Adrian
Old-Sunday Worship June 22nd, 2025
  • How Great Is Our God

      • Acts 16:16–34ESV

      • Acts 16:16–34ESV

  • O The Deep Deep Love Of Jesus (Ebenezer)
  • Doxology

      • Matthew 13:24–30ESV

  • “Weeds in the Garden”

    K. Adrian Scott
    June 22, 2025
    Matthew 13. 24-30
    “Weeds in the Garden”
    K. Adrian Scott
    June 22, 2025
    Introduction.
    Matthew’s Gospel was written by Matthew, also called Levi, who was of Jewish heritage and was employed as a tax collector when he was called to follow Jesus (chapter nine) and later became one of the twelve Apostles.
    The intended audience for Matthew’s Gospel is the Jewish population, of whom some have believed on Jesus as the fulfilment of the Old Testament prophesies concerning, He was to come, thus their coming Messiah. Matthew’s use of language and customs which were common in the Jewish community is also strong evidence that the Gospel is aimed at a Jewish audience. The Gospel message in Matthew strongly presents Jesus as the long-awaited King of the Jews in the family line of King David, Israel’s once great warrior/king. Matthew’s writing also points to Jesus as answer to the Law of Moses’ as the fulfilment of the Law (Matthew 5.17).
    Chapter 13 contains a series of parables or stories Jesus told to his audience which include the Parable of the Sowers, the Parable of the Weeds, the Parable of the Seed and the Leaven, the Parable of the Hidden Treasure, the Parable of the Pearl of Great Price, the Parable of the Net, and finally, the Parable of the New and Old Treasures. I think it would be fair to say, Jesus was trying to make a point!
    Our Parable, the second one found in Matthew 13. 24-30 is the content of Jesus’ Third Discourse, or series of talks/sermons by the Lord Jesus about the nature of the Kingdom of Heaven.
    Context.
    A point of interest is that in Matthew 13, the first parable describes the work of Christ, while our second parable represents the work of Satan.
    In the previous chapter 12, Jesus heals a man with a withered or scribbled hand (12.9-14), then Jesus withdraws from the people, but “many followed him, and he healed them all” (12.15), but he ordered them “not to make him known” (12.15b). Then in chapter 12, verses 22-32 the Pharisees commit blasphemy as they tell the crowds following Jesus that the work Jesus is doing is inspired by Beelzebul, after which Jesus explains that a tree is known by the fruit it bears in verses 33-37. In verses 38-42, Jesus prophesies that He, the Son of Man, will fulfill the sign of Jonah “as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be three days ad three nights in the heart of the earth” (v. 40).
    “That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. And great crowds gathered about Him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. And He told them many things in parables...” (v. 13.1-3a).
    The Text – Telling the Story.
    v. 24b; “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, ...”
    The phrase used in Matthew’s Jewish Gospel, “kingdom of heaven” is synonymous with the phrase “kingdom of God” that is primarily used by other Gospel writers, Luke and Mark. The phrase “kingdom of God is used 68 times in the New Testament while the phrase “kingdom of heaven is used just 32 times. In the recorded words of Jesus found in the Gospels, Jesus used the two terms interchangeably as seen in Matthew 19. 23,24.
    Since a kingdom must have a king, both phrases then refer to the all-encompassing universal authority of Jesus Christ as the High King of Heaven and the eternal Son of God. The kingdom of heaven does not represent a physical presence here on the earth but refers to God’s reign as Father, Son and Holy Ghost in the soul, the spiritual heart or conscience of everyone born in this physical world. The kingdom is a “spiritual” economy as opposed to a physical or earthly economy.
    v. 24b; “... compared to a man who sowed...”
    In Matthew 9.35-38, we have the following words, “And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
    Our passage indicates that there is something divine about work, particularly “good” and constructive work. According to John 5.17, John records this, “But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” In a previous chapter of Matthew, the Lord Jesus is clearly seen working, tilling the soul of human souls and sowing seeds of mercy as He heals the multitudes of their diseases and infirmities, and dispensing spiritual hope through His messages to them. It is clear to me and others that Jesus is the person described as the “Sower” and thus He is referring to Himself as the “Lord off the Harvest” (Matt. 9.38). While on earth, clearly Jesus is “a man who sowed.”
    Question: What are we doing with our time? Sowing seeds of hope, I pray.
    v. 24b; “...good seed in his field...”
    We now see the Sower has good intentions for the field as he plants or sows good seed. We can conclude then that the work of the Sower is noble work; he is sowing ‘good’ seed. The Sower didn’t plant ‘cheap’ seed or irregular seed, but he planted ‘good’ seed! His aspirations are that the seed will grow in his field, so he plants good seed. He desires the best results for his field, so he plants or sows good seed.
    We should remember something we already know, and that is, everything that is truly good, moral and holy and brings glory to God in this world comes from the hand of God. God gives it.
    v. 24b; “...in his field,”
    The field belongs to the Sower, so there is ownership! The ‘Sower’ is not a “hired hand” who just shows up to get a paycheck and who does not care about the field, but he is the Owner who has made a significant investment in the field! This wasn’t just any field, this was the Sower’s field. It was his; no one else’s but his. Whatever the field was, he knew it, and he loved it. Oh, in fact, he loved his field so much he spent all he had to purchase it. The Sower bought the field, in fact he mortgaged it, financed it with a balloon payment arrangement - one big payment and it’s his! The field is his as long as the one putting up the collateral doesn’t back out. But there was no chance of the field being foreclosed on because the One who would redeem or buy the field chose to go through with the purchase when He said, “Father, not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22.42, ESV). Were there times the Sower walked the field and envisioned only what he could see and what he wanted for the field. He had grand ideas and a plan for his field.
