Text: Matthew 13:24–30, 36–43
Theme: Zizahnia
1. In the Name of the Father…Amen.
1. Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 serves as our sermon text for this morning,
which reads as follows:
1. [Jesus] put another parable before them, saying,
(24) He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven
may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field,
(25) but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among
the wheat and went away.
(26) So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared
also.
(27) And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him,
‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have
weeds?’
(28) He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to
him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’
(29) But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat
along with them.
(30) Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will
tell the reapers, “Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be
burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”
(36) Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples
came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.”
(37) He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.
(38) The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom.
The weeds are the sons of the evil one,
(39) and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of
the age, and the reapers are angels.
(40) Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at
the end of the age.
(41) The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his
kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers,
(42) and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be
weeping and gnashing of teeth.
(43) Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their
Father. He who has ears, let him hear.
C. This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
D. Grace, mercy, and peace from God our heavenly Father and from our Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ.
E. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us pray:
– O God, help us to accept the fact that in this world good and evil
will grow side by side. Lead us also to count on Your wise timing and
judgment. Amen.
Introduction
1. Once upon a time, there was a girl named Zizahnia.
1. She was so beautiful on the outside, and those who didn’t know her
put her on a pedestal and thought she would be married off in a hurry.
2. But those who knew her didn’t consider her to be as beautiful on
the inside.
3. She is more like poison to a relationship.
4. If she ever got married, she would need to be rescued by a prince
of a man, that’s for sure.
5. Ah, Zizahnia.
6. More about Zizahnia in a moment.
1. Today’s sermon text is the second in a group of seven parables, and,
like the first, the parable of the reckless sower, Jesus tells this second
parable to the crowds but then privately explains the meaning to his
disciples.
1. So again, we have one setting and audience for the parable and
another setting and audience for the explanation.
1. The “kingdom of heaven” is the Jewish way of saying “the kingdom of
God,” which means the rule, the reign, of God in and through Jesus.
1. The crowd needed to hear the parable, because they didn’t
understand how Jesus’ rejection by many of the people, and especially by
the religious rulers, could possibly be the reign of God.
1. (Oops) Vindication of God and all things good is a feel-good happy
ending . . . unless you are a sinner.
1. Ironically, when we sinners, either here and now or in the time when
Jesus told this parable, think of God’s kingdom, the words that come to
mind are justice, fairness, and spectacular vindication of God and all
things good—which is a feel-good happy ending . . . unless you are a
sinner.
1. And ironically, the kind of unspectacular reign that Jesus offered
was very unsatisfying to those who were quite oblivious to the fact that
the last thing they needed was justice!
1. The last thing that the guilty need is fairness and the vindication
of God and all things good.
2. (Ugh) And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to heaven? No, you will
go down to hell.
1. So, you have Jesus telling the people of his Galilean headquarters:
1. “And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to heaven? No, you will
go down to hell. If the miracles that were performed in you had been
performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day” (cf
Matthew 11:23).
1. And even in his hometown, after teaching in his own neighborhood,
those who knew Jesus asked
1. “That’s the carpenter’s son, isn’t it?”
2. There were adults there that grew up with Jesus, whom he always
loved and never sinned against, and they say something as cold and
derogatory as:
1. “Whence to this guy such wisdom and powers?” (cf Matthew
13:54).
1. Finally, in the capital city, his city, this King who would reign
over them is thrown away like yesterday’s trash.
1. “Give us Barabbas, and crucify this one!” “We have no king but
Caesar!” (cf John 19:15).
1. How can Jesus be reigning if so many are rejecting him, turning him
down, blowing him off?
1. “And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him,
‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have
weeds?’ ”(verse 27).
1. This is not just happening in the world.
1. But among the wheat.
2. Planted on top of the wheat.
3. The real fruit of Jesus’ reign was underneath the poison passed
off as religion, passed off as the Church.
1. That’s what the word translated “weeds” or “tares” is, by the way.
1. It’s sometimes translated “darnel,” or “cheat,” which is a
poisonous weed that looks like the wheat.
2. Isn’t that scary!
3. But can you guess what the Greek word is? Yes, you guessed it . .
. zizahnia.
4. So, in the parable, they say,
1. “ ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he said,
‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along
with them’ ”
(verses 28–29).
5. It was a bad idea.
1. So can you imagine how dangerous it would be to pass ourselves off as
experts in harvesting the righteous.
1. Well, I guess we don’t have to imagine, do we?
2. Look at all the periods of Church history that are ugly because
people were doing just that!
3. And how many nonbelievers have cited the Crusades as one of their
many excuses for avoiding the hypocrisy of organized religion—and thus
preserving their pure-as-the-driven-snow view of themselves!
1. Look at ourselves, our pietism, and how we can look down on other
Christians because we deem they haven’t yet arrived at exactly where we are
or that they are not like us!
1. And exactly when and where is that?
2. In the judge’s seat, apparently.
3. This parable teaches that that’s not our job.
1. And it’s a good thing that it’s not our job, because we’re not very
good at it.
1. Remember, the weeds look like the wheat to those who are not
experts like the harvesters, the angels.
3. (Aha) Therefore, repent toward the very good Man who is waiting with
wounds and welcome!
1. But the most dangerous and frightening thing of all this is that we
know that the weeds look like the wheat when we look in the mirror too.
2. It’s good that the mirror is terrifying!
3. That is the work of God.
4. That is his second use of the Law to drive us away from our pride and
our posing and to repent toward the very good Man who is waiting with
wounds and welcome!
