This parable is about counterfeit disciples, satanic attacks by planting them inside the kingdom of God, yet we must not render ultimate and final judgment on them before God does. It also speaks of Jesus’ view of the end-times. It is not as complicated as the teachings of popular, end-time Bible prophecy teachers.

Please be sure you are not a counterfeit disciple under satanic leadership.

Before we begin the exegesis ….

Quick definition of a parable:

Literally, the word parable (parabolē in Greek) combines para– (pronounced pah-rah) and means “alongside” and bolē (pronounced boh-lay) which means “put” or even “throw”). Therefore, a parable puts two or more images or ideas alongside each other to produce a new truth. […] The Shorter Lexicon says that the Greek word parabolē can sometimes be translated as “symbol,” “type,” “figure,” and “illustration,” the latter term being virtually synonymous with parable.

For more information on what a parable is and its purposes, click on this link:

What Is a Parable?

The translation is mine. If you would like to see other translations, click here:

biblegateway.com.

If you don’t read Greek, ignore the left column.

I often quote scholars in print because I learn many things from them. They are a community of teachers I respect (1 Cor. 12:28), though I don’t agree with everything they write. But they do ensure I do not go astray. There is safety in numbers (for me at least).

Now let’s begin.

Parable of Weeds among Wheat (Matt. 13:24-30)

24 Ἄλλην παραβολὴν παρέθηκεν αὐτοῖς λέγων· ὡμοιώθη ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν ἀνθρώπῳ σπείραντι καλὸν σπέρμα ἐν τῷ ἀγρῷ αὐτοῦ. 25 ἐν δὲ τῷ καθεύδειν τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἦλθεν αὐτοῦ ὁ ἐχθρὸς καὶ ἐπέσπειρεν ζιζάνια ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ σίτου καὶ ἀπῆλθεν. 26 ὅτε δὲ ἐβλάστησεν ὁ χόρτος καὶ καρπὸν ἐποίησεν, τότε ἐφάνη καὶ τὰ ζιζάνια. 27 προσελθόντες δὲ οἱ δοῦλοι τοῦ οἰκοδεσπότου εἶπον αὐτῷ· κύριε, οὐχὶ καλὸν σπέρμα ἔσπειρας ἐν τῷ σῷ ἀγρῷ; πόθεν οὖν ἔχει ζιζάνια; 28 ὁ δὲ ἔφη αὐτοῖς· ἐχθρὸς ἄνθρωπος τοῦτο ἐποίησεν. οἱ δὲ δοῦλοι λέγουσιν αὐτῷ· θέλεις οὖν ἀπελθόντες συλλέξωμεν αὐτά; 29 ὁ δέ φησιν· οὔ, μήποτε συλλέγοντες τὰ ζιζάνια ἐκριζώσητε ἅμα αὐτοῖς τὸν σῖτον. 30 ἄφετε συναυξάνεσθαι ἀμφότερα ἕως τοῦ θερισμοῦ, καὶ ἐν καιρῷ τοῦ θερισμοῦ ἐρῶ τοῖς θερισταῖς· συλλέξατε πρῶτον τὰ ζιζάνια καὶ δήσατε αὐτὰ εἰς δέσμας πρὸς τὸ κατακαῦσαι αὐτά, τὸν δὲ σῖτον συναγάγετε εἰς τὴν ἀποθήκην μου.

24 He presented to them another parable, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 While the laborers were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and left. 26 When the grass sprouted and produced grain, then the weeds also appeared. 27 The servants of the head of household approached and said to him, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed your field? Where then do the weeds come from?’ 28 He said to them, ‘The enemy did this!’ The servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and pull them out’? 29 But he said, ‘No, in case you uproot both the wheat and the weeds while you gather the weeds. 30 Leave both to grow together until the harvest, and at harvesttime I’ll say to the harvesters, “First gather the weeds and tie them into bundles to burn them. But gather the wheat into my barn.”’

Jesus interprets this parable in vv. 36-43. Let’s wait till then to go into more detail. For now, here are some briefer comments.

