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God’s Final Harvest

Read Matthew 13:24-30.

Fortunately, we have some help in understanding this parable because Jesus explains it to his disciples (Matt. 13:36-43). It’s important to note that the image of the harvest changes with this story. Instead of the harvest being a great reaping that draws many into God’s kingdom, in this parable, the harvest represents the final judgment at the end of the age (Matt. 13:39). This is the end-times harvest referred to in Rev. 14:15-20.

We recently top-dressed our thick, but slow-growing, Zoysia lawn. In some places, we used a lot of top dressing and the grass died underneath the added soil. This was an open invitation for weeds and all sorts of grass types to invade the rich topsoil. I have no idea where the seeds came from, but our lawn became a mess. We knew that our only hope was to deal with the weeds quickly, but unfortunately, some of the numerous new grasses looked a lot like Zoysia to our inexperienced eyes. Sometimes we ripped up weeds and at other times it turned out to be new clumps of Zoysia. We tried hard but, in the end, we gave up. Our lawn is now Zoysia plus.

According to Jesus, that’s what is happening in his kingdom. The Zoysia and the look-alike weeds are growing together. It’s not usually our job to decide which is the real thing. We are a mixed bunch. Throughout its history, the church has done some wonderful things and some very wrong things. This is evidence that good seeds and weeds have grown together. Weeds get in with the healthy grass, and often we struggle to tell them apart. It’s difficult to know what is really driving people or what their behavior is like when they are not in the spotlight. This is frustrating at times, but we need to accept that it’s what God allows for the moment.

But don’t think that it doesn’t matter to God. He sees right through us. God has no doubts as to who is with him and who is not, and in the end, he will reveal all. When the final harvest comes, Jesus says that the weeds will be thrown “into the fiery furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (13:42). We thank God for his mercy towards us, but we also celebrate his justice. At the moment, it may seem that people get away with evil as the wheat and weeds grow together. There is often nothing we can do about it. However, remember that God sees and remembers. He knows what weeds look like. He will finally expose and punish. Our God is both loving and just.

This parable has at least two implications for harvest workers. First, what we are doing is crucial work. We’re not only sharing the good news of a loving God who reaches out to us through the sacrifice of Jesus, and who offers freedom and life and purpose in this life. We are also sharing hope for eternity – freedom from God’s certain judgment and assurance that God’s people will “shine like the sun” in his beautiful new kingdom. There is a huge amount at stake.

Second, our role is not to decide who is worthy of God’s grace. As soon as we make some specific behaviors the test of true faith, we are trying to do God’s job and we are sure to root out good seeds along with the weeds. I’m not saying that we don’t encourage biblical lifestyle and character. That is what discipleship is all about. And there is a place for church discipline, especially when hypocrisy is detected. But God’s grace and justice go way beyond ours and so our primary role is to love and accept and forgive and share the gospel and let God do his work in his way.