1. Grace, mercy, and peace from God our heavenly Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. The message from God’s Word today as we continue our Sermon Series on Parables for Pentecost is taken from Matthew 13:24-30 and 36-43. It’s entitled, “Zizahnia,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ. Jesus put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away.” (Matt. 13:24–25)
2. This parable reminds me of a story: Once upon a time, there was a girl named Zizahnia. She was so beautiful on the outside, and those who didn’t know her put her on a pedestal and thought she would be married off in a hurry. But those who knew her didn’t consider her to be as beautiful on the inside. More like poison—if she ever got married, she would be rescued by a prince of a man, that’s for sure. Ah, Zizahnia. Today’s Gospel text is the second in a group of seven parables, and, like the first, the parable of the reckless sower, Jesus tells this second parable to the crowds but then privately explains the meaning to his disciples.
3. The “kingdom of heaven” is the Jewish way of saying “the kingdom of God,” which means the rule, the reign, of God in and through Jesus. The crowd needed to hear the parable, because they didn’t understand how Jesus’ rejection by many of the people, and especially by the religious rulers, could possibly be the rule of God. Ironically, when we sinners think of God’s kingdom, the words that come to mind are the justice and fairness of God and all things good . . . unless you are a sinner. And ironically, the kind of kingdom and rule that Jesus offered was very unsatisfying to those who were oblivious to the fact that the last thing they needed was justice! The last thing that the guilty need is fairness and the vindication of God and all things good.
4. So, you have Jesus telling the people of his Galilean headquarters, “And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to heaven? No, you will go down to hell. If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day” (Mt 11:23). And even in his hometown of Nazareth, after teaching in his own neighborhood, those who knew him asked, “That’s the carpenter’s son, isn’t it?” There were adults there that grew up with Jesus, whom he always loved and never sinned against, and they say something as cold and derogatory as, “Whence to this guy such wisdom and powers?” (Mt 13:54). Finally, in Jerusalem, the capital city, this King Jesus who would reign over them is thrown away. “Give us Barabbas, and crucify this one!” “We have no king but Caesar!” (Jn 19:15). How can Jesus be ruling if so many are rejecting him? “And 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?’ ” (Matt. 13:27). And not just in the world. But among the wheat. The real fruit of Jesus’ rule was underneath the poison passed off as the Church.
5. That’s what the word translated “weeds” or “tares” is, by the way. It’s sometimes translated “darnel,” which is a poisonous weed that looks like the wheat. Isn’t that scary! But can you guess what the Greek word is? Yes, you guessed it . . . zizahnia. So, in the parable, they say, “ ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them’ ” (Matt. 13:28–29). It was a bad idea. I know. I did it.
6. A couple of years ago I was out in my yard with my weed wacker, “taming the wild,” and I shredded into oblivion what I was convinced was a weed. “Into the fiery furnace, Zizahnia, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!” After which my wife asked, “What happened to my rhubarb plant?” You guessed it. There was weeping and gnashing of teeth, I wanna tell ya. I’ve spent my life around machinery, but when it comes to plants, I’m a dunce. Just point me in the wrong direction, and I’ll cut the whole garden down.
7. So can you imagine how dangerous it would be to pass ourselves off as experts in harvesting the righteous. Well, I guess we don’t have to imagine. Look at all the periods of Church history that are ugly because people were doing just that! And how many nonbelievers have cited the Christian Crusades of the Middle Ages as one of their many excuses for avoiding the hypocrisy of organized religion.
8. Look at ourselves and how we can look down on other Christians because we deem they haven’t yet arrived at exactly where we are! And exactly where is that? In the judge’s seat, apparently. This parable teaches that that’s not our job. And it’s a good thing that it’s not our job. Remember, the weeds look like the wheat to those who are not experts like the harvesters, the angels. But the most dangerous and frightening thing of all is that we know that the weeds look like the wheat when we look in the mirror too. It’s good that the mirror is terrifying! That is the work of God. That is his second use of the Law to drive us away from our pride and to repent toward Jesus who is waiting with wounds and welcome!
