Interrogation 23-07-2023
Monday, 3 July 2023
9:58 AM
Gospel reading for this Sunday
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
Theme
The Parable of Weeds
among the Wheat
NRSV version
The
Parable of Weeds among the Wheat
24 He
put before them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to
someone who sowed good seed in his field; 25but
while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and
then went away. 26So when the plants
came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. 27And
the slaves of the householder came and said to him, “Master, did you not sow
good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?” 28He
answered, “An enemy has done this.” The slaves said to him, “Then do you want us
to go and gather them?” 29But he replied,
“No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. 30Let
both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell
the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but
gather the wheat into my barn.” ’
……………………………..
Jesus
Explains the Parable of the Weeds
36 Then
he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached him,
saying, ‘Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.’ 37He
answered, ‘The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; 38the
field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the
weeds are the children of the evil one, 39and
the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and
the reapers are angels. 40Just as the weeds
are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 41The
Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all
causes of sin and all evildoers, 42and they will throw
them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of
teeth. 43Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the
kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!
Gospel for Hearers version
24
He put another parable to them, saying,
"The
kingdom of heaven is like a man sowing good seed in his field,
but
while everyone was sleeping,
his
enemy came and sowed darnel among the wheat,
then
went away.
When
the seed sprouted and produced a crop,
then
the darnel was revealed also.
Then
the farmer's slaves came to him, and said,
Master,
didn't you sow good seed in your field?
So
where did the weeds come from?'
He
told them,
'An
enemy agent has done this.'
Then
they said,
'Do
you want us to go and pull them up?'
But
he answered,
'No,
in case, while you're pulling up the weeds,
you
uproot the wheat at the same time.
Let
them both grow together until harvest;
then,
at the time of harvest, I'll say to the reapers,
"First
pick out the darnel
and
tie it into bundles to be burnt,
then
gather the wheat into my granary"."
………………………………..
36
Then he left the crowd and went into the house.
And
the disciples came to him, saying,
"Explain
to us clearly the parable of the darnel in the field."
So
Jesus replied,
"The
one who sows good seed is the son of man;
the
field is the world;
the
good seed - they are the sons of the kingdom;
the
darnel is the sons of the evil one;
the
enemy who sowed them is the devil;
the
harvest is the consummation of the age;
the
reapers are angels.
Just
as the darnel was gathered and burned in fire,
so
will it be at the end of the age:
the
son of man will send his angels
and
they will gather up out of his kingdom
all
who break the law and all who cause others to sin
and
throw them into the furnace of fire
and
there will be weeping and grinding teeth.
Then
will the just shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father.
Let
the one with ears hear!
From The Gospel for Hearers (Translated from the Koine Greek by Elizabeth B. Edwards, Formatted by
the Rev William A. Johnston), 2013, Diangellia Press.
Robot comment
What are the serious issues raised by this passage?
(An AI robot's response: Note that the robot here
provides opinion, not fact and should not be taken as authoritative)
The
parable of the weeds in Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 is a story about good and evil
growing together in the world until the end of time when God will separate
them. The parable raises serious issues about the nature of evil and how it can
coexist with good in the world. It also raises questions about how we should respond to evil in the
world and whether we should try to eliminate it or let it grow alongside good
until the end of time.
Some questions raised
by the text:
- Who is Jesus talking to?
- Who was the evangelist talking
to?
- The big question raised by this
passage is "What do we do about evil?" or, put another way, what
is our big job as Christians in the face of bad things? In an earlier age
we might have asked what our "mission" might be.
- Jesus seems to be telling us
that the evil around us is not necessarily our fault (though some of it
may be), but he tells us to learn to live with it. If you root out the bad
stuff you might inadvertently rip out some good stuff too. God will sort
it out. Our job is to live cheek and jowl with evil -- to cope with it.
- The distinction between good
and evil is as not as clear-cut as we might think. We all know of
instances where our good-intentioned ideas led to unexpected and
unfortunate results. We all know of instances where bad actions resulted
in some good consequences. It's sometimes hard to distinguish between the
edible plants and the weeds. Weeds, after all, are just plants growing in
the wrong place.
- Jesus talks about devils and
angels. Is this a language that still makes sense? If we ascribe evil and
good to other beings, are we in danger of not seeing our own
responsibility; of seeing evil as the responsibility of "the evil
one" and the overcoming of evil as the responsibility of "the
angels"?
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