The Wheat and the Weeds
Matt 13:24-30; 36-43
He set another parable before them, saying,
"The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while people slept, his enemy came and sowed darnel also among the wheat, and went away.
But when the blade sprang up and brought forth fruit, then the darnel appeared also. The servants of the householder came and said to him,
‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field?
Where did this darnel come from?’
"He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’"The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and gather them up?’
"But he said, ‘No, lest perhaps while you gather up the darnel, you root up the wheat with them.
Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the harvest time I will tell the reapers, "First, gather up the darnel, and bind them in bundles to burn them;
but gather the wheat into my barn."‘"
Explanation
Then Jesus sent the multitudes away, and went into the house.
His disciples came to him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the darnel of the field."
He answered them,
"He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man,
the field is the world;
and the good seed, these are the children of the kingdom;
and the darnel are the children of the evil one.
The enemy who sowed them is the devil.
The harvest is the end of the age,
and the reapers are angels.
As therefore the darnel is gathered up and burned with fire; so will it be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and those who do iniquity, and will cast them into the furnace of fire.
There will be weeping and the gnashing of teeth.
Then the righteous will shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
He who has ears to hear, let him hear." (web)
Discussion Questions
Is it easy to distinguish between children of God and children of