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. 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?’ 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.’ ” (Mt. 13:24-30The NRSV Catholic Edition[1]
I. Background
Matthew, the tax collector, is one of Jesus’ apostles.[2] Certainly as tax collector, he knows how to read and write which not all the apostles could do. He wrote his Gospel for Jewish Christians and Jews who were familiar with the Old Testament, that they may know Jesus was the Messianic King foretold in the Old Testament Scriptures. Accordingly, he emphasized Jesus as the true heir of David’s kingdom.[3] In his Gospel, Jesus used the parables in order that his disciples may understand the “mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.” (Cf. Mt. 13:34-35) One of the parables that Jesus used to explain “the Kingdom” [emphasis mine] is the Parable of Weeds among the Wheat which will be explained further by the researcher.
II. Exegesis
A. General Remarks
The “Parables collection,”[4] (Chapter 13) where the “Parable of the Weeds among Wheat” belongs, is placed after the Narrative (Chapter 11-12) and before the Narrative (Chapter 14-17).
Compared to the gospels of Mark and Luke, this parable is unique to the gospel of Matthew. Some exegetes found that this parable is the “only systematically sustained and developed allegory of the synoptic Gospels.”[5] Some of Biblical scholars[6] think that this Parable is an elaboration of the parable of the Growing Seed (Mk 4:26-29). On the other hand, Guillemette explained that the parable of the Weed among the Wheat portrays rather “naturally and clearly an entirely different situation.”[7]
B. Context
Looking to the setting of “when and where” [emphasis mine] Jesus told the ‘Weeds among the Wheat” to the crowds, one could look back on the first two verses of the Gospel account of the “Parable of the Sower.” Generally, the setting is Capernaum by the Sea of Galilee where Jesus had made his home. Particularly, it is when Jesus “went out of the house and sat beside the lake.”(13:1) “Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd stood along the shore. And he spoke to them at length in parables…” (13:2-3)
When it comes to the context of the Gospel pericope of the Parable, one can find it placed after the “Parable of the Sower Explained” (13:18-23) and placed before the “Parable of the Mustard Seed” (13:31-32).
C. Analysis
V. 24 – “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed…”: as typical in all the parables of Jesus, what suggests a comparison with the kingdom of heaven is an entire scene, a slice of life.[8] It does not mean that the kingdom of heaven may be likened simply to the person in question but the situation narrated in the whole story.[9] Moreover, it is not simply like a sower has sowed good seed, when his enemy spoils his field with weeds.
V. 25 – This sowing of weeds by an enemy is not without precedent. It is possible that a very real incident of this sort formed the background of this parable of Jesus and inspired it.[10]
Weeds: darnel, a poisonous weed that in its first stage of growth resembles wheat.[11]
V. 26-28 – The question of the slaves of the householder (“Where, then, did these weeds come from?” – v.27) is not driven by the mere fact that weeds are found in the field, for any field always generates a definite amount of weeds, but by the fact that in this case the amount of weeds is so unusual.[12]
“Do you want us to go and gather them?” (v.28) – this question is simply meant at assisting the development of the account, since it brings in the message of the parable. However, if it is normal to uproot the weeds of a field many times without consulting the owner of the field, in the present case such a flow of action is not obvious; for without a doubt the weeds are so plentiful that the slaves can plausibly bring up the question as to which decision is the wisest.[13] Guillemette explained further, “The whole of this brief introduction (vv.24-28) is intended to show quite clearly that the owner of the field is not in the least responsible for the weeds being in such abundance in his field.”[14]
V. 29 – The slaves are restrained from any attempt at forcibly rooting out the weeds among the wheat.[15] Moreover, the householder decision is to let the weed grow alongside the wheat is most wise. Any uprooting of the weeds may cause also the uprooting of the wheat since the roots of the weeds are tangled with wheat’s roots.[16]
V. 30 – “Let both of them grow together until the harvest…”: This is the crucial part of the answer, advocating patience and tolerance until the final sorting.[17]
Harvest:a common biblical metaphor for the time of God’s judgment.[18]
III. Theological Synthesis
In its present stage the world is composed of the good and the bad. The refusal of the householder to allow his slaves to separate the wheat from the weeds while they are still growing is a warning to the disciples not to attempt to anticipate the final judgment of God by a definitive exclusion of sinners from the kingdom. There will be a separation at some time in the future: weeds and wheat (13:30, 40-43), good and bad fish (13:47-50), sheep and goats (25:31-46), but this "harvest" takes place on God’s final judgment not ours. The judgment of God alone will eliminate the sinful. Until then there must be patience and the preaching of repentance.[19]
IV. Hermeneutics
Anytime we judge others we need to be aware that we may not have the full picture and so we may not be fair in our judgments of others. The weeds or darnel that some enemy sowed among the wheat in the parable taught by Jesus looked very like the wheat in their early growth so that it was really impossible to decide properly which was the wheat and which the weed. Aren’t we blessed that God has the bigger picture and not our puny judgments! God is much more merciful and patient than we are.
