He Who Has Ears, Let Him Hear
Matthew 13: 24-30, 36-43
Pentecost 8 (Proper 11)
Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ amen. The sermon text for the eighth Sunday after Pentecost is the Gospel reading Matthew 13. It is very easy to get discouraged by all the evil in the world. And since evil is carried out by people it is easy to get frustrated with those around us. We get angry at government officials who use their office for their own gain. We get frustrated with the false religions, and harmful ideologies that people have devised for the purpose of deception. Our stomach turns when we hear about the terrible things that people do such as terrorism, murder, rape, human trafficking, and war. We get discouraged when we see strife, greed, slander, and selfishness. There are times when we can even get frustrated with people in the church who profess faith in Christ and yet seem to live contrary to the Word of God. Jesus’ parable of the wheat and the weeds is intended for our hearing to help us understand what is going on around us. In this parable, Christ wants to ease our frustration and to give to us hope. “Those who have ears, let him hear.”
Jesus tells us a parable about a man who sowed good seed in the field and about an enemy who sowed weeds among the wheat. The wheat and the weeds then grow together until the harvest. The Lord goes on to interpret this parable for us. “The one who sows the good seed is the Son Of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed is the children of the kingdom.” The Lord goes out into the world through the word bringing people to repentance and creating saving faith in them. The wheat are those who believe in Jesus Christ and belong in God’s kingdom. Unfortunately, the enemy of God, the devil, has also been at work in the world sowing weeds. The devil can’t create but only destroy, he spreads his weeds because he wants the wheat to die or become weeds. The weeds that were sown by the enemy in the parable were most likely darnel, a plant that resembles wheat and barley during its early stages of growth, but eventually bears black, inedible seeds. The weeds that were secretly sown were of such a nature as to come up before the good wheat, crowd it out, ripen before the wheat, and was most difficult to eradicate. In other words the bad seed that the devil sowed resulted in sin. Recall the words of Jesus. “The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil.” What the devil is sowing is unbelief and rebellion against God.
We know live in a world where the wheat and the weeds are living together. Although God works through His Word and Sacraments to plant good wheat in His Kingdom of grace the devil is still hard at work planting weeds. That means that hypocrites continue to exist within the visible church, and because only God can see into a person’s heart, they may go undetected by the believers. Judas Iscariot would be an example of this. He was one of the twelve disciples, but his heart was far from God. The other disciples did not know this until he betrayed the Lord. We also have to keep in mind that Christians still have a sinful nature and so they will sometimes do weed like things. Peter denying the Lord would be an example of sinning in weakness. Christians will sin in weakness and unbelievers are slaves to sin. When we see the reality of all the weeds that the devil has sowed it can be very frustrating. It can cause us to get discouraged.
But our Lord comes to us, and He tells us the parable of the wheat and weeds for our benefit. The Lord wants to wipe away our discouragement and give us hope. The Lord does this by revealing two important things to us. First, He tells us that this present age is a period of grace. Second, He tells us that He will visibly return on the Last Day and gather God’s people to be in His presence for all eternity.
Jesus tells us that our present age is a time of grace. It is also referred to as the last days. It is during this period that we are now living in that the Lord has allowed both the wheat and the weeds to live in the world together with the purpose of calling people to repentance and faith. Peter said it this way in 2 Peter 3. “But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” The Lord works through the church to sustain the faith of those who already trust in Him. That is why we gather around Word and Sacrament for it is in these means that the Lord strengthens and sustains our faith. He also works through His church so that the Gospel would go out into the world. It is the Lord’s desire to bring others to repentance and saving faith. In other words the Lord works through the church to sustain the faithful and to reach the lost. God is calling others to faith in Christ. Paul is an example of this. He went from persecuting the church to an apostle of Jesus. We are now able to patently wait as others are brought into the Kingdom of God to be with us for all eternity.
We also look forward to the visible return of the Lord. Let me go back to the words of Peter. “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.”
This world will come to an end as the Lord ushers in the new heavens and the new earth. That is the second thing that Jesus reveals to us in this parable. He gives us a sure and certain hope because the final harvest is coming. Let me return to the words of Jesus. “The harvest is the close of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the close of the age. The Son of Man will send His angles, and they will gather out of His kingdom all causes of sin and all lawbreakers 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.”
God will not be mocked. His justice will prevail. His judgment will come. On the last day the wheat and the weeds will be separated. Those who have rejected Jesus are sons of the devil. The sons of the devil have impenitent hearts and they rebel against God. They will be thrown into hell. They will be separated from God forever. But those who trust in the Lord Jesus Christ will be saved. They are the children of God and heirs of the kingdom. They have been forgiven and restored. They are the righteous that will shine like the sun.
Jesus is the Sower and the Lord of the harvest. He calls you to trust in Him that He will save you and bring you to the heavenly kingdom of His Father. He accomplished your salvation through His perfect life, death, and resurrection and He will deliver you from this valley of tears. As you are confronted with the reality of evil and sin all around you, don’t lose heart. Your Lord calls you to patiently trust Him as He patiently reaches out to others. As you see all that is wrong in the world do not be discouraged, for your Lord will visibly appear at the harvest. At that time you will see the glory of God with your own eyes. “He who has ears, let him hear.” Amen.