Matthew 13:36-43 36Then after leaving the crowds, he went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” 37And answering he said, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, 38and the field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom, and the weeds are the sons of the evil one, 39and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40Therefore, just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 41The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all the stumblings into sin and those who do lawlessness, 42and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.
We now get the explanation of the parable of the weeds from verses 24-29. Jesus has told his disciples the reason why he spoke in parables. The parables were more than entertaining folk tales but had spiritual application. They had faith and wanted the deeper meaning. The narrative follows a similar pattern as earlier in the chapter: parable (verses 1-9, 24-29), the disciples’ question (verses 10, 36), followed by the reason for speaking in parables (verses 11-16, 34-35), followed by the meaning of the parable (verses 18-23, 37-43). Each part of the parable has a deeper meaning.
The farmer who planted the seed is the Son of Man, referring to Jesus. Jesus came to the world (field) with the message of the kingdom of heaven and exemplified this in his teaching and healing ministry. The king had come with the greatest announcement of all time. Jesus extended his ministry through sending his disciples, the sons of the kingdom. They are the ones who go out into the fields and plant seeds of the gospel (the earlier parable of the sower) by modeling the same type of ministry of teaching and healing. Their ministry would grow like the wheat seeds, leading to a great harvest of souls.
But not everyone received Jesus’ words, nor would everyone receive the message of the disciples. Jesus calls the opposition the sons of the evil one. The devil is the great deceiver who entices people with the riches and concerns of the world (verses 19, 22). He appeals to the basic human problems of selfishness, arrogance, and pride. Materialism and concern for self get tangled up with faith in Jesus. Sometimes, this conflict even comes in the church.
The focus of this parable comes in the last part in the harvest at the end of the age. The angels will assist Jesus, the Son of Man, in the reaping of the great harvest. Two outcomes are mentioned that match people’s choice about who they will follow. Those who follow the devil and find their meaning in the world and its enticements will be thrown in the fiery furnace, a place of great sadness and pain. Fire is often used in the Bible for the final outcome of the unrepentant and wicked.
Those who follow Jesus become citizens of the kingdom and will shine like the sun. The verb behind this description occurs only here in the New Testament and represents the utter radiance of the sun, which is too bright to even look at. The kingdom ultimately belongs to God the Father. The Father dwells in heaven. This kingdom is “of heaven” (verse 24), and thus, it is eternal. It will have the opposite outcome of the fiery furnace and be a place of great happiness and peace. Jesus basically gives his disciples, crowds, and religious leaders a choice: will they be part of the kingdom by believing in him, or will they reject him and encounter the judgment of God?
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