ACC ~ Matthew 13 v24 - 30

OVERVIEW:

The good seed are taken to be the children of the kingdom, because whatever good things are sown in the human soul, these are the offspring of the kingdom of God (ORIGEN). The devil sows weeds among sleeping people, among those who through negligence are overcome by their infidelity as in a kind of lethargy (CHROMATIUS). The householder ordered his servants to put up with the weeds and not to separate them now (AUGUSTINE). A separation would occur on the last day (ORIGEN, CHROMATIUS). We should not be quick to judge. What is doubtful should be left to God’s judgment when the day of judgment comes (JEROME). The angels and servants of the Word will gather from the kingdom of Christ all things that cause a stumbling block to souls, which they will scatter and burn (ORIGEN).

13:24 | Sowing Good Seed

GOOD SEED

ORIGEN: Consider now, if in addition to what we have already recounted, you can otherwise take the good seed to be the children of the kingdom, because whatever good things are sown in the human soul, these are the offspring of the kingdom of God. They have been sown by God the Word who was in the beginning with God. [1] Wholesome words about anything are children of the kingdom. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 10.2. [2]

[1] Jn 1:2.

[2] GCS 40:2; ANF 9:414.

THE SOWER OF GOOD SEEDS

CHROMATIUS: The Lord clearly points out that he is the sower of good seeds. He does not cease to sow in this world as in a field. God’s word is like good seed in the hearts of people, so that each of us according to the seeds sown in us by God may bear spiritual and heavenly fruit. TRACTATE ON MATTHEW 51.1. [1]

[1] CCL 9a:450.

13:25 | Sowing Bad Seed

WHEN PEOPLE ARE ASLEEP

ORIGEN: But while people are asleep they do not act according to the command of Jesus, “Watch and pray that you enter not into temptation.” [1] At that point the devil on the watch sows what are called tares—that is, evil opinions—over and among the good seeds that are from the Word. According to this the whole world might be called a field, and not the church of God only. For the Son of Man sowed the good seed throughout the entire world, but the wicked one sowed tares—that is, evil words—which, springing from wickedness, are children of the evil one. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 10.2. [2]

[1] Mt 26:41.

[2] GCS 40:2; ANF 9:414.

13:26 | Grain and Weeds

THE WEEDS APPEARED

CHROMATIUS: The Lord points out that our foe the devil sows the weeds of his wickedness and malice to choke the seed of God in us. Thus he says, “But while men were asleep, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away.” The Lord indicates that the devil sows weeds among sleeping people—that is, among those who through negligence are overcome by their infidelity as in a kind of lethargy and fall asleep amid the divine injunctions. The apostle says concerning them: “For they who sleep, sleep at night, and they who are drunk, are drunk at night. Therefore let us not sleep as do the rest, but let us be wakeful and sober.” [1]

Those foolish virgins about whom we read in the Gospel, weighed down by their lethargy and infidelity, not having taken oil for their vessels, were unable to go forth and meet the bridegroom. [2] Hence it is always uppermost in the mind of this devil—the enemy of the human race—to sow weeds among the wheat.

But he who awaits the Lord faithfully, once the sleep of infidelity has been banished from him, will not be bothered by this nighttime sower. … According to the Lord’s interpretation, the good seed represents the children of the kingdom and the weeds represent the wicked children. TRACTATE ON MATTHEW 51.1.1-2. [3]

[1] 1 Thess 5:6-7.

[2] Mt 25:1-13.

[3] CCL 9a:450-51.

13:27 | The Servants Come to the Householder

WHY WEEDS?

AUGUSTINE: The Lord then explained for us what he had said. See what we choose to be in his field. See which of the two we will be at harvest time. The field is the world, and the church is spread throughout the world. Let the one who is wheat persevere until the harvest; let those who are weeds be changed into wheat. There is this difference between people and real grain and real weeds, for what was grain in the field is grain and what were weeds are weeds. But in the Lord’s field, which is the church, at times what was grain turns into weeds and at times what were weeds turn into grain; and no one knows what they will be tomorrow. SERMON 73A.1. [1]

[1] MA 1:249; WSA 3 3:295.

13:28 | Gathering the Weeds?

WARNING AGAINST SOWING WEEDS

JEROME: As I said before, we must adapt our faith to those things that the Lord explained. Those things which he did not mention and which he left to our intelligence will be briefly touched on here. Think of those who were asleep as signifying the teachers of the different churches. Think of the householder’s servants as none other than the angels who daily look upon the Father’s face. Think of the enemy who sowed the weeds as the devil because he wanted to be a god. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 2.13.37. [1]

[1] CCL 77:111-12.

