Research Paper On The Parable Of The Weeds

Gospel Response Paper
Matthew 13: 24-30
Parable of the Weeds

Amanda Gilmore
BIBL260 – The Life of Christ
July 11, 2011

Outline of Parable

Story Teller: Jesus
Audience: Crowd of gatherers
Major Characters: Owner of the land, Enemy
Minor Characters: Servants
Plot: Land owner sows seeds for a wheat crop when his enemy scatters weeds among his crop, which he refuses to remove.
Conflict: An enemy sowing weeds between his crop and the landowner refusing to remove the weeds. The landowner realizes that removing the weeds could disturb the crop; however by not removing the weeds he could potentially sacrifice an entire crop.
Setting: Jesus has gone out by a lake and has been followed by crowds of people. As they gathered around him, he decided to move in to a boat while the people remained on the shore. Jesus began to share many things by telling parables to those who gathered. Ultimately, he was comparing things that are familiar to those things that are not familiar in hopes to help his people understand spiritual truth.
The Parable of the Weeds has been a parable that I have shared with many friends and family members.
My eighth grade chemistry teacher had this parable scrolled on one of our classroom walls. Beneath the parable it simply stated, “Patience is the mother of expectation.” He would often use this statement in his teaching, mixing it in with the patience of the expectations of a science experiment. Being one of two students in our class who was truly dedicated to learning the material and striving for a good grade, my teacher also explained to me that I was a tulip in an onion patch. The other students made it rather difficult to concentrate and study due to their lack of interest in their education. Therefore, I relished the statement and felt compelled to explore the parable behind the
meaning.
My take away from this passage is a multitude of points. Initially you are drawn to the fact that a farmer is not doting over his crops, yet he sows his seed and sleeps. In many modern day processes man manipulates his crop and land in order to produce the supreme crop. However, this farmer does nothing, which could be construed as ignorant, and he expects that his crop will still prosper.
The servants approach the farmer because they are concerned that he had not sewn good seed due to the weeds that were growing amongst his crops. The farmer addresses the weeds as an act of an enemy who had sewn the seeds of weeds. He identifies that this is not the work of “bad” seed, yet the work of a bad human.
Despite the concern and warnings of his servants, the farmer continues on his course to keep the weeds among the crops until the proper time where the weeds could be removed without harming the delicate root structure of the wheat. He was patient and waited to remove the weeds when the wheat had taken hold and was strong. Again, showing his faith in something he cannot control.
My interpretation of this parable shows that the young weeds and the young blades of wheat look the same and can’t be distinguished until they are grown and ready for harvest. Weeds (unbelievers) and wheat (believers) must live side by side in this world. God allows unbelievers to remain for a while just as a farmer allows weeds to remain in his field so the surrounding wheat isn’t uprooted with them. At the harvest, however, the weeds will be uprooted and thrown away. God’s harvest (judgment) of all people is coming. We must trust that upon judgment we will be like the wheat that is harvested and kept, rather than the weeds that are discarded.