The kingdom of heaven/kingdom of God is growing and thriving alongside a world of evil, and that there will be an “end of the age” at some point in the future and angels will cast out everything that causes sin and all who do evil. Jesus goes on to explain in Matthew 13:39 that “the enemy who sows them [the weeds] is the devil”. The Greek word here is “diabolos“, meaning the “devil”, “false accuser”, “slanderer”. These next parts of this study are all parables that Jesus told about the kingdom of heaven/kingdom of God.
If you would like to review, in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Jesus talks to us concerning the purpose of His use of parables to communicate. Let’s look at this parable, “The Parable of the Weeds” which is found in the Gospel of Matthew 13:24-30.
Matthew 13:24-30 (TNIV)
24 Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.27 “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’
28 “ ‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’
29 “ ‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’ ”
This next series of parables in Matthew are important, as they show us what the Kingdom of heaven/kingdom of God really is as opposed to what many people think it is. The kingdom of heaven is not a geographic location but a spiritual realm where God rules and where believers share in His eternal life. We join that kingdom when we trust in Christ as Savior.
It is interesting that Jesus Himself explains this parable directly when his disciples ask for it’s meaning. Let’s look first at Jesus’ own explanation
Matthew 13:36-43 (TNIV)
36 Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”37 He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.
40 “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42 They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.
What does this parable say about the kingdom of heaven/kingdom of God? I would note that the “weeds” Jesus is speaking of was probably a plant called “darnell”. It was a poisonous plant that looked very much like wheat in the early stages of growth, but as it grows begins to distinguish itself. If darnell was sowed with the wheat seeds, as the plants grow, it would cause the roots to be entangled so that one could not pull up the darnell without also pulling up the wheat. In fact, I have read that it was punishable in Roman law to sew seeds of darnell in someone else’s wheat field.
What I see here is that the kingdom of heaven/kingdom of God is growing and thriving alongside a world of evil. Jesus goes on to explain in Matthew 13:39 that “the enemy who sows them [the weeds] is the devil”. The Greek word here is “diabolos“, meaning the “devil”, “false accuser”, “slanderer”. For those who do not believe that there is an actual “devil” or “Satan”, in this verse, Jesus refers directly to a person or being He calls “the devil” and describes them as the enemy, and this “someone” has people or beings who do his work. Jesus calls them “sons of the evil one”. If there is another explanation as to what Jesus is saying here, or who precisely Jesus is referring to in Matthew 13:38 and Matthew 13:29, I would be very interested to hear it.
So again, what are these verses telling us about the kingdom? Precisely that the kingdom is growing and thriving alongside a world of evil, and that there will be an “end of the age” at some point in the future and angels will cast out everything that causes sin and all who do evil. I would also note here closely the thought that Jesus is telling us….He is not saying in this passage “people who sin”, rather He is saying “everything that causes sin”. However, He is saying “all who do evil”. I see a distinction here.
For those who do not believe in “hell”, I would be interested to hear a different explanation for “the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth”.
I like very much what Jesus says in Matthew 13:43, “Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father”. That sounds like a promise to me.
Today’s CLUE: The kingdom is growing and thriving alongside a world of evil, and that there will be an “end of the age” at some point in the future and angels will cast out everything that causes sin and all who do evil.
My friend, RonLawHouston commented on this post: “This is one of those passages where I fall back on not what the Greek says, but the WWJS – what would Jesus say? Just as people have taken the word “Gehenna” and grafted onto it the Greek concept of Hades, so also people have taken the concept of Satan, which meant “to oppose” in Hebrew and grafted on a more Greek meaning. In the old testament, you have Satan as someone that God deals with directly like in the book of Job. If Satan were truly evil, then God could not have spoken to him as he did in the book of Job. Satan clearly moved from someone who God dealt with directly (a devil’s advocate – so to speak) to a more sinister presence in the new testament. Did the character of Satan make some change? I’m comfortable saying, “I don’t know.” I don’t believe in a literal Satan. Does that mean that I can say that I’m right? Absolutely not.
To me the problem is that you want to read literally where it fits your world view and you rely on metaphor where it doesn’t. For instance, when someone comes to Jesus and calls him “good teacher.” Jesus replies “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.” Read literally this is Jesus denying his status as God. Zf you rely on metaphor it could have meant several things.
The problem is that the ultimate delusion is to think that we understand God. When you think that you understand God, you’ve really moven away from God.”
