The Kingdom of Heaven is Like... | Episode 3

In week three of our series “The Kingdom of Heaven is like…”, we dive into the wheat and the weeds (Matthew 13:24–30, 36–43).

At first glance, it raises a difficult question: If good seed was planted… where did the weeds come from?

Jesus doesn’t avoid the tension, he explains it.

In this episode, we break down:

•  Why this parable is about the world 
•  The reality of both good and evil growing side by side 
•  The role of the enemy and why that matters 
•  Why God doesn’t remove evil immediately 
•  And what our role actually is in the middle of it 

We'd love to hear from you -- email us at ListenToShoesOff@gmail.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to Shoes Off, a weekly podcast where we pause, take off what weighs us down, and take a step onto holy ground. Hey, welcome back to Shoes Off. Thanks for all those that are listening and tuning into our series on the Kingdom of Heaven is like. And we are in week three of this series. And week one, we talked about Jesus explaining the kingdom and referring to things that are small, like the mustard seed or the leaven, how it makes a big impact. And then week two, we talked about how Jesus referred to the kingdom as something valuable. And it was the treasure and fine pearls. But today we're going to talk about something that really can bring some questions to us around why is there still evil in the world that we live in? Why is there still brokenness? And not only that, this is one of those parables that potentially could get misunderstood a lot. But the good thing is Jesus actually explained this parable for us. So we're not going to have to wonder what he meant. The answers are right there in the same chapter. So today we're just not going to read it. We're actually going to try to explain in a way that makes sure that you understand what Jesus actually meant. Hopefully, we can shed some light to this parable. We find this in Matthew chapter 13 and verses 24 through 30. And Isaac, I think I'm just going to read it for the listeners. And so starting in verse 24, if you're following along with us in Matthew 13, Jesus says he presented another parable to them. But while people were sleeping, his enemy came, sowed weeds among the wheat, and left. When the plants sprouted and produced again, 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, Let both grow together until the time of the harvest. And 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. I think Isaac, what we'll do is just break down this parable.

SPEAKER_01 2:16

Yeah. That's the best way for us to go. And like you said, this is one of these rare parables that we had that it must have been for us reading it, it can be kind of confusing. Yeah. And like last week we had three different interpretations when we were talking about the kingdom of heaven. But this one must have been confusing for the disciples. Because it's actually interesting if you if you're reading and kind of looking at Matthew with us, what you just read was 24 through 30. Well, Jesus then does the mustard seed in the leaven, which we did in week one. Yeah. And then I think what's interesting is the disciples are like, hey, really quick. I know you're on like a roll right now, Jesus. Can you go back to parables real quick? Because we we don't we don't understand this, the sower right now.

SPEAKER_00 2:54

Right. And so this is actually the second farming, I guess you could say, illustration or parable that Jesus gave while he was teaching. So we're gonna break down the parable, and there's seven elements to the parable that Jesus said here. And Jesus actually explains this in verse 38. But before we read that, we're just gonna tell you the seven elements. The first in this parable, the owner of the field is Christ. Jesus says the one that sows the good seed is the son of man, and the field is the world, and he owns the world.

SPEAKER_01 3:27

Yeah. And I think that's an important distinction you just said, too. He's not only the owner of the field, but he is the sower of the field. So he's the one that's also planting the seed, which you look a lot in times, especially in times like this, a lot of times owners didn't actually do a lot of the work. They had servants that were doing the work for them. But it's very interesting. I think it's something that we should highlight that the owner is also the sower, that that God created us, Jesus created us, but is also sowing the seed for us as well.

SPEAKER_00 3:56

Yeah, the next element or the next character in this parable is the enemy. And this is the enemy that that goes and sows bad seed in the same field. And this is the devil. Jesus clearly says this is Satan, and he's the enemy that has sown this bad seed.

SPEAKER_01 4:14

And that really kind of explains a lot, right? It's hard for us to understand the brokenness of the world that we live in without recognizing that there is an opposition, right? That there is kind of a battle between good and evil, but there is an evil opposition in the world.

