Jesus is NOT all about tolerance & unconditional love!
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 (NIV)
24 Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy 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 owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’
28 “ ‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.
“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’
29 “ ‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’ ”
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36 Then he [Jesus] left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”
37 He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.
40 “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42 They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.
Listen to passage & devotional:
Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 29: The Marks of the True Church
We believe that we ought to discern
diligently and very carefully,
by the Word of God,
what is the true church—
for all sects in the world today
claim for themselves the name of “the church.”
We are not speaking here of the company of hypocrites
who are mixed among the good in the church
and who nonetheless are not part of it,
even though they are physically there.
But we are speaking of distinguishing
the body and fellowship of the true church
from all sects that call themselves “the church.”
The true church can be recognized
if it has the following marks:
The church engages in the pure preaching
of the gospel;
it makes use of the pure administration of the sacraments
as Christ instituted them;
it practices church discipline
for correcting faults.
In short, it governs itself
according to the pure Word of God,
rejecting all things contrary to it
and holding Jesus Christ as the only Head.
By these marks one can be assured
of recognizing the true church—
and no one ought to be separated from it
Summary
Weeds continually remind us that this world isn't the way it's supposed to be. You likely resonate with the farm workers in Jesus' parable who feel upset and disappointed that the field they planted with top-quality seed is now full of weeds. The field owner quickly clarifies that nothing is wrong with the seed they planted; the weeds resulted from sabotage.
The hardworking servants (another quality many of you can identify with) eagerly want to solve the problem by pulling out the weeds, but the owner slows them down. He points out that the weeds aren't obviously different from the wheat plants, so there's a risk of losing yield if genuine wheat is accidentally pulled up along with the weeds.
The owner declares that the weeds and wheat should grow together until harvest, but he has a plan. Right before harvest, when the differences between the wheat and weeds become more evident, the workers will pull up the weeds, tie them in bundles, and throw them into the fire. Then, they will bring the valuable wheat into the barn.
Dig Deeper
The moment the crowds leave, the disciples press in on Jesus. They're stumped about the story he told about the wheat and weeds. What does it mean? Jesus explains to them that the enemy has supplanted the Church with people who look like Christians, talk like Christians, and even act like Christians (and sometimes even better than Christians), but who are not genuine Christians. They're weeds amongst the wheat.
But because these weeds are so insidiously similar to the wheat, trying to pull them out early in the season would inevitably harm the wheat. Be careful with this teaching, however; Some weeds are so big and ugly and so obviously not wheat that they can and must be immediately eradicated before they multiply and choke out the wheat altogether. Jesus' teaching here is in no way conflicting with the practice of good church discipline.
What Jesus reminds us of here is that we can be patient with one another. You don't need to prove beyond all doubt that the faith of those around you each Lord's Day is genuine, nor do you need to fear that you'll be 'pulled' during those seasons of life when your faith isn't as strong as it should be.
But before finishing today, take a moment to dwell Jesus' scary words in v40-42. We hear so often from our society, and even some quarters of the church, that Jesus is all about peace, love and tolerance for all. But His words of warning in these verses shatter that misconception. The Son of Man will send out His angels to "weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Ultimately, Jesus has no patience for weeds.
Pray that those who belong to the true Church will stay strong until harvest!
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who planted us to "shine like the sun in the kingdom of our Father;"
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that your 'wheat like attributes' will be so strong that nobody ever mistakes you for a weed;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
Read the New Testament in a year! Today: 2 Timothy 1
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