He Will Separate People One From Another1
Matthew 13:24-30; 36-43
24[Jesus] put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, 25but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. 26So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. 27And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ 28He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ 29But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them 30Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’”
36Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” 37He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.”
All the spiritual good in the world comes from the Son of Man. Whoever the servants may be, the Master who sent them to sow the good seed is Jesus, our Lord.
38“The field is the world, (The gospel is to be preached everywhere in the world. And the church that results from the preaching of the gospel is in the world, although it is “not of the world.”2 The whole world belongs to Jesus. Let Satan rage as he may, he is only a usurper who has no right to rule the world. Regardless of all opposition, the world is the great field where the Lord has sown the seed of his church and raises it “in newness of life.”3) and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, (Satan is a busy creature and is always doing his best to interfere with the good work of Jesus. The offspring of the serpent is the deadly enemy of the offspring of the woman.) 39and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. (Our Savior was not referring to a weed that grows in our country, but one that looks very much like wheat that is common in the East. The evil one could not stop the good seed from springing up, so he tried to interfere with its growth and spoil the harvest by throwing harmful seeds in the field. The devil cannot destroy the church and therefore he labors to damage its beauty by the introduction of hypocrites. In many ways, these deceivers are so much like true Christians that it is not possible to remove them without including some true believers by mistake. We can easily expel open sinners from the church, but not those who give the outward appearance of being Christians. However wrong at heart they may be, we are unable to judge them, and must let them remain.) The harvest is the close of the age, and the reapers are angels.
40“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 causes of sin and all law-breakers, 42and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
The true character of people will become evident in due season. It will be clearly seen at the last day. Angels will have no difficulty in discerning between sincere believers and those who merely go through the motions of religion. People may deceive the church today and do it much harm by creeping into it while they are unconverted. However, they should tremble, because the hour is coming when the unquenchable fires of divine wrath will consume all pretenders.
43“Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.”
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1 Matthew 25:32
2 John 17:16
3 Romans 6:4