Wheat and Weeds, Faith of Mustard Seeds and Yeast

Matthew 13:24-43

The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares

24 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. 26 But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. 27 So the servants of the owner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?' 28 He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' The servants said to him, 'Do you want us then to go and gather them up?' 29 But he said, 'No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn."'"

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

31 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, 32 which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches."

The Parable of the Leaven

33 Another parable He spoke to them: "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened."

Prophecy and the Parables

34 All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them, 35 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:

"I will open My mouth in parables;
I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world."

The Parable of the Tares Explained

36 Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field."

37 He answered and said to them: "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. 39 The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. 40 Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. 41 The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, 42 and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

Jesus continued with three more parables.  He spoke of the wheat and imitation weeds, the small beginning of faith that a mustard seed and yeast represent, and how parables were foretold to describe the kingdom of God by these narrative illustrations of spiritual life in everyday terms to be easier to relate to and understand once given eyes to see and ears to hear by the Lord.  The first parable was about wheat for bread and lookalike weeds that imitate the good grain but are unhealthy and useless.  The wheat grew with the weeds closely interspersed in the crop, but the weeds could not be pulled without disturbing the roots of the good crop.  The Lord said He would leave them there and sort them out in the end at the harvest instead.  The weeds would then be bound and thrown into the fire while the good crop would be safely stored in the master’s barn to be preserved and used.  The last verses of this group of verses gives the explanation from Jesus to the disciples after the crowds left them.  The good seed spread by the Son of Man represents the elect of God placed in the world as the field for them to grow in to be useful for His kingdom, but the weeds are strewn by the devil among them to imitate and deceive.  We see this often among believers, especially in churches, ones who walk and talk like us but do not know the Lord (Acts 20:29-30).  They are invasive weeds whose aim is to do the work of their father through lies to kill and destroy the works of God if possible.  God leaves them in the field of the world because in the end they will be tossed from the harvest and burned while the good seed of the Lord is preserved for an eternity with the Master of the field which is the world.  The angels will reap the harvest and burn the useless who did not repent and give glory to God (Revelation 16:9) and instead spread lies against the gospel of truth and promoted immorality and idolatry.  When this judgment day comes and they are burned for rejecting the Lord as vessels of destruction (Romans 9:22) then the offenses will cease while the good and righteous will shine brightly in the kingdom at last!  This was the message to hear then and now just as loudly and clearly.  This kingdom comes by faith which begins as small as the smallest mustard seed and grows just as full and large as the expanding yeast in dough put aside to grow over time until ready to be baked and eaten to nourish others.  Such are the small parables of the mustard seed and yeast meant to encourage the wheat with weeds all around them.  This faith will grow and witch hunts to eradicate the false are not needed; surely this does not mean that we do not deal with the obvious false teachers among us, but we are not to go hunting down and uprooting everyone who does not appear to be true believers either.  True conversion of the good seed results in good fruit and the bad seed of the imitators will be taken care of in the final day anyway if they do not turn from sin to Him.