    In my mind’s eye, the Sower had walked every inch of his property, and he knew it all too well. He wasn’t surprised with its odd shapes, the crooked edges, the lumpy sections and the damp spots. This is the Sower’s field, and he loved it, and it is the Sower’s pleasure to do with it what is best so that the field yields its greatest potential. The Sower is ‘working’ the field! There has already been great effort made to make the field receptive to the seed that will fall into its soil. So, we not only get a glimpse of the hands of the Sower, but we also get a glimpse into the heart of the Sower, who only wants good from his field as he plants good seed. The soil in the field has been prepared to receive the ‘good’ seed that the seed has the greatest potential to grow! No matter the quality of the soil, the soil must be introduced to ‘good’ seed if the seed is expected to grow.
    v. 25; “but while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away.”
    While the field workers, men hired and paid to protect or look over the field were sleeping, something happened.
    Apparently, the men who were sleeping were either sleeping on the job, but most likely, they were sleeping at home after their work for the day was done. The reason why I have come to this conclusion is because according to the textual record the Sower did not chastise the men for being slothful, but this incident appears to be solely the work of the enemy, and the men were in this case blameless.
    Early on we get an indication that whatever was done was not good because the perpetrators were identified as “his enemy” and the enemy waited until nighttime when the field workers were asleep to do their work! This is an attempt to undue the good work with the good seed that was already done by the Sower. We also know the work that was done while the field workers slept was dishonorable and destructive because when they were finished with their evil work, they “went away” or left without detection or notice.
    Notice there is a contrast between the good and noble work done by the Sower, while there is evil, destructive work being done by a silent enemy. The work of the Sower was done during the daylight while the work of the evil one was done at night.
    Question.
    What has the Sower done to this person that they would become an enemy? Why would anyone be opposed to seed being planted in the owner’s own field? Why would anyone be indignant about seeds eventually turning into crops o wheat so people, even like themselves, being fed the bread of life?
    The Answer:
    There is nothing wrong with the Sower planting seeds that will eventually grow into wheat and feed people, if you love people. But the enemy does not want people to be fed from the bounty of the “good” seed and live! He would rather they die of hunger.
    Here are some things we have already learned about this enemy:
    The enemy doesn’t look to do good, but only evil since evil describes his nature.
    2. The Enemy makes it his job to tear down rather to build up.
    3. The Enemy also does his evil work under the cover of darkness.
    4. The Enemy’s work is also done underhanded, he “goes away” so the persons who are doing the work for the Enemy is not identified.
    Of course, this contrasts with the work of the the Sower whose work is for the good of the field, is designed and intended for growth, is done in the light and the Sower does not “go away” but in contrast, the Sower promises - “I will never leave you nor forsake you“ Hebrews 13.5.
    v. 25’ “his enemy came...”
    Satan makes it his business to know at least some of what good is being done on the earth so he can disrupt it. Also notice, no one had to go and ‘get’ the enemy, he came on his own! If you are doing God’s good work, the enemy will come to you and you should not be surprised, but you and I should expect a visit from him!
    v. 25b; “... and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away.”
    Instead of sowing “good” seeds, the enemy sowed weeds, not in a separate part of the field, but he sowed weeds among the wheat. Notice, the enemy did not choose to instantly burn up the wheat field, but instead, the enemy chose to plant weeds among the wheat where the weeds will be mostly undetected and by infiltrating the wheat it will be a slower but sure death to the wheat field as the weeds will eventually overtake the good seeds and the field will become a field of weeds rather than a field of wheat, making the field unproductive.
    It is said that the “tares” or weeds look so much like wheat stalks, the difference between them is almost indistinguishable unless you are a experienced farmer with a trained eye. Here we have weeds pretending to be wheat!
    So, I would like to give you the interpretation as we go through this passage.
    First, the Sower is the Lord Jesus, who owns the field which is the world, where He is planting the “good” seed of the Gospel; the Word of God. The enemy who came to the Sower’s field is Satan who secretly plants weeds of deception and destruction among those who have been given the good seed of the Gospel under the cover of darkness and then he goes away because he does not care what happens to the worthless weeds he has planted. Satan only seeks to steal, kill and destroy and has no concern about what happens to those under his control.
    The planting of the weeds in the wheat is describing the great deception that exists in Christ’s Church and the Kingdom of God on earth!
    The Proposition – The Sermon in a sentence.
    What we clearly see in our text so far is the agenda of the Lord Jesus for the world, and the agenda of the enemy, Satan. The plan of God in Christ, here seen as the Sower, is a noble and pure plan for the good of the world, while the enemy’s plan for the world is dark, evil and designed to subvert God’s good work being done in the world.

      • Matthew 13:24–30ESV

      • Matthew 13:1–3aESV

      • Matthew 13:24bESV

      • Matthew 13:24bESV

      • Matthew 9:35–38ESV

      • John 5:17ESV

      • Matthew 9:38ESV

      • Matthew 13:24bESV

      • Matthew 13:24bESV

      • Luke 22:42ESV

      • Matthew 13:25ESV

      • Matthew 13:25aESV

      • Matthew 13:25bESV

      • Matthew 13:24–30ESV

      • Isaiah 53:6ESV

      • Isaiah 53:4–5ESV

  • Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

      • Jude 24–25ESV

Adrian
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