4. (Whee) Jesus told us the truth from underneath the world that rejected
him and crucified him, imagining they got rid of him.
1. This Parable Teaches Us to Trust Jesus That Under Is Okay for Now.
1. The Holy Spirit calls us to follow Jesus, who saved our lives from
underneath the canopy of liars who tried to poison us.
1. Jesus told us the truth from underneath the world that rejected
him and crucified him, imagining they got rid of him.
2. But Christ is risen!
3. And that crucifixion, that lowly, meek love, absorbs all the
poison and turns the weeds into wheat!
4. That very good Man rescues Zizahnia!
5. She married a prince of a Man after all!
1. And remaining in him does bear fruit, even under the canopy of this
lying culture of weeds that’s so afraid to know the truth that it hopes the
wheat will stay hidden forever—and it fights to keep us under.
1. Jesus promises that under is only temporary.
1. Besides, when you’re underneath, you’re in a great position to do
some heavy lifting, like Jesus.
1. This parable teaches a general truth that a lot of Jesus’ parables
teach:
1. “The Lord knows all about it.”
2. Jesus knew what they were thinking, and therefore he knows what
we’re thinking:
3. “Yes, I know, you don’t understand why things are the way they
are, but I do, and I’m in control, and I’ll take care of it, and
I’ll take
care of you.”
1. He told this parable outside to the crowds who were judging him, but
he gave the explanation in the house to his disciples who followed him.
1. So to the crowds, Jesus said, “Someday, on the Last Day, my day,
everything will be made right.
2. But for the sake of the wheat, let them grow together with the
weeds.
3. Because when it’s all grown, and the wheat bears fruit and the
weeds don’t, that day will make it plain.”
4. In the same way with the two parables that follow, what an
insignificant mustard seed really is, that day will make it plain,
when it’s the biggest shrub in the garden;
5. And once the tiny bit of leaven works its way through forty
gallons of dough, that day will make it plain and there’ll be enough
bread for an army.
6. To the crowds, it was a warning.
1. We may ask, “What possible good does it do the wheat to have weeds
growing along with them?”
1. We think of persecution versus prosperity,
2. or the fact that we don’t know who will end up being wheat, but in
the end, it’s all speculation, not faith.
3. Faith is content that Jesus knows.
1. Maybe instead we should ask:
1. “What good might it do the weeds to have the wheat growing along
with them?”
2. Who will rescue Zizahnia, if not a very good Man?
1. “Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples
came to him, saying, ‘Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field’ ”
(verse 36).
1. See? Away from the openness and light of the outdoors, and the
excitement of the crowds in the sun, now in the darkness of the
house, just
with his disciples, probably just the Twelve and the women.
2. Obscure, hidden, under the canopy of weeds, Jesus tells us how it
really is.
1. What an honor!
1. How is it that we are called into the house to have the Lord
himself whisper his plans into our ears?
2. Think of it!
3. The world does not fear him, and we come into this little
sanctuary, way beneath the poison canopy of what this world deems
important, to receive his Word.
4. What an honor!
5. What a joy to know him!
6. And what hope we have!
7. Because he explained the parable to the disciples, not as a
warning as to the crowds, but as comfort, as a sure and certain hope.
1. First, because the one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.
1. That we’re here, bearing fruit, is all his doing.
2. That’s a real comfort, because if it was Jesus that got us here,
then it’s Jesus who gets us home.
3. If redeeming us was all God’s doing, then keeping us in the faith
is his doing too!
1. But then doesn’t it say the man fell asleep, and the enemy came and
sowed weeds?
1. Why would the Lord fall asleep?
2. No, it says, while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed
on top weeds among the wheat and went away.
1. His men have fallen asleep when they weren’t supposed to:
1. Whether at the transfiguration,
2. Or at Gethsemane, to be sure.
1. But nobody can be awake all the time, except he who
1. “will neither slumber nor sleep” (Psalm 121:4).
2. And his enemy, our enemy, fights dirty, but does nothing that
the Lord doesn’t both know about and use for our good.
3. Is it easy? No.
5. (Yeah) But that will all come to an end. On the day of the harvest, the
wheat is no longer tangled up with the weeds.
1. But that will all come to an end.
1. On the day of the harvest, the wheat is no longer tangled up with
the weeds, and those who belong to Christ will no longer be:
1. second-class citizens,
2. Will no longer struggle,
3. Will no longer operate under the radar to survive,
4. Will no longer bearing fruit in the dark under the poison
canopy of weeds who thought they owned it all.
1. “The righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their
Father” (verse 43).
1. In the meantime, the weeds and the wheat look so much alike that it’s
hard for amateurs like us to tell if it’s wheat or just a weed that hasn’t
woken up yet—which is to say, Zizahnia, who hasn’t been rescued yet.
1. Although this is covered in other parables, the planting consists
of rescuing and baptizing into that rescue!
2. And it’s hard to tell whether today is just another day under the
poison canopy or it’s the day of harvest that still has only a
little over
twelve hours to go.
Conclusion
1. What we do know is that we can trust the very good Man who planted
us.
1. Jesus is God with wounds, for Zizahnia and for all of us who were
Zizahnia until we were rescued.
1. Those who have ears, let them hear. Amen.
1. Let us pray:
– Bless us, Jesus, with believing hearts, that we may remain children
of Your kingdom. Amen.
1. The peace of God, which transcends all human understanding, guard
your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
1. In the Name of the Father…Amen.