In this study of the Parables of Jesus, we are reading many of the stories Jesus used to teach hearers about how to live as His followers. Each day we’ll read parables in their immediate context, focusing on a different category of parables each week. Then we will work through a series of questions to understand the meaning of the text and take to heart the “secrets of the kingdom.”
Editor’s Note: In this Parables study, Jesus Himself is telling us stories—stories He wants us to reflect on and process. Rather than asking our writers to write their own stories about Jesus’ stories, we thought it would serve you and the text better to provide questions to help you dig into the meaning of each day’s parable. If you find a parable or passage particularly confusing, stop and pray. Ask the Lord to reveal Himself to you in His Word, and thank Him that we can know Him without knowing all the answers to our questions.
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Week 1: Parables about God’s Kingdom
Parables are stories with a point. They are designed to make us think about what is being said, why, where, to whom, and in what context. To get to the heart of Jesus’ parables, we need to pull them apart and take a careful look at the details He gives us. One detail that runs through this week’s selection of parables is that Jesus says they all describe the kingdom of God in some way. As you read through these passages, use the following questions to unpack the stories Jesus tells.
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Day 2 Reading: Matthew 13:24-43
Questions:
1. Jesus says the kingdom of God can be compared to the parable of the wheat and the weeds. How so?
2. What is the problem Jesus addresses in the parable of the wheat and the weeds, and what is the outcome of the story?
3. What is the central point of this parable?
4. How did Jesus explain this parable to His disciples? What is your response to Jesus’ explanation?
Jesus used this parable to bluntly show that only those who produce fruit of the Spirit will inherit the kingdom of God. The Holy Spirit residing in us brings the kingdom on earth. There are those who claim to have it, which are the weeds or those who deliberately do not follow Christ— these will be thrown into the fire. I pray that we will strive to press into Christ, who by His Spirit will produce fruit in our lives and then at harvest time we will be shining bright like our Father in Heaven. In Jesus name.
Does anyone understand when Jesus is saying “I will declare things kept secret from the foundation of the world?” Does it mean his parables reveal other than worldly knowledge?
Yes- as the devotion explains and as Jesus says (revealing prophecy) these parables reveal secrets of the Kingdom of God- so not Worldly knowledge.
I believe that what Jesus means is that there are secrets of God’s kingdom that the carnal mind can never comprehend and they will only be revealed to the righteous that diligently seek after these mysteries.
I never have studied the parables. This is something that was very important to God – as he so clearly states. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. Another way to know get to know God’s heart. What a treasure!
Hey ladies. I’ve been reading the passages and following the comments. I keep coming back to this reading and have a question. Can the weeds be changed to wheat? I want think we can turn the weeds but is that even possible? Am I making this harder than it needs to be?
Hi Stephanie, idk if the weeds can change, but the sower doesn’t allow the weeds to be pulled up too soon because some wheat might go with it. So maybe what looks like weeds might really be wheat that needs some extra love to grow. So while everything is still growing we must treat everything like wheat, just in case.
I love this response. I initially read it as if all the children of God are planted on this Earth with the Holy Spirit to allow us to ripen our longing for heaven and nurture our relationship with the Lord. Your response is Christ-centered when you admit that everyone on this earth is wheat and not planted as weeds. It’s comforting to know that weeds can grow on wheat but at harvest (judgement day/or our time to be with the Lord) that the wheat can still be picked out of the weeds (masked by the sins of this Earth but with a Christ focused heart) thank you Emma for sharing such insight.
Hi Stephanie,
I think it’s a good question and I like Emma’s answer a lot. If weeds can indeed be turned to weeds, then it is only through Christ it can be done and it’s not up to us to judge who is “weeds” and who is “wheat” since we don’t know the true heart of people or God’s ultimate plan. So, like Emma said, we should just treat everything like wheat. :)
I love this response! It makes a lot of sense.
I don’t know if he is referring to “bad people” when he is talking about weeds. The way I read it, the weeds are the sons of the Devil which would make them demons and the like. The devil can’t make people can he? I definitely get what you are saying though, and if the weeds are people, Emma’s response is really comforting.
Hi Stephanie! I like everyone’s answer listed above, and I was wondering the same thing you asked. But as stated in the parable the weeds are “people of the evil one”, so I don’t believe those are “people of the kingdom” or God’s children. In the parable the master didn’t want the weeds to be pulled immediately in fear that it would uproot the wheat, as well. I interpret it as, God is giving us all the time to grow and mature for the time of harvest, but some wheat that is too entangled in weeds (sin) may be uprooted in the end, despite given all of that time.
Remember that the no one is outside the reaches of the Lord, I was a weed once myself but I was reborn and sown into a new field, thank you Jesus!