SPEAKER_00 4:30

Yeah, the third element is the seed. And a lot of times when we think about the seed, Isaac, we think about maybe the word being planted. Even in the parable before this, Jesus talked about the seed being just on good ground and bad ground. But the seed here, it's us, it's the people. In this parable, the seed isn't just the message, it's actually us.

SPEAKER_01 4:50

And in this, we actually see that there's two kinds of seeds that have been sowed. There's the seeds that have been planted by Jesus Himself, the owner of the field. And then he says that there's the seeds that were planted by the enemy, which is the devil. So that kind of gives us two kinds of things that we can look at in this. As one, the seed that the owner has planted and has sowed is the people living under God's rule, those that are Jesus's that are children of God. And then on the other side of that, you have the other seed as people living under really their own rule. I think that we get caught up in sometimes thinking that the devil has control over people. And it's a lot of times I think we have control of ourselves. Yeah. But the Satan is a very good tempter. And just to kind of draw this, if we go back into Genesis and you look in the first few chapters of Genesis, the devil did not make Eve take of the apple. And he didn't make Eve give the apple to Adam. That's not something that he forcefully did, but he did plant a seed in Eve's mind that was, are you sure? Are you you really think God's gonna God's gonna kill you because you've eaten the tree? Like that's not gonna happen. And that little seed that was planted has now caused everything that we have today and the destruction of man from that point. But that's kind of what it is. You have people that are living under God's rule, um, and then you have people that are living really under their own rule, and that's being what's being planted in those people is that the devil's idea of everything. You can know what good and bad is. You don't need God in any sort, you just need to rule over yourself.

SPEAKER_00 6:23

Yeah, and Jesus actually says this if you're following along verse 37 is where he actually starts to interpret this parable. Jesus says there in verse 38 that the good seed, these are the children of the kingdom, and the weeds are the children of the evil one. And so I think one good thing to point out here is the devil's goal is not to build something, he wasn't trying to build a good field. Yeah, the devil's goal here, and the enemy's goal is to destroy what God's doing. Yeah, and that's exactly what the devil is trying to do is present something that looks like the same seed, but in time it's meant to destroy what God is doing. We've talked so far, we've said the owner is Christ, that's Jesus, the enemy is the devil, the seed is the people here in the parable, and the field is the world.

SPEAKER_01 7:14

And that kind of shows us this very realistic description of the life that we currently experience and every day is that good and brokenness exist side by side. Yeah, there are great things that happen in the world, there are amazing things that happen in the world every single day. On the flip side of that coin, there's terrible things that happen in the world every single day. And it feels like, especially in the world that we live in, if you're turning on the news, yeah, you're seeing probably more of one than the other. And yeah, and that a lot of is evil and things that are bad and and stuff like this. And I think this is a good time that we ask this question that I think a lot of people, believers and especially non-believers, but why is there evil in the world? Why did God allow there to be evil? And this is actually brought up in this parable, and it's asked the servants go up to the owner and he says, Didn't you plant good seeds? Right. Didn't you sow the good seeds? Where did the weeds even come from? How is there even evil in the world?

SPEAKER_00 8:13

Yeah, I've had that question posed to me before is if God is good, why is there so much evil in the world? I think this is one scripture that we can reference is that it's because the enemy this shouldn't be a surprise to us. Yeah. Why is there evil in the world? Why is there bad things that happen? Again, that shouldn't be a surprise to us because this isn't our final resting place. We're just actually the Bible says we're pilgrims and strangers in this in this world. We're just passing through. We are living in a time where there is both evil and good, and the enemy is present trying to destroy what God has built in the kingdom.

SPEAKER_01 8:51

We could go back and look at a lot of different, I mean, we've already referenced Adam and Eve, but you know, that that the garden, there was no evil. I think sometimes we need to remember that and think about that. In God's original design for us in the garden and humanity, there was no evil. There was there was nothing. Right. And it came from a temptation, and man wanted to become as wise. It says in there, they ate from the tree of good and bad. They wanted the wisdom that God had, and they were trying to crave it. And I think God, and I'm just throwing this in there, God wanted us to have the same wisdom He did. The answer was, do we trust Him to gain that wisdom, or did we trust our own devices to gain that wisdom? And in the case of Adam and Eve, they chose their own, they chose their own pathway. Yeah, we don't need to wait for God. We need to, or they the idea that God's withholding from them. But you know, that wasn't the design. And since then, we just have always been very jealous and evil creatures and very prideful in nature.

