1726 | Matthew 13:23
of wealth y choke the word , mak ing it un fruit ful . 23 But the seed fall ing on good soil re fers to some one who hears the word and un der stands it . This is the one who pro duces a crop , yield ing a hun dred , sixty or thirty times what was sown .” z
The Parable of the Weeds
24 Jesus told them an other par a ble : “ The king dom of heaven is like a a man who sowed good seed in his field . 25 But while ev ery one was sleep ing , his en emy came and sowed weeds among the wheat , and went away . 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads , then the weeds also appeared .
27 “ The own er ’ s ser vants came to him and said , ‘ Sir , didn ’ t you sow good seed in your field ? Where then did the weeds come from ?’ 28 “ ‘ An en emy did this ,’ he re plied . “ The ser vants asked him , ‘ Do you want us to go and pull them up ?’ 29 “ ‘ No ,’ he an swered , ‘ be cause while you are pull ing the weeds , you may up root the wheat with them . 30 Let both grow to gether un til the har vest . At that time I will tell the har vest ers : First col lect the weeds and tie them in bun dles to be burned ; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn .’ ” b
The Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Yeast
13:31,32pp — Mk 4:30-32 13:31-33pp — Lk 13:18-21
31 He told them an other par a ble : “ The king dom of heaven is like c a mus tard seed , d which a man took and planted in his field . 32 Though it is the small est of all seeds , yet when it grows , it is the larg est of gar den plants and be comes a tree , so that the birds come and perch in its branches .” e
33 He told them still an other par a ble : “ The king dom of heaven is like f yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds a of flour g un til it worked all through the dough .” h
34 Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in par a bles ; he did not say any thing to them without using a parable . i
35 So was ful filled what was spo ken through the prophet :
13:22 y Mt 19:23 ; 1Ti 6:9 , 10 , 17
13:23 z ver 8
13:24 a ver 31 , 33 , 45 , 47 ; Mt 18:23 ; 20:1 ; 22:2 ; 25:1 ; Mk 4:26 , 30
13:30 b Mt 3:12
13:31 c ver 24 d Mt 17:20 ; Lk 17:6
13:32 e Ps 104:12 ; Eze 17:23 ; 31:6 ; Da 4:12
13:33 f ver 24 g Ge 18:6 h Gal 5:9
13:34 i Mk 4:33 ; Jn 16:25
13:35 j Ps 78:2 ; Ro 16:25 , 26 ; 1Co 2:7 ; Eph 3:9 ; Col 1:26
13:36 k Mt 15:15 13:37 l Mt 8:20
“ I will open my mouth in parables , I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world .” b j
The Parable of the Weeds Explained
36 Then he left the crowd and went into the house . His dis ci ples came to him and said , “ Ex plain to us the par a ble k of the weeds in the field .”
37 He an swered , “ The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man . l 38 The field is the world , and the good seed stands for the peo ple of the king dom . The weeds are the peo ple
a 33 Or about 27 kilograms b 35 Psalm 78:2
circles or activities longer than the second group ( vv . 20 – 21 ), but they eventually show their true colors as “ the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth ” overcome their interest in the One who calls people to serve him rather than money ( cf . 6:24 ). 13:23 Parables frequently contrast two or three bad examples with one climactic good one ( or vice versa ). Here the sole positive example to imitate is the fruit-bearing seed . crop . Nothing suggests that this refers to one specific form of Christian behavior ; true believers generate many different kinds of “ produce ” of highly varying quantities , but they do produce something of value in keeping with kingdom priorities . 13:24 – 30 The Parable of the Weeds . Although the actions in this parable may seem implausible today , there are recorded examples in antiquity of people behaving exactly like this , using a primitive form of what today would be called bioterrorism . 13:25 weeds . Darnel ( Greek zizanion ), which often looked somewhat like wheat as the plants grew . Jesus explains this parable in vv . 36 – 43 . 13:28 – 29 The surprising twist in this parable is that the farmer forbids his servants to do any weeding at all . Although there was the real danger of uprooting the wheat while pulling the weeds out , the far greater danger is to do nothing and lose the entire crop . 13:30 The farmer remains confident , nevertheless , that he will have an adequate harvest , and then he will instruct his harvesters to pull out the weeds and burn them . 13:31 – 33 The Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Yeast . Scientists today know of smaller seeds than the mustard seed , but it was “ the smallest of all seeds ” ( v . 32 ) that anyone cultivated in first-century fields or gardens in Israel . Normally the plant grows into a medium-size bush , but eight-foot high small “ trees ” have been discovered , even if rarely . The “ kingdom ” ( v . 31 ) too will begin as insignificant in size and impact but become surprisingly large and powerful . The “ birds [ that ] . . . perch in its branches ” ( v . 32 ) may be the Gentiles , especially if Jesus is alluding to Ezek 17:23 .
Closely paired with the parable of the mustard seed ( vv . 31 – 32 ), the second parable ( v . 33 ) makes much the same point as the first . Just as small amounts of yeast , or leaven , make dough rise to produce large amounts of bread , so too the tiny , inauspicious kingdom will one day have a surprisingly great impact .
If there is a difference between the two parables , it may be that the mustard seed portrays extensive growth and the yeast depicts intensive growth . No Jew would have made these comparisons . How could God ’ s kingdom be compared to the smallest of seeds ? Jesus deliberately uses this shocking illustration to challenge how most Jews thought about the coming of God ’ s kingdom . 13:34 – 35 Matthew again finds a typological fulfillment of a biblical passage ( Ps 78:2 ). Asaph the psalmist , like Jesus , made once “ hidden ” things known . 13:36 – 43 Jesus explains the parable of the weeds . Other than the parable of the sower in vv . 3 – 9,18 – 23 , this is the only time in all the Gospels that Jesus interprets one of his parables in elaborate detail . Like the sower ( vv . 3 – 9,18 – 23 ) and the mustard seed ( vv . 31 – 32 ) and yeast ( v . 33 ), this parable is about the growth of the kingdom . Despite all the obstacles it faces , and without necessarily removing them , God ’ s purposes will be accomplished throughout his creation . As more explicitly in Luke 9:54 – 55 , Jesus forbids his followers from trying to exterminate his opponents . 13:38 The field is the world . Therefore , when Jesus says that “ his angels . . . will weed out