Matthew 13:36-43 – Be careful what we sow

Like in the case of the parable of the sower, the disciples came to Jesus again and asked for the explanation on the parable of the weeds of the field.  The message of this parable complement that of the parable of the sower. It tells us that along the sowing of the message of the Kingdom, there would be false sowing of another kind of seeds. After sowing the good seed, the farmer rightly would anticipate a good harvest for his labor. However, in this parable we are told that the enemy came and sow in the same field, the seed of weeds. The sower of wheat we know is Christ, the Son of God, and the sower of the weeds is none other than the devil. The wheats refer to the children of the Kingdom. They are the children of God. The tares are clearly a reference to the children of the evil one.

Evidently, the false sowing took place after the sowing of the good seed. While waiting for the harvest, both the good and bad seed germinated and sprouted. It became clearly evident that weeds were present among the fruit of the good seed. Isn’t this true of the scenario in the church? Among the genuine children of God, we find pseudo believers, the children of the evil one. It would be impossible to root them out without affecting the genuine believers. The owner of the field knew this so well. So he advised his concerned workers to wait till the harvest. This of course anticipates a coming judgement. It would be when the fruit of both the wheat and weed would be separated. The wheats will be gathered into God’s eternal presence, while the weeds will be gathered into eternal damnation.
 

Here is a call to be careful what we hear and what we share. We need to reflect on what we have heard before we share them. Let’s be careful about whose seed we are sowing. There are undiscerning believers who unwittingly are sowing bad seeds and propagating false doctrines and bringing confusion to the church. It behooves us both as workers and children of God, to be discerning over what we have heard, for it will affect what we are sowing. We must not take in any teaching, hook, line and sinker, without careful reflection over it. In so doing, we will not be found spreading something detrimental and even disastrous. We want to be sure that whatever we share will bring forth fruits of righteousness.