{"id":23959,"date":"2014-03-08T07:00:39","date_gmt":"2014-03-08T14:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/?p=23959"},"modified":"2016-12-01T00:41:19","modified_gmt":"2016-12-01T07:41:19","slug":"weedy-christians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/2014\/03\/08\/weedy-christians\/","title":{"rendered":"Weedy Christians and Odd Fish"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve had quite a few conversations recently where I’ve referenced two of Christ’s parables. In the process of having these discussions, I’ve started to see the importance of these stories and seen the need for every Christian to spend some time with them to grasp the truths they contain, particularly with regards to the nature of the Church.\u00a0Both of these parables are found in Chapter 13 of Matthew’s Gospel, in the section known as “The Parables Discourse”<\/em><\/span>…<\/p>\n

\"Parables\"<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Parable #1: A harvest of righteousness (& unrighteousness)<\/h3>\n

The first parable I’d like to look at is often called the “Parable of the Wheat & Weeds”<\/em>. Here’s the text…\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

…”The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field<\/span>; but while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds<\/span> among the wheat, and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants\u00a0of the householder came and said to him, \u2018Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then has it weeds?\u2019 He said to them, \u2018An enemy has done this.\u2019 The servants\u00a0said to him, \u2018Then do you want us to go and gather them<\/span>?\u2019 But he said, \u2018No; lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them<\/span>. Let both grow together until the harvest<\/span>; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, ‘Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn'”<\/em>\u00a0– Matthew 13:24-30<\/span><\/p>\n

The “weeds”<\/span><\/em> which are sown here are probably\u00a0darnel<\/a>. The plant is\u00a0somewhat poisonous and during its early stages it looks like wheat, being only easily distinguishable from wheat once it has reached maturity.<\/p>\n

\"Wheat\"<\/p>\n

A little later in the discourse, Jesus explains this teaching to His disciples (Matthew 13:36-43<\/a>):<\/p>\n

…His disciples came to him, saying, \u201cExplain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.\u201d He answered, \u201cHe who sows<\/span> the good seed is the Son of man<\/span>; the field<\/span> is the world<\/span>, and the good seed<\/span> means the sons of the kingdom<\/span>; the weeds<\/span> are the sons of the evil one<\/span>, and the enemy<\/span> who sowed them is the devil<\/span>; the harvest<\/span> is the close of the age<\/span>, and the reapers<\/span> are angels<\/span><\/em>\u00a0– Matthew 13:36-40<\/span><\/p>\n

In this section we see that Jesus identifies the various symbols used in His parable:<\/p>\n

The\u00a0“sower”<\/em><\/span> is Jesus<\/strong>
\nThe\u00a0“field”<\/em><\/span>\u00a0is the world<\/strong>
\nThe\u00a0“wheat”<\/em><\/span>\u00a0represents Believers<\/strong>
\nThe\u00a0“weeds”<\/em><\/span>\u00a0represent Unbelievers<\/strong>
\nThe\u00a0“harvest”<\/em><\/span>\u00a0is the End of Time<\/strong>
\nThe\u00a0“reapers”<\/em><\/span>\u00a0are the Angels<\/strong><\/p>\n

The central message of this parable is an important truth which needs to be appropriated. Jesus is explaining that, until the Final Judgement, things are going to be a bit of a mixed bag. There will be saints, to be sure, but there’ll also be sinners too.\u00a0To make matters more complicated, it won’t always be easy to tell which is which since they can both look rather similar. Fortunately for us, it’s not our job to do the weeding:<\/p>\n

Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the close of the age. The Son of man<\/span> will send his angels<\/span>, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers<\/span><\/em>… – Matthew 13:40-41<\/span><\/p>\n

It will not be us, but the angels who will clean up the kingdom! St. Jerome, the great Biblical scholar of antiquity makes the following explanation and qualification:<\/p>\n

“But this seems to contradict that command, ‘Put away the evil from among you.’ [1 Cor 5:13] For if the rooting up be forbidden, and we are to abide in patience till the harvest-time, how are we to cast forth any from among us? But between wheat and tares… so long as it is only in blade, before the stalk has put forth an ear, there is very great resemblance, and none or little difference to distinguish them by. <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

The Lord then warns us not to pass a hasty sentence on an ambiguous word, but to reserve it for His judgment, that when the day of judgment shall come, He may cast forth from the assembly of the saints no longer on suspicion but on manifest guilt.”\u00a0<\/em><\/span>– St. Jerome<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Although the Church has the right to exercise discipline, she should not do so hastily.<\/p>\n

Parable #2: Net Prophet<\/h3>\n

The Lord drives the point home with real force a few verses later when He tells the\u00a0“Parable of the Dragnet”<\/em><\/span>:<\/p>\n

“Again,\u00a0the kingdom of heaven is like a net<\/span>\u00a0which was thrown into the sea and gathered\u00a0fish of every kind<\/span>; when it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and\u00a0sorted the good into vessels<\/span> but threw away the bad<\/span>.”<\/em>\u00a0– Matthew 13:47-48<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Dragnet\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In the very next two sentences, the Lord gives the interpretation:<\/p>\n

So it will be at the close of the age<\/span>.\u00a0The angels<\/span>\u00a0will come out and separate the evil from the righteous<\/span>, and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will weep and gnash their teeth – Matthew 13:49-50<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

By explicitly describing the Kingdom as a net, the Lord explains that the Kingdom is initially going to be a mixed bag (or, in this case, a mixed net). In this net there are going to be all kinds of fish flopping about. Some will be “evil”<\/em><\/span>\u00a0and others\u00a0“righteous”<\/em><\/span>, but they’ll all get sorted out later.<\/p>\n

Application: Encountering weeds and bad fish<\/h3>\n

So what? I have come to see the importance of these parables because it tells us something very important as to what to expect from the Church. Many Catholics become disillusioned with the Catholic Church upon first encountering bad fish; I know this was certainly true for me.\u00a0Likewise, many Christians become disillusioned with their congregation when they discover that it isn’t quite as “pure” as they had previously thought.<\/p>\n

Although we would rarely articulate it in this way, I think we basically expect the Church as a whole, as well as individual Christian members, to be free from all fault and sin. It sounds rather ridiculous when we put it like that, but I think it’s what we subconsciously think. I know it’s what I thought. There’s even a case to be made from the Bible to support this, since the Scriptures say that the Church is called to be the spotless Bride of Christ.<\/p>\n

\"pew\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I have lost track of the number of times I’ve heard former Catholics say that they\u00a0left the Catholic Church because of the sin or some failing they found there. Sometimes it’s a priest who doesn’t seem to have a care for the souls in his charge. Other times the pastor has an appalling approach to pastoral care. Occasionally, it’s a member of the parish council who seems to have an inflated sense of self-importance. Still other times, it’s a Lector or Eucharistic minister who is openly sleeping with his girlfriend, getting drunk on the weekends etc.<\/p>\n

I have also often come across non-Catholic Christians who, upon encountering very similar things, decide to eschew\u00a0congregational\u00a0life and instead “go it alone”. This is a tragic situation, but that’s for another blog post…<\/p>\n

I can sympathize with these reactions, as I have experienced very similar feelings. However, this is why the parables of the Lord are so important.<\/p>\n

Exhortation: Stay corn-y and in your