In this parable Jesus asks us not to play God and judge people but to allow judgment to God. God is much more merciful and patient than we are. It would be better for us to concentrate on removing the darnel from our lives than judging others because of their darnel. Living a spiritual life is the best way to remove the darnel from our lives.
In this parable, Jesus advised not to pull up the weeds before the harvest i.e. not to let our opinions interfere with how we treat others. If we are tempted to judge others negatively I would suggest two things: First, think of the love of God for others. Even if we cannot see the love of God in others right now, can you see Jesus crucified in them? If we do find ourselves succumbing to forming negative opinions of others we should not allow those negative opinions to interfere in how we treat others. It would be better for us to concentrate on removing the weeds from our lives than judging others.
To us also the patience of the owner of the field is indicated as a model. We must wait for the harvest, but not like those servants who could hardly be restrained, gripping the sickle, as if anxious to see the faces of the wicked on Judgment Day. A call to humility and mercy, therefore, is what is gleaned from the parable of the weeds among the wheat. There is only one field from which it is licit and necessary to pull out the weeds immediately, and it is from one's own heart!
[1] This reprint of The NRSV Catholic Edition: a Standard Edition originally published in 1999, is published by arrangement with Oxford University Press, Inc, New York , New York Makati City , Philippines
[2] See Mt 9:9; 10:13; Mk. 3:18; Lk 6:15; Acts 1:13.
[3] Hahn, Scott, Understanding the Scriptures: A Complete Course on Bible Study (Woodridge , Illinois : Midwest Theological Forum, 2007), 308.
[4] Just, Felix, “The Gospel according to Matthew,” The Synoptic Gospels: Structural Outlines and Unique Materials, July 13, 2010, http://catholic-resources.org/Bible/Synoptic_Outlines.htm (accessed March 13, 2011).
[5] Guillemette, Nil, Parables for Today (Makati , Metro Manila : St. Paul Publications, 1987), 38.
[6] See Smith, C.W.F., The Jesus of the Parables (Philadelphia: United Church Press, 1975).
[7] Guillemette, Parables for Today, 39.
[8] On this peculiarity of the parables, see the book Jeremias, Joachim, The Parables of Jesus, Revised edition (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1963), 100-103.
[9] This is the footnote for Mt. 13: 24 found in page 32 of the New Testament of the edition of New American Bible (NAB) published in 1995 by St. Pauls, Makati
[10] Guillemette, Parables for Today, 39.
[11] See the footnote for Mt. 13: 25 found in page 32 of the New Testament of the edition of New American Bible (NAB) published in 1995 by St. Pauls, Makati
[12] Guillemette, Parables for Today, 39.
[13] Ibid.
[14] Ibid., 40.
[15] See Harrington, Daniel, “Matthew,” in The Collegeville Bible Commentary, ed. Dianne Bergant and Robert Karris (Makati , Metro Manila
[16] Guillemette, Parables for Today, 40.
[17] See Viviano, Benedict, “The Gospel according to Matthew,” in The New Jerome Biblical Commentaries, ed. Raymond Brown, Josepf Fitzmyer and Roland Murphy (Englewood Cliffs, NewJersey: Prentice Hall, 1990), 656.
[18] See the footnote for Mt. 13: 30 found in page 32 of the New Testament of the edition of New American Bible (NAB) published in 1995 by St. Pauls, Makati
[19] See the footnote for Mt. 24: 30 found in page 32 of the New Testament of the edition of New American Bible (NAB) published in 1995 by St. Pauls, Makati
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