SPEAKER_00 9:50

Let's move to the next element of this parable. And we've pit on this, is that both the seeds grow together. This is something that's really interesting because again, this is where the farming parable probably helped them a lot. But notice back then, weeds they call it tares in the old testament. The seeds for wheat and the tares back then, they early on the seeds looked the same. Notice when they determined this in verse 26, when the plants sprouted and produced grain, then the weeds also appeared. Early on, the seeds looked the same, you can't tell the difference. So if you go to try to pull the weeds too early, you might actually destroy the good with the bad. And so when they determined that they could separate it or when they could identify it, is when they started both growing together. And I think that's just a good picture for us here as a Christian, is that we do need to continue to grow as a Christian in the midst of an evil world.

SPEAKER_01 10:50

Yeah, because it's important that we keep growing in that and understanding that the weeds are going to grow next to us in it. And I I thought about this story back in Genesis 18, too. That is kind of reminds me of it, but he says if we start taking the weeds out now, it's gonna take out the good plants too, right? It took me back to the story in Genesis 18, and this is when God is preparing to destroy Sodom. And Abraham is talking to God, and he said, Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Will you take away all the good with the bad? And Sodom was a case in itself, but he goes on to say, Suppose there's 50 righteous people. Will you are you gonna if there's 50 good people in Sodom, are you gonna destroy Sodom? And God says that he wasn't, and in Abraham keeps going, and it's it goes down to 50. I think it goes down to like five. Now, God did judge Sodom and he looked in Sodom and there didn't exist that. Yeah. But that this kind of reminds me though, in this parable and the story, that God sees that and he's not going to just destroy everything because there are good. Yeah, I think that's just kind of a good parallel for us to think about.

SPEAKER_00 12:02

The last element of this parable is the harvest, and Jesus talks about this, and this is a direct representation into the final judgment that is coming at the end of the age and at the end of time. But Jesus is very clear on this. There's no gray matter here. Jesus absolutely said there will be a harvest, and there will be a time of separation. Yeah. This isn't ignoring evil that's happening today, but Jesus made it clear there will be a harvest, and there will be a separation between the wheat and the weeds. That refers to the children of God and the children of the evil one. And let me just read this is in verse 39 in Matthew 13. It says a harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are the angels. Therefore, just as the weeds are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. And this is something that people don't like to hear all the time. Isaac, but it's true, it's the word of God, and we can't ignore it that at the end of the age there will be a separation, a final separation. We both are growing together in this world today. So we have to live with evil in this world. But the good thing is there is coming a day where Jesus will separate the righteous from the unrighteous. Those that are unrighteous, as is described here, the weeds, they will be cast into the blazing furnace or the final hell that will be their eternal home.

SPEAKER_01 13:29

Yeah, and it's it says in there, and it says, There will be weeping and and gnashing of teeth, and that's how Jesus kind of describes it. Yeah. For those that when they're separated, and it does go on in verse 43 to talk about the the righteous then will shine forth as the sun and the kingdom of their father. Right. And he finishes this parable. And many of you, I mean, you may have heard this parable before, or maybe not, but you have heard this line because I think the last sentence is probably one of the most well-known things, right? Really, in all the New Testament. Yeah. And Jesus says, Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. Yeah. And this was a I think that's pretty much everybody. Yeah. It's everyone has ears. Yeah. He's very clear. And I think this is a good conversation for us to have. And this is a good kind of segue into this. Two, this is harsh. Do you think this is harsh? And the idea of it's hearing.

SPEAKER_00 14:21

I'm called a realist at times. I think it's very real.

