of the holy remnant consists of those who are in heaven—perfected through persecution, death, and resurrection. We’re given a picture of this holy remnant in heaven, dressed in white robes as a sign of victory over the evil one: because
“they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they did not cling to life even in the face of death.” (Revelation 12:11)
The furnace of fire is not a picture of judgment to be greeted by Christians with glee or smug satisfaction. It represents the place of profound regret where there is weeping and the gnashing of teeth associated with mourning and deep anguish. These words of Jesus represent a call to action and a call to faithfulness until the faithful are revealed at the end of the age.
As you think about this call to faithfulness, to what are you paying attention? We seek to choose life under the reign and rule of God over evil, but what about all the times we are going to get it wrong? Where do confession, grace, repentance, and forgiveness fit in?
What Christians Are to Do and Not Do Leading to the Harvest
We should remember in Jesus’ parable who is responsible for the judgment and who is not. The reaping of the harvest is something God will accomplish through his angels. The children of the kingdom are not responsible for the harvest. There is more than a subtle hint here about the what the children of the kingdom are not to take into their own hands. The children of the kingdom are meant to stay in their lane, so to speak, and not get in the angels’ lane, when it comes to the harvest and the judgment at the end of the age.
This is the point the parable was making before Jesus started explaining what the parts of the parable mean. Remember when the workers discovered the weeds growing up among the good wheat plants. That’s when they discovered the enemy’s evil deed. Their first instinct was to do something. They wanted to go out into the field and gather the weeds. At this point in the growth of the crops, they were able to detect the weeds scattered among the good wheat plants, but the mature wheat kernels had not yet appeared on the stalks of wheat. They wanted to go out and pull the weeds, but before they moved into action they knew to ask the planter.
It is a good thing they did ask, because the planter knew better. The planter told the workers not to pull up the weeds while the plants were growing. He did not want the good wheat to be uprooted when the weeds, roots and all, were pulled out of the ground. The root systems of both the wheat and the weeds would be intertwined with one another. Only when the wheat plants had produced their harvest would it be okay to uproot the weeds. The weeds would be gathered first. Whatever mature wheat was uprooted at this point could be set aside with the rest of the good wheat. The weeds would be separated and bundled to be burned. Then the good wheat could be harvested and gathered into the barn to be threshed and collected for consumption. The planter knew how to make the best of the situation created by this enemy. The wheat harvest would be saved.
In Jesus’ explanation of the parable, the angels will know how to collect all causes of sin and evildoers. Furthermore, they will wait until the end of the age when it is appropriate to judge. This frees us up to obey Jesus’ all-important teaching in the Sermon on the Mount.
“Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For the judgment you give will be the judgment you get, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.” (Matthew 7:1-5)
We are not equipped to take into our hands the matters which are reserved for the angels. Think of the Crusades. Consider the Inquisition. Remember the Salem witch trials. These were horrifying instances where Christians tried to take matters into their hands and do exactly what Jesus said not to do. They tried to uproot the ones they deemed were evil and extinguish them. These actions were committed in the name of Christ, but they did not represent Christ—far from it!
What do you see happening when Christians take matters into their hands and judge other people? How do Christians get it wrong and misrepresent Christ and the Church? How does this affect the Church’s reputation and witness and take the Church off-mission?
The Opportunity and Mandate to Witness to Our Faith
There is another reason to wait for what the angels will do at the end of the age. In the Second Letter of Peter, there is a word helping to explain the delay of the Lord’s return. It says,
“The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.” In other words, the Lord is not finished with his work in converting souls. In bears repeating: the Lord does not want any to perish, but all to come to repentance.
The Lord invites us to join him in this work of winning souls to Christ. It has not been determined what or who the weeds are. Since the Lord does not want any to perish, we should see everyone as someone who
needs to know Jesus and as someone who
could come to know Jesus given the right opportunity. Our witness should be as winsome as possible. Letting the angels sort it all out at the end of the age, gives us the opportunity to get in our lane of influence and stay in that lane.
I hear too many Christians and too many churches engaged in the business of judging people instead of the business of witnessing to people. They are trying to sort out who the weeds are before it is time to do that. The people they should be trying to reach are being turned off from the church. The people who are earnestly trying to witness to the people who need Jesus are having a more difficult time of it. The ones who are witnessing to the love of Jesus are being hampered by mixed messages being put out by other Christians. The target audience is confused to say the least. People who should be representing Jesus and his desire to save people are misrepresenting Christ and the Church. If there has ever been a time for the church to hear the parable of the wheat and the weeds it is now.
43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!
This is the vision moment in the parable. A mature field of wheat, which is ready for harvest, literally shines in the sunlight. We are to imagine the righteous shining like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. This vision should operate in our minds in a way that compels us to work with the Lord in cultivating the good wheat. The enemy would love nothing better than for us to get distracted and spend our time in doing work that uproots the good wheat along with the weeds.
Let anyone with eyes see this vision. Let anyone with ears listen to this parable.
How easy is it for the Church to wall itself off from the world? What are you doing in your church to extend the witness of Christ into your community? How do you witness to people with a winsome spirit and from a non-judgmental stance? What part does our willingness to form relationships with non-Christians play in this work?
Prayer
Gracious God, Your Son Jesus taught the Church how to relate with people in the world. Teach us how to align our lives with Your reign and also reach out to those who have yet to know Christ, so that the righteous will shine like the sun in Your kingdom, through Christ our Lord, who reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever, Amen.
Dr. Jay Harris serves as the Superintendent of Clergy and District Services for the South Georgia Conference. Email him at jharris@sgaumc.com. Find his plot-driven guide to reading the Bible, the “Layered Bible Journey,” at www.layeredbiblejourney.com.