Let’s take it verse by verse.

24-30:

“kingdom of heaven”: Matthew substitutes “heaven” (literally heavens or plural) nearly every time (except for 12:28; 19:24; 21:31, 43, where he uses kingdom of God). Why? Four possible reasons: (1) Maybe some extra-pious Jews preferred the circumlocution or the roundabout way of speaking, but this answer is not always the right one, for Matthew does use the phrase “kingdom of God” four times; (2) the phrase “kingdom of heaven” points to Christ’s post-resurrection authority; God’s sovereignty in heaven and earth (beginning with Jesus’s ministry) is now mediated through Jesus (28:18); (3) “kingdom of God” makes God the king (26:29) and leaves less room to ascribe the kingdom to Jesus (16:28; 25:31, 34, 40; 27:42), but the phrase “kingdom of heaven” leaves more room to say Jesus is the king Messiah. (4) It may be a stylistic variation that has no deeper reasoning behind it (France). In my view the third option shows the close connection to the doctrine of the Trinity; the Father and Son share authority, after the Father gives it to him during the Son’s incarnation. The kingdom of heaven is both the kingdom of the Father and the kingdom of the Messiah (Carson). And, since I like streamlined interpretations, the fourth one also appeals to me.

Now let’s go for a general consideration of the kingdom of heaven / God. As noted in other verses that mention the kingdom in this commentary, the kingdom is God’s power, authority, rule, reign and sovereignty. He exerts all those things over all the universe but more specifically over the lives of people. It is his invisible realm, and throughout the Gospels Jesus is explaining and demonstrating what it looks like before their very eyes and ears. It is gradually being manifested from the realm of faith to the visible realm, but it is not political in the human sense. It is a secret kingdom because it does not enter humanity with trumpets blaring and full power and glory. This grand display will happen when Jesus comes back. In his first coming, it woos people to surrender to it. We can enter God’s kingdom by being born again (John 3:3, 5), by repenting (Matt. 4:17; Mark 1:5), by having the faith of children (Matt. 18:4; Mark 10:14-15), by being transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of the Son whom God loves (Col. 1:13), and by seeing their own poverty and need for the kingdom (Matt. 5:3; Luke 6:20; Jas. 2:5). The kingdom has already come in part at his First Coming, but not yet with full manifestation and glory and power until his Second Coming.

5 The Kingdom of God: Already Here, But Not Yet Fully

Bible Basics about the Kingdom of God

Questions and Answers about Kingdom of God

Basic Definition of Kingdom of God

1 Introducing the Kingdom of God (begin a ten-part series)

“man”: it is the Greek noun anthrōpos (pronounced ahn-throw-poss), and even in the plural some interpreters say that it means only “men.” However, throughout the Greek written before and during the NT, in the plural it means people in general, including womankind (except rare cases, depending on the context). In the singular it can mean person, depending on the context (Matt. 4:4; 10:36; 12:11, 12; 12:43, 45; 15:11, 18). So a “person” or “people” or “men and women” (and so on) is almost always the most accurate translation, despite what more conservative translations say. However, I chose “man,” since he was mainly the one who sowed the seeds; however, a woman could have done this outdoor farm work.

“laborers”: it literally reads “men,” but the context allows for “laborers.” They could include women since they too went out to harvest. Everyone had to work during peak sowing and growing season.

“weeds”: the darnel plant that looks a lot like wheat during their sprouting, but having poisonous seeds (Olmstead, p. 326).

It would be difficult for the workers to root out so many tares without damaging the wheat at this stage. … They had grown enough that their roots were already intertwined with those of the wheat; uprooting thus might endanger the wheat (13:29). After the wheat and darnel were grown, they were easily distinguished and reapers could gather the darnel, which did have one use: given the scarcity of fuel, it would be burned. … Wheat was normally gathered and bound in sheaves, then transported, probably on donkeys, to the village (or, in this case, the large estate own) threshing floor … then stored (Keener, p. 387).

“servants”: The word servants here is doulos (singular and pronounced doo-loss; the plural is douloi and pronounced doo-loi) and could be translated as slaves, but I chose servants because in Jewish culture a Hebrew man who sold himself into servitude to his fellow Jew was like an indentured servant whose term of service had a limit; he was freed in the seventh year. But then the indentured servant could stay with his family, if he liked his owner (Exod. 21:2-6; Lev. 25:38-46; Deut. 15:12-18). So there was a lot of liberty even in servitude, in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament).

Slavery and Freedom in the Bible

It is a sure thing, however, that Matthew’s Greek-speaking audience, knowledgeable about Greek culture, would have heard “slaves” in the word douloi. So if you wish to interpret it like that, then that’s your decision. But culturally at that time, slavery had nothing to do with colonial or modern slavery.

In v. 30, “harvesttime” comes from the noun kairos (pronounced kye-ross and is used 85 times), which speaks more of a quality time than quantity. BDAG is considered by many to be the authoritative lexicon of the Greek NT, and it defines the noun as follows: (1) a point of time or period of time, time, period, frequently with the implication of being especially fit for something and without emphasis on precise chronology. (a) Generally a welcome time or difficult time … fruitful times; (b) a moment or period as especially appropriate the right, proper, favorable time … at the right time; (2) a defined period for an event, definite, fixed time (e.g. period of fasting or mourning in accord with the changes in season), in due time (Gal. 6:9); (3) a period characterized by some aspect of special crisis, time; (a) generally the present time (Rom. 13:11; 12:11); (b) One of the chief terms relating to the endtime … the time of crisis, the last times.

All of this stand in a mild contrast—not a sharp contrast—from chronos (pronounced khro-noss). This is the other Greek noun for time, which measures one day, one week or one month after another.

In this context, kairos means both the end times and the first definition and (b). God will send out his harvesters and separate them out (vv. 41-42).

Blomberg says that we should not be over-zealous and purge the world of evil:

Just as the wheat and weeds were often superficially similar in appearance and if sown too close to each other were too intermingled in their root systems to be pulled up separately, so too God’s people are sometimes outwardly hard to distinguish from his enemies. They can be too interconnected with them in society for anyone to try to purify the world from evil without hurting those who are good. Nevertheless, in Jesus’ society many Zealots, and at times even his disciples (cf. Luke 9:54), were often eager for precisely this to happen. Jesus warns them they must wait for the final judgment. (comment on 13:24-30)

I add: too many over-zealous Christians want to remove people from the kingdom, too.

Now let’s read how Jesus explained this parable.

Parable of Weeds among Wheat, Explained (Matt. 13:36-43)

36 Τότε ἀφεὶς τοὺς ὄχλους ἦλθεν εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν. καὶ προσῆλθον αὐτῷ οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ λέγοντες· διασάφησον ἡμῖν τὴν παραβολὴν τῶν ζιζανίων τοῦ ἀγροῦ. 37 ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν· ὁ σπείρων τὸ καλὸν σπέρμα ἐστὶν ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, 38 ὁ δὲ ἀγρός ἐστιν ὁ κόσμος, τὸ δὲ καλὸν σπέρμα οὗτοί εἰσιν οἱ υἱοὶ τῆς βασιλείας· τὰ δὲ ζιζάνιά εἰσιν οἱ υἱοὶ τοῦ πονηροῦ, 39 ὁ δὲ ἐχθρὸς ὁ σπείρας αὐτά ἐστιν ὁ διάβολος, ὁ δὲ θερισμὸς συντέλεια αἰῶνός ἐστιν, οἱ δὲ θερισταὶ ἄγγελοί εἰσιν. 40 ὥσπερ οὖν συλλέγεται τὰ ζιζάνια καὶ πυρὶ [κατα]καίεται, οὕτως ἔσται ἐν τῇ συντελείᾳ τοῦ αἰῶνος· 41 ἀποστελεῖ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τοὺς ἀγγέλους αὐτοῦ, καὶ συλλέξουσιν ἐκ τῆς βασιλείας αὐτοῦ πάντα τὰ σκάνδαλα καὶ τοὺς ποιοῦντας τὴν ἀνομίαν 42 καὶ βαλοῦσιν αὐτοὺς εἰς τὴν κάμινον τοῦ πυρός· ἐκεῖ ἔσται ὁ κλαυθμὸς καὶ ὁ βρυγμὸς τῶν ὀδόντων. 43 τότε οἱ δίκαιοι ἐκλάμψουσιν ὡς ὁ ἥλιος ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτῶν. ὁ ἔχων ὦτα ἀκουέτω.

36 At that time he dismissed the crowds and went into the house. His disciples approached him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.” 37 In reply, he said, “The one who sows is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world. And the good seed are the sons and daughters of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons and daughters of the evil one. 39 The enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the close of the age, and the harvesters are the angels. 40 So then just as the weeds are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the close of the age. 41 The Son of Man shall send out his angels, and they shall gather from out of his kingdom all causes of sin and those practicing lawlessness. 42 And they shall throw them in the fiery oven; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 At that time the righteous shall shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Anyone who has ears—let him hear!”

The fact that God delays the final harvest and judgment, despite all the evil we see around us, is gracious. He wants all people, everywhere, to be saved and come to the knowledge of truth (1 Tim. 2:4).

Verse by verse again.

36-43:

Sower of Good Seed = Son of Man (It both means the powerful, divine Son of man [Dan. 7:13-14] and the human son of man—Ezekiel himself—in the book of Ezekiel [numerous references]. Jesus was and still is in heaven both divine and human.)

4. Titles of Jesus: The Son of Man

Field = World

Good Seeds = Sons and Daughters of Kingdom

Sower of Weeds = The Devil

Bad Seeds = Sons and Daughters of Evil One (Devil)

Harvest = End of Age

Harvesters = Angels

Weeds = Causers of Sin and Doers of Lawlessness

Fate of Weeds = Burned in Fiery Oven, with Weeping and Gnashing of Teeth

Fate of Good Seeds = Righteous Shining like the Sun in their Father’s Kingdom

Some interpret the field as the church, but here Jesus actually says it is the world. There are differences between the church and the kingdom.

Questions and Answers about Kingdom of God

Bible Basics about the Kingdom of God

Now we have a mighty struggle between the kingdom of the Son of Man and those who belong to the evil one in his domain. Satan has his people in his prison-kingdom: the weeds. Recall from vv. 24-30, it is a plant that looks like wheat and whose seeds are poisonous. It is called the darnel. We should not partake of their worldly ways and eat their poison. However, our job, which is not mentioned in this particular parable, is to go out and rescue them, by preaching and making disciples (Matt. 28:18-20). Let’s not judge them prematurely and cast them into the fiery oven before the angels can harvest!

Note that there is no emphasis in this parable on the church as the force by which the kingdom reaches the world. God is the power behind the spreading power of the kingdom. (Osborne, comment on 13:38).

“fire”: other verses speak of outer darkness (Matt. 8:12; 22:13; 25:30).

Please read a three-part series:

1. Hell and Punishment: Eternal, Conscious Torment

2. Hell and Punishment: Terminal Punishment

3. Hell and Punishment: Universalism

“close of the age”: The final harvest is the end of the age. The Greek word which I translate “close” is the noun sunteleia (pronounced soon-teh-lay-ah) or synteleia (pronounced sin-teh-lay-ah), and it is used in Matthew’s Gospel five times (13:39, 40, 49; 24:3; 28:20 and once in Heb. 9:26). It has taken on a specialized sense of a brand new age that closes out one age and begins the Messianic Age. This word will play a key role in my interpretation of the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24.

Matt 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21 (and 17) in Parallel Columns Are Finally Clear

Matthew 24:4-35 Predicts Destruction of Jerusalem and Temple

Matthew 24:36 to 25:46–From Second Coming to New Messianic Age

The fuller exegesis has now been moved to this post:

What Jesus Really Taught about End Times

“sons and daughters”: As I note in my comment on 8:12, Carson says the phrasing means “belonging to” or “destined for” “those who belong to” God. But I like the family clarity here. Also I translated it as “sons and daughters,” because in this context, the term is generic and inclusive.