MY REPLY to RonLawHouston: “I certainly agree that the ultimate delusion is to think that we understand God. God cannot be put in a box and our understanding of God cannot be put in a box. He is much greater than anything we can imagine or wrap or thoughts around. Even if we take this passage completely metaphorically, Jesus is talking about something or someone that is tempting us, slandering or falsely accusing and goes on to tell us about a “fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” I can’t wrap my mind around that statement in any way other than to know that I don’t want to be there or experience that. I guess what I am saying is, whether the devil is a real “being” as Jesus seems to describe, and hell is a real place or not, in some way, some form, something will not be “comfortable” for some people, in fact it sounds painful. The only other way (that bI see right now) out of this is to proclaim that this is an untruth, that Jesus did not say it and that man somehow put this thought here to manipulate people. I personally do not believe that, however, some do, that’s their choice.
My question is, it’s all fine and dandy to say that the understanding of a Scripture is not what it seems, not what someone else thinks, or whatever, but to qualify that thought, I would like to know what you think Jesus IS saying? What is YOUR interpretation of His words? What message do YOU get out of what Jesus tells us here? In other words, WWJS?
I pondered your thought that “Satan clearly moved from someone who God dealt with directly (a devil’s advocate – so to speak) to a more sinister presence in the new testament. ” As I read the words of Christ throughout the Scriptures, I hear Him telling us that He has come to fulfill (or explain) much that has been taken wrong my man. Would you agree? I guess, in essence that I believe that if Jesus says it (since I believe that Jesus is God in the flesh), then it must be true. I have no problems in reconciling the Satan of the book of Job with the Devil of the book of Matthew. How would you reconcile them? or What do you believe that God is broadly telling us in these two instances?
Again, I certainly agree that the ultimate delusion is to think that we understand God. However, I also believe that God has communicated with us through the Scriptures and he wants us to understand what He tells us, as much as our finite minds can.
As always, I appreciate your comments and your perspective my friend. I appreciate that we can wrestle with Scripture and thoughts together. God bless.”
RonLawHouston Commented again: Jan- I think anyone who seeks to impose their own will as opposed to God’s will is one who “opposes” and would thus be Satan. For instance, we know Peter was not Satan, yet Jesus tells him “get behind me Satan.” Now you may read this as Satan was affecting Peter, but I read this as Peter seeking to do his will and not God’s will as making him “Satan.”
So when you or I seek to do our will rather than God’s will, we are the “devil” who sows evil seeds. So, “who” is Satan? Unfortunately anyone can be a “Satan.” When we don’t fully surrender to God, we can become “Satan.”
I keep saying, the metaphorical Satan is much more powerful than a literal one.
MY REPLY to RonLawHouston: I can understand what you are saying about Satan being completely metaphorical. However, I believe that we are not the “devil” or “Satan”, but that we can be influenced by him. If we were to come at scripture from either angle, Satan as an actual being, or that Satan as that part of us that sows evil seeds, the consequences look the same to me. I believe that Satan tempts and influences us, not that we “are” Satan. It will be interesting to look deeper at Satan through the Scriptures some time. For now we can certainly agree to disagree on some points
I would still be interested to hear your interpretation of this Scripture (what is being said about the kingdom by Jesus ) through your lens.
My friend Evowookiee commented: I really wonder how much influence the exile into Persia had on our religion. I’m not saying that truth is relative, but trying to understand GOD concepts in the minds of mortals is hard…and can only be done through association of what you know.
C.S Lewis states that God exists simply for the fact that we could not have created him. Pre-Historic (in the correct definition) man would have feared the world. The unexplainable forces and powers working in his life, pitted with the morality that antithesizes human nature would have frightened him…and then pull out a God that not only created everything- but cares for us? where did that come from?
I think the same thing happens with the devil. Now while I believe he exists and that there are evil forces at work in this world, I do not believe in this dualistic nature. NOTHING can oppose God.
MY REPLY to Evowookie: Thank you for commenting. I also believe that there are evil forces at work in this world.
My friend RonLaw Houston commented: Jan – I know you’re old enough to remember Flip Wilson doing his character where he said, “the devil made me do it!” I agree with you. Whether evil is brought about by men or by some evil force at work in the world, the results are the same.
I tend to view much of our modern view of the devil as influenced by both the Greek and by Persian Zorasterism. People have been grappling with the problem of evil probably since the beginning of time. There’s no way our discussion will likely ever make sense of that.
I don’t think that there is one concept that you can definitively say is the Kingdom of God. I mean, is there a literal Kingdom of God or was Jesus just using it as a metaphor or another form of parable? I see Jesus using a lot of metaphor when he talks of the “Kingdom” Doesn’t mean that there isn’t a literal Kingdom, but it certainly is a very deep subject.
I think you’re doing a wonderful job of discussing it.