Praise God, Deb! That is so amazing!
As I read though this parable I am continually brought back to the part about how the master told his servants not to pull the weeds. The master knows best, can see the end, however the servants are I’ll equipped, uneducated, inexperienced, to make that decision on their own. To me WE are the servants in this story too. As Christmas followers we have wheat and weeds among our friend circles, who are we to decide who to pluck and who to let grow — what may look like a weed to me may just be an immature wheat plant. Nurturing the whole field, despite the weeds, ensures that the steong wheat grows but also that we don’t pluck out small, immature wheat that just needs a little more love and encouragement to grow.
I’m grateful for the Lord’s persistence in my life in loving and supporting me through my journey even though I haven’t looked like those tall, strong, steady, and obvious wheat stalks, but have had a slower growth, often overshadowed by the weeds that surround me.
Slowly I’m starting to rise above the weeds in my midst, to stand tall and firm in my faith, “to catch up”, but I’m so grateful for a parable such as this to remind me that we all have a different journey to the harvest, yet He loves and nurtures us the same!
As I read though this parable I am continually brought back to the part about how the master told his servants not to pull the weeds. The master knows best, can see the end, however the servants are ill-equipped, uneducated, inexperienced, to make that decision on their own. To me, WE are the servants in this story too. As Christ followers we have wheat and weeds among our friend circles to care for, who are we to decide who to pluck and who to let grow?!? What may look like a weed to me may just be an immature wheat plant. Nurturing the whole field, despite the weeds, ensures that the strong wheat grows but also that we don’t pluck out small, immature wheat that just needs a little more love and encouragement to grow beyond the weeds surrounding it.
I’m grateful for the Lord’s persistence in my life in loving and nurturing me through my journey even though I haven’t looked like those tall, strong, steady, and obvious wheat stalks, but have had a slower growth, often overshadowed by the weeds that surround me. Thankful I wasn’t plucked out among a handful of weeds!
Slowly I’m starting to rise above the weeds in my midst, to stand tall and firm in my faith, “to catch up”, but I’m so grateful for a parable such as this to remind me that we all have a different journey to the harvest, yet He loves and nurtures us the same!
I love that you pointed this out! So very true!
So awesome Jess, thanks for sharing your thoughts. I love how you said, “thankful i wasnt plucked out among a handful of weeds”.
I can definitely relate! totally looking to the world and church as a harmful weed. Praising God for his redemption and pulling the veil from my eyes!
Blessings on you xx
I love this Jess- so true. My parents received an email last week from an older adult who has been praying for their father to received Jesus for decades. Last week at the age of 85 he asked Jesus to be the Lord and Savior of his life. In our ill equipped, judgmental state we would have been prone to identify him as a weed and pluck him up and throw him out…but God! He is faithful and patient and the best master there is. Thank you for your insight today.
This will be my first time to comment on here after reading for close to two years, but I can’t deny how deeply your interpretation struck me this morning, Jess. I’ve been deeply struggling to find a solution for an issue of friendship over the past few months. I’ve invested so heavily into a friend and it has been exhausting and draining and I think what it comes down to is that we don’t share the same “heart” = Christ. I’ve considered just being done and moving towards friends with whom I share my faith with. The thing I struggle with is giving her the wrong idea of who Christ is and how powerful His love is – forgiving of hurt or burnt expectations that I’ve experienced through her interactions. I expect a lot, perhaps too much, but I KNOW that God designs friendship to be as “close as a brother” and that’s what I desire. So, all this said, I’m thankful to read your words and to feel a sense of sticking with it, to not view her as a weed, but instead an immature seed. I say that with the most love and care. She is anything but a weed, but as a way to apply it to this passage, I think it is an apt metaphor. SO thank you for speaking out and sharing. It touched me.
So true!! Thanks for sharing! ❤️
Lovely Jess. Thanks for sharing.
What I take away from this parable is that like us, God loves the unbeliever and provides for them as well. I’m reminded of the scripture “the rain falls on the just and the unjust” and “the sun rises on the godly and ungodly”. He allows the tares to thrive and grow because of his great love and He plants them with the wheat who share in the nourishment from the sun, soil and rain. This tells me that we are too love others and share in all things. God gives the unbelieving world every opportunity to repent and uses us to hopefully influence them. So many angles to this parable. Love everyone’s insight.
Sandy! Thank you for this insight.
Amen!
I love this Sandy. Something I didn’t see!
While in this world we endure the enemy, but we can take heart, we are being leavened, and the time will come when we are harvested to the Kingdom of heaven, like a mustard seed grown largest of all. I will open my ears to hear what the Word has to say to me and pray for others to find this hope, faith, and salvation.