Parable of the Weeds Sown Among Seeds (Matthew 13:24-30, 37-43)
“He presented another parable to them: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while people were sleeping, his enemy came, sowed weeds among the wheat, and left. When the plants sprouted and produced grain, then the weeds also appeared. The landowner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Master, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Then where did the weeds come from?’
“‘An enemy did this,’ he told them.
“‘So, do you want us to go and pull them up?’ the servants asked him.
“‘No,’ he said. ‘When you pull up the weeds, you might also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At harvest time I’ll tell the reapers: Gather the weeds first and tie them in bundles to burn them, but collect the wheat in my barn,’” verses 24-30 CSB.
We looked at this parable in the blog post about The Kingdom Co-Existing with Other Kingdoms, but here we are looking at the aspect of a final judgment. In the story, the owner of the field said to let the weeds grow with the wheat and “at the harvest” they would be separated.
We know that Jesus was using this parable to illustrate a final judgment because in verse 39, He says, “The harvest is the end of the age.” He goes on to say that the weeds will be burned up, but that the righteous will “shine like the sun,” verse 43.
It may seem like all is well right now. The field of the world is going on as it has for millennia, but there is a day of accountability coming when all will be judged. It is a deceptive situation because it can sometimes seem as though God does not notice the evil growing alongside the good in this present world. But do not be deceived. Just as the landowner had a plan to reap his harvest and remove the impurities from the harvest, so God also has a plan to bring His redeemed people to their reward and to punish the wicked for their deeds in this life.
Parable of the Net (Matthew 13:47-50)
In a similar fashion, Jesus told another parable about final judgment. The parable of the net being cast into the sea shows us how God is looking for a harvest from the entire mass of humanity. The sea is frequently used in Scripture as a type of the whole of humanity. Here is the text from the CSB:
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a large net thrown into the sea. It collected every kind of fish, and when it was full, they dragged it ashore, sat down, and gathered the good fish into containers, but threw out the worthless ones. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out, separate the evil people from the righteous, and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Notice the similarity in these two parables. In both parables, the angels separate the good from the bad. In both parables, the wicked are thrown into a blazing furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. These are vivid illustrations of the suffering the wicked will experience after judgment.
The weeping indicates a deep sorrow over a wasted life and the grief that comes on us from missed opportunities to know God. Weeping is also the result of the hopelessness of enduring a consequence from which there is no reprieve.
The gnashing of teeth indicates extreme stress, anger, or regret at the realization that it is too late to do anything to change the outcome of God’s judgment. God’s judgment is final with no remedy. It will last for eternity. What a horror it must be to realize we had the open door to have relationship with God, but we shunned Him, rejected His offer of forgiveness and peace, and now it is too late. Nothing can change our situation or bring us any comfort. Our eternity will be filled with grief, sorrow, and suffering.
Parable of the Wedding Banquet (Matthew 22:1-13)
We saw this parable in the post about the universality of God’s invitation. Here is the text in the CSB:
“Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables: “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to summon those invited to the banquet, but they didn’t want to come. Again, he sent out other servants and said, ‘Tell those who are invited: See, I’ve prepared my dinner; my oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’
“But they paid no attention and went away, one to his own farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his servants, mistreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged, and he sent out his troops, killed those murderers, and burned down their city.
“Then he told his servants, ‘The banquet is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Go then to where the roads exit the city and invite everyone you find to the banquet.’ So those servants went out on the roads and gathered everyone they found, both evil and good. The wedding banquet was filled with guests. When the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed for a wedding. So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless.
“Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him up hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
“For many are invited, but few are chosen.”
In verse 11, we read that when the king came to the wedding, he saw a man who was not wearing wedding clothes. In other words, he was not honoring the meaningfulness of the occasion. The king had him thrown out “into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth,” verse 13 CSB.
An important point to note here is that this man was at the king’s royal wedding for his son. This was a formal affair with all the splendor of a party given for world leaders and high-level dignitaries. For a man to come not dressed in proper garments would have been a breach of protocol and a blatant display of disrespect.
So while the invitation went out to all in this story, only those who came with the proper respect for the occasion were accepted. The attendees were expected to recognize the gravity of the situation.
The man in the wrong type of clothing would have been justly punished by being thrown out.