SPEAKER_01 14:24

Oh, yes. And that's what I was saying. I I think that, but I think sometimes people are like, I don't I don't understand this harsh judgment at the end, right? And I've been watching podcasts and other things too. But this question comes up a lot of times. It's like, if I'm just a good person, if I live my life really, really good and all that, like, how do I how do I deserve hell? How do I deserve to go to that place that Jesus just described of weeping and gnashing of teeth? And but the the thing is that is it says in here that says the righteous will inherit. But the only thing, the only person, the only existence that is righteous truly is God. And I think this, and and I'm just I'm curious on your thoughts too. I feel like we have that assumption as humans that we that heaven is the default. Right. It's it's not the default. Like we I think that we assume that heaven is our default and that that's where everyone goes, is heaven. Like we all go to heaven, like it's just but that's not the default.

SPEAKER_00 15:25

Yeah, I think some people struggle with the fact that hey, I'm a good person, I do good things morally, and why would I be called children of the evil one when I'm a good person? And I think here's the reality is first of all, God doesn't want you to be a children of the evil one. No, but there's only two choices here. You can either choose to be a child of God, and if you don't choose to be a child of God, you're a child of the evil one. And so it's that you're choosing not to accept Jesus Christ. But the good thing is, it wasn't meant, this final separation wasn't meant for us. Jesus paved a way that all of us could have a way into heaven, and hell and the final separation wasn't meant for us, but I believe it expands every day because people just are choosing not to choose Jesus Christ.

SPEAKER_01 16:17

Sometimes I think we need to be honest and real as Christians about what what hell is and what hell is going to look like and an understanding of it is. And sometimes I think that's hard for people to talk to other people, especially in that conversation that we're having right now, right? If I've lived such a good life, how do I deserve hell and everything like this? But this is why the good news of Jesus is such good news. Yeah, that's what makes it such good news, right? And the thing is that that's amazing about it is that it is nothing that we have done that gains us entrance into heaven. 100%. It is not because I was righteous on this earth, it's not because I I've done stuff with a youth program or I've volunteered in my church, or it's not because you and I do a podcast, those things are not gonna get us entrance into heaven. There's nothing that we can do on earth that is gonna give us entrance into heaven except our acceptance of Jesus. Because Jesus did it all. Right. Jesus did all the work. Yeah, but I think it's important for us to see here there is good news. And when we see stuff like this in Jesus' description of what hell is like, it is just another reminder of how good the good news of Jesus is.

SPEAKER_00 17:22

Yeah, and I think it's it's a good time to address another maybe misunderstanding, is as we as we kind of break this down. But I think the parable gets misapplied a lot to that Jesus was treating this like it's about the church. And Jesus was really clear. He he said it it's the world, it's not just the church. I think that matters because if this was only talking about the church, it would really contradict what Jesus said everywhere else, like dealing with sin and accountability. This isn't just for church people, this is for the whole entire world to accept.

SPEAKER_01 17:55

So let's pull everything together and recap a little bit of what we talked about. But here's what we've talked about, and we've talked about this for many weeks now. The kingdom of heaven is present. Jesus is teaching about a the kingdom that is here. Yeah, even today. Exactly. And he's bringing the kingdom of heaven. But what we see is that the kingdom of heaven also exists alongside a broken world, but it's so beautiful, too, that even in our broken world, that the kingdom of heaven can still exist within side of it.

SPEAKER_00 18:24

Right, exactly. And that doesn't mean that God isn't working, it just means that the story isn't finished yet. And we've talked about that even in some of these parables, that the completeness of the story is going to be when Christ brings us home and that time of that separation at the end of the age. So, how do we apply this to life today? I I think the first one is stay engaged, be active in who you are, because you were planted where you are for a purpose. You may not understand the purpose, some may be in a phase that you're just the seed right now growing, others are sprouting fruit, and others are fully mature in their Christian life, and they're walking day by day next to evil. And I I I think we just got to continue on the path that we're on, and this is this is a great parable for us to look to to be encouraged.

SPEAKER_01 19:14

Yeah, and secondly, I think, and we didn't really talk about this, but it's a very important one. It is to know our role in this. We are not, and this is what I mean by this: you're not called to pull weeds. Right. You're not meant to pull weeds, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:27

Just like the servant said, Hey, do you want me to go pull weeds?