13:29 | Rooting Up Grain by Mistake

DO NOT ROOT UP THE WHEAT

AUGUSTINE: The workers of the householder wanted to go and gather up the weeds, but they were not allowed to do so. Though they indeed wanted to gather them up, they were not allowed to separate the weeds. They did what they were suited for and left it to the angels to do the separation. At first they were unwilling to leave the separation of the weeds up to the angels. But the householder, who knew them all and saw that a separation was necessary, ordered them to put up with the weeds and not to separate them. In answer to their words, “Do you want us to go and gather them up?” he replied, “No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them.” “Therefore, Lord, will the weeds also be with us in the barn?” “At harvest time I will say to the reapers, ‘Gather up first the weeds, and bind them in bundles to burn. Allow what you do not have with you in the barn to grow in the field.’” SERMON 73A.1. [1]

[1] MA 1:249; WSA 3 3:296.

13:30 | Separated at the Harvest

UNTIL THE HARVEST

JEROME: The words the Lord spoke—“Lest gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them”—leave room for repentance. We are advised not to be quick in cutting off a fellow believer, for it may happen that one who has been corrupted today by evil may recover his senses tomorrow by sound teaching and abide by the truth. And that which follows, “Let both grow together until the harvest,” seems to be contrary to the other precept: “Put away evil from your midst,” whereby there must be no fellowship with those who are called believers but who are adulterers and fornicators. If uprooting is forbidden and patience must be kept until harvest time, how are some people to be removed from our midst? Between wheat and weeds there is something called darnel, when the plant is in its early growth and there is no stalk yet. It looks like an ear of corn, and the difference between them is hardly noticeable. The Lord therefore advises us that we should not be quick to judge what is doubtful but should leave judgment up to God. So when the day of judgment comes, he may not cast out from the body of saints those who are suspected of misdeeds but those who are obviously guilty. As to his words that the bundles of weeds are to be consigned to the fire and the wheat is to be gathered in the barn, it is clear that all heretics and hypocrites are to be burned in the fires of hell. But the holy ones, who are called wheat, are to be gathered up in barns—that is to say, heavenly mansions. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 2.13.29-30. [1]

[1] CCL 77:112.

LET THEM GROW TOGETHER

CHROMATIUS: But when the servants of the householder, namely, on the part of the apostles, ask the Lord whether they should separate the weeds from the wheat, he allowed them both to grow together until the harvest—that is, until the end of time. He clearly indicated that he would send reapers at that time, namely, angels, so that, once they have separated the wheat from the weeds—that is, once the holy ones have been separated from the wicked—they may gather the righteous in heavenly kingdoms, like wheat in barns. All the wicked and sinners will burn amid the punishments of hell like weeds in the fire, where the Lord declares they will forever weep and grind their teeth, saying, “There shall be weeping and grinding of teeth.” [1] And when the Lord says there will be weeping and grinding of teeth, he is undoubtedly pointing to the future resurrection not only of the soul (as certain heretics would have it) but also of the body. Indeed, weeping and grinding of teeth are properly so-called punishments of the body. Therefore the gravity of the error that has a hold on heretics of this type can be seen from these words of the Lord, for they do not believe in the future resurrection of the body. TRACTATE ON MATTHEW 51.1.2. [2]

[1] Mt 13:42.

[2] CCL 9a:451.

AT HARVEST TIME

ORIGEN: And at the end of things, which is called “the consummation of the age,” [1] there will of necessity be a harvest, in order that the angels of God who have been appointed for this work may gather up the bad opinions that have grown upon the soul, and overturning them may give them over to fire which is said to burn, that they may be consumed. And so the angels and servants of the Word will gather from Christ’s entire kingdom all things that cause a stumbling block to souls and their reasonings that create iniquity, which they will scatter and cast into the burning furnace of fire. Then those who become conscious that they have received the seeds of the evil one in themselves, because of their having been asleep, shall wail and, as it were, be angry with themselves. This is the “gnashing of teeth.” [2] Similarly it is said in the Psalms, “They gnashed me with their teeth.” [3] Then above all “shall the righteous shine,” no longer differently as at the first but all “as one sun in the kingdom of their Father.” [4] Then, as if to indicate that there was indeed a hidden meaning, perhaps in all that is concerned with the explanation of the parable, maybe most of all in the saying “Then shall the righteous shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father,” the Savior adds, “He that has ears to hear, let him hear.” [5] The Lord thereby teaches those who are attentive that in the exposition, the parable has been set forth with such perfect clearness that it can be understood by the novice. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 10.2. [6]

[1] Mt 13:39.

[2] Mt 13:42.

[3] Ps 35:16 (34:16 LXX).

[4] Mt 13:43.

[5] Mt 13:43.

[6] GCS 40:2-3; ANF 9:414-15.