February 4. Matthew 13

Good and bad seeds

Today we will look at the parable of the sower & the parable of the wheat and the tares. These are the only two parables in the bible where Jesus actually gives us the answers; thus, we should be grateful that Jesus provided us with a roadmap.

In the parable of the wheat and tares Jesus is planting the good seeds and Satan is planting the bad seeds. Who are these seeds? Well, the parable makes it clear that these seeds are in fact people. More specifically, the good seeds are the children of God and the bad seeds are the children of the devil. At this point, we might wonder why Jesus is even teaching about this? I believe the answer lies in verses 27-28, where the servants appear to just tow the line of accusing Jesus of being the one who planted bad seeds. Then we see that Jesus rebukes them for even asking that, and he then explains to them that it was the devil who was planting them. Therefore, God has children and the devil has children. Which one are you?

In the parable of the sower, we see this idea of seeds again. In the last parable the “seeds” represented people, but this time the “seed” represents the word of God. Here, we see that when someone hears the word of God they will fall into one of four categories; (1) unbelief; (2) belief then fall away (3) unfruitful lives (4) hold fast till the end and bear fruit patiently. As disciples we should all be in this fourth category, period. The other three groups are clearly used as negative examples. The parable is clear that the narrow path to eternity lies in the fourth group. Therefore, we as disciples must avoid the pitfalls associated with the first three groups and we must also strive for the virtues of the fourth group. The virtues of the fourth group are quite simple actually, they are simply “do not abandon the faith” and also make sure to “bear some spiritual fruit.”

These parables are both very black and white. They both depict a narrow road to salvation and a broad road to destruction. Fortunately, these parables allow us to assess our own salvation. If we are real disciples then we must be the good seed in the first parable and the fourth group in the second, otherwise we are simply fooling ourselves. After reading these two parables it struck me that the good seed (wheat) depicted in the first and and the fourth group (good soil) depicted in the second are actually one in the same. Luckily, God is the one who saved me and I did not save myself. The path has already been laid for us. God does not change. God will keep us till the end. Praise be to God.