SPEAKER_01 19:30

Yeah, it's the answer is no. We're not meant to pull weeds, but we often do that. We often like to pull weeds, yeah. And we are plants, yeah. So it's in this parable, we actually don't even it even says the reapers are he Jesus says the reapers are the angels, yeah. Like we're not even so. I mean, this goes to a whole idea that we shouldn't be judging other people. Yeah, our our job is not to judge, our job is not to make final decisions on people. And there could be times, and and here's where I think this goes, and we go back to this, and I think that it says that in early stages the weeds look very similar to the plants themselves. Yeah. But when you see that, you may see a weed and try to start pulling it out. But in reality, that's a real, that's a real plant. Yeah, it's not our job. You're pulling, and that is exactly I think in the parable when he says, if you take it out early, you're taking the good up with it. And it's because it you may what you think is a a a weed, it's probably not a weed.

SPEAKER_00 20:29

Here's something else that's probably gonna be unpopular is it's not your role to be right. No everybody thinks they have to go debate and be the one that's right. Here's the illustration on that is that sometimes you can do more harm than you can good. If you're always out to try to be right, listen, Jesus is the one that's gonna penetrate people's hearts. You don't have the ability to do that. Now you can witness, you can share the gospel, etc. But there's a lot of time, Isaac, I think us as the Christians, sometimes we do more harm than we do good. And even in this parable, Jesus is like, hey, that's not your role. Yeah, you it's not your role to go pull the reed. I'll separate those at the end. Your role is to just continue growing along with them in this place that you're in, and then at the end is when Jesus will separate us.

SPEAKER_01 21:20

Yeah, and I think this goes it really into an idea of being able to, and our our third point this week is examine yourself. And and this one gets uh a little personal in it, but we need it just kind of like like what you said, we need to focus on growing. Yeah. And we need to to do that. And if we're plants, we need nourishment. We need you need the sun. Yeah, and everything. You need both the rooted. Yes, okay. But you need you need to be rooted, you need that nourishment, and you need to be able to grow. And I think that's what we need to. It's exactly what you just said, right? It's an examination of ourselves. Are we worried about the nourishment of other plants? Are we worried about the nourishment of our plants? Plants in itself. Yeah. And that's something that we need to look at. So let's look at a few challenges that we have for ourselves, but also the the listeners this week. So first here, where are you expecting everything in life to be clean and clear when Jesus clearly says that it it won't be? You're gonna see weeds and you're gonna see the plants and they look very similar at the beginning. Where in life are you expecting just a clean, clear-cut answer? But but God's actually like he he sowed the right seeds, but it's growing.

SPEAKER_00 22:35

Yeah. And I know it's easy as time as Christians, you maybe think, is that we say, Lord, come, Jesus come, because how bad can this world continue to be? But to your point, focus on you, and it's a great moment just to honestly examine our own life, not somebody else's, and just say, are we growing in the midst of this evil world? We we know there's gonna be a heaven one day that will be with Jesus and everything will be fine. And we honestly need to take a moment and examine our own life and not someone else's. Are we bearing the fruit in the midst of this evil world? Are we being the good seed that that Jesus wants us to be?

SPEAKER_01 23:16

Well, thank you for listening. We we always appreciate our listeners and we appreciate all the feedback that we receive every single week. I know Dad and I enjoy very much just having people reach out to us and know that people are listening, and it's just an absolute blessing for us to be able to just to share um what God has shared with us. This is not stuff that we do, but what it's it's all in God's word, and we just get the the blessing and opportunity to be able to share some thoughts that God's given us throughout it. So let's go ahead and close this episode in prayer. Deavenly Father, Lord, help us this week to trust you in a world that feels mixed at times and feels uncertain at times, God. When we don't understand what's happening, remind us that you are still and always are in control. Give us wisdom to focus on our own growth, to be patient, and to trust in your timing and clarity, God, to see what you're doing in our lives and help us live in a way that always every day reflects your kingdom right in the present time where we are. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Thanks for joining us on Shoes Off. Until next time, keep walking in faith. And remember, growth begins on holy ground.