9. The Holy Spirit calls us to follow Jesus, who saved our lives from underneath the canopy of liars who tried to poison us. Jesus told us the truth from underneath the world that rejected him and crucified him, imagining they got rid of him. But Christ is risen! And that crucifixion absorbs all the poison and turns the weeds into wheat! Jesus rescues Zizahnia! She married a prince of a Man after all! And remaining in him does bear fruit, even under the canopy of this lying culture of weeds that’s so afraid to know the truth that it hopes the wheat will stay hidden forever. This parable teaches us to trust Jesus that under is okay for now.
10. Besides, when you’re underneath, you’re in a great position to do some heavy lifting, like Jesus. This parable teaches a general truth that a lot of Jesus’ parables teach: “The Lord knows all about it.” Jesus knew what they were thinking, and he knows what we’re thinking: “Yes, I know, you don’t understand why things are the way they are, but I do, and I’m in control, and I’ll take care of it, and I’ll take care of you.”
11. Jesus told this parable outside to the crowds who were judging him, but he gave the explanation in the house to his disciples who followed him. To the crowds, Jesus said, “Someday, on the Last Day everything will be made right. But for the sake of the wheat, let them grow together with the weeds. Because when it’s all grown, and the wheat bears fruit and the weeds don’t, that day will make it plain.”
12. We may ask, “What possible good does it do the wheat to have weeds growing along with them?” We think of persecution versus prosperity, or the fact that we don’t know who will end up being wheat, but in the end, it’s all speculation, not faith. Faith is content that Jesus knows. Maybe instead we should ask, “What good might it do the weeds to have the wheat growing along with them?” Who will rescue Zizahnia, if not a very good Man? “Then Jesus 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’ ” (Matt. 13:36). See, now in the darkness of the house, just with his disciples, probably just the Twelve and the women. Obscure, hidden, under the canopy of weeds, Jesus tells us how it really is.
13. What an honor! How is it that we are called into the house to have the Lord himself whisper his plans into our ears? Think of it! The world does not fear him, and we come into this little sanctuary, way beneath the poison canopy of what this world deems important, to receive his Word. What an honor! What a joy to know Jesus! And what hope we have! Because he explained the parable to the disciples, not as a warning as to the crowds, but as comfort, as a sure hope.
14. First, because the one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. That we’re here, bearing fruit, is his doing. That’s a real comfort, because if it was Jesus that got us here, then it’s Jesus who gets us home. If redeeming us was all God’s doing, then keeping us in the faith is his doing too! But then doesn’t it say the man fell asleep, and the enemy came and sowed weeds? I don’t understand. Why would the Lord fall asleep? No, it says, while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed on top weeds among the wheat and went away.
15. His men have fallen asleep when they weren’t supposed to—at the transfiguration, at Gethsemane, sure. But nobody can be awake all the time, except he who “will neither slumber nor sleep” (Ps 121:4). And his enemy, our enemy, fights dirty, but does nothing that the Lord doesn’t both know about and use for our good. Is it easy? No.
16. But that will all come to an end. On the day of the harvest, the wheat is no longer tangled up with the weeds, and those who belong to Jesus will no longer be second-class citizens, no longer struggle, no longer bearing fruit in the dark under the poison canopy of weeds who thought they owned it all. “The righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Matt. 13:43). In the meantime, the weeds and the wheat look so much alike that it’s hard for amateurs like us to tell if it’s wheat or just a weed that hasn’t woken up yet—which is to say, Zizahnia, who hasn’t been rescued yet. Because, although this is covered in other parables, the planting consists of rescuing and baptizing into that rescue! And it’s hard to tell whether today is just another day under the poison canopy or it’s the day of harvest that still has only a little over twelve hours to go. What we do know is that we can trust the very good Man who planted us. Jesus is God with wounds, for Zizahnia and for all of us who were Zizahnia until we were rescued. Those who have ears, let them hear. Amen. Now the peace of God, that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, until life everlasting. Amen.
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