Maybe these verses in Matthew 7 can clarify what is happening here:

²¹ Not everyone saying to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one doing the will of my Father in heaven. ²² Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name? And in your name expel demons? And in your name do many miracles?” ²³ And then I’ll declare to them, “I never knew you! Depart from me, you practitioners of lawlessness!” (Matt. 7:21-23)

The key parallel between these verses are the practitioners or workers of lawlessness.

Could it be that seeds also entail the gospel (good) that kingdom people have with them and evil doctrines that the devil’s people have with them? The darnel have poisonous seeds, after all. That may be a stretch, but it is worth considering

“in that place”: The Greek says ekei (pronounced eh-kay), which means “there” or “that place.” Unfortunately most translation don’t pick up on the ambiguity of their translations: “There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Here it is more awkwardly but accurate: “The weeping and the gnashing will be there.” The standard translation (“there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth)” makes “there” into the wrong kind of adverb, or at least it is not clear in English. The clearer translation is as I have it.

So where is “that place”? Matthew uses the metaphor of a fiery oven. It is verses like this one that prompt nonliteral interpretations of darkness (8:12) and fire (v. 42).

Charismatic theologian J. Rodman Williams (d. 2008) says fire and darkness are just metaphors, which cannot be taken literally, for separation from God and punishment. Read the excerpt, above. It should be noted that Jesus says nothing about the oven lasting for eternity here.

“weeping and gnashing”: Keener says that weeping means mourning over damnation, and gnashing of teeth may indicate anger or a strong emotion similar to it. Carson says weeping may indicate suffering, and gnashing indicates despair, and Osborne agrees. In any case, existence in punishment is unhappy and produces despair and even anger. Perhaps the gnashing can also mean cursing in anger. (See these verses for gnashing: Acts 7:54; Job 16:9; Pss. 34:16; 36:12; 112:10; Lam. 2:16). Since weeping indicates remorse, it is not quite accurate to claim that hell is locked from the inside as if people want to be there, though maybe only the enraged do want this.

It is best to avoid such punishment, whatever it entails, by putting your faith in Christ and staying in union with him.

Peter writes that corrupt people “are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them” (2 Peter 2:17). Fire is not the only punishment.

See my posts about Satan in the area of systematic theology:

Bible Basics about Satan and Demons and Victory Over Them

Satan and Demons: Personal

Satan and Demons: Theology

Satan and Demons: Origins

Bible Basics about Deliverance

Magic, Witchcraft, Sorcery, and Fortunetelling

Here is a multi-part study of angels in the area of systematic theology, but first a list of the basics.

Angels:

(a) Are messengers (in Hebrew mal’ak and in Greek angelos);

(b) Are created spirit beings;

(c) Have a beginning at their creation (not eternal);

(d) Have a beginning, but they are immortal (deathless).

(e) Have moral judgment;

(f) Have a certain measure of free will;

(g) Have high intelligence;

(h) Do not have physical bodies;

(i) But can manifest with immortal bodies before humans;

(j) Can show the emotion of joy.

Bible Basics about Angels

Angels: Questions and Answers

Angels: Their Duties and Missions

Angels: Their Names and Ranks and Heavenly Existence

Angels: Their Origins, Abilities, and Nature

GrowApp for Matt. 13:24-30, 36-43

A. How has the enemy sown bad seed (false gospel and doctrine) into your life? How did you overcome it?

B This is a sobering parable about not judging people in the world too quickly. Can you think of ways you need to let God sort out people’s behavior and not prejudge them?

C The weeds speak of poison. Read 1 Corinthians 15:33. How do you separate from the poisonous influence of the world and yet reach out to people caught there?

SOURCES

To see the bibliography, click on this link and scroll down to the bottom:

Matthew 13