Our Lord explains the meaning of a parable

Today’s Sunday Gospel is the Parable of the Weeds Among the Wheat and you can read it in Matt.13: 24-43. Actually this is one parable that our Lord tells the crowds, but eventually explains its meaning very clearly to his disciples. So you can say that this gospel is for all intents and purposes self-explanatory. So you must read this gospel in its entirety.

 24[Jesus] proposed another parable to [the crowds, saying] “The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 While everyone was asleep his enemy came and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off. 26 When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well.

 27 The slaves of the householder came to him and said, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where have the weeds come from?’ 28 He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ His slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up? 29 He replied, ‘No, if you pull up the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them. 30 Let them grow together until harvest; then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters, “First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning; but gather the wheat into my barn.”.”

 31 He proposed another parable to them. “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in a field. 32 It is the smallest of all the seeds, yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants. It becomes a large bush, and the ‘birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.’”

 33 He spoke to them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch was leavened.” 34 All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables. He spoke to them only in parables, 35 to fulfill what had been said through the prophet: “I will open my mouth in parables. I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundation [of the world.]

 36 Then, dismissing the crowds, he went into the house. His disciples approached him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.” 37 He said in reply, “He who sows good seed is the Son of Man, 38 the field is the world, the good seed the children of the kingdom. The weeds are the children 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 Just as weeds are collected and burned [up] with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all who cause others to sin and all evildoers. 42 They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

 As our Lord Jesus pointed out clearly, the Sower is Jesus himself and he sows the children of God, while the weeds are the children of Satan. So we all live in this world with what we call Sinners or Saints. You can even say that there is a tug-o-war between the children of God and the children of the Evil One; each one tries to pull the other on his side. More often than not, the Evil one who lures an innocent soul triumphs, and we become weeds.

 This happens if the children of God don’t do anything to save our souls through evangelization. Remember the old saying “For evil to flourish, it is enough for good men to do nothing!” If you’ve been very frustrated lately that there is so much misery, killing, rape or robbery in our locality, perhaps you should look at the mirror first and ask yourself “What am I going to do with this problem?” To answer that question, let me quote the late US Pres. John F. Kennedy who said during his inaugural speech, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” Then just maybe, things will be better.

 Perhaps the most important message in today’s gospel is in the last part, when the time of the harvest comes. That means, when the end of time or the world comes. But since the end times have been postponed, perhaps our Lord Jesus Christ is referring to the end of our individual lives and the Angel of Death or the Harvester would come to get us. So your ticket to eternal life really depends on whether or not you were a good seed during your lifetime or you were a big bad weed?

 Now is a good time as any to ask yourself whether you are wheat or a weed? If you read this passage very clearly, the Angels will collect the weeds and throw them to the fiery furnace “Where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.” This passage gives you an idea that if we are cast into hell, there will be waling and grinding of teeth. Once more for emphasis, take stock of yourself and ask, whether you are a good seed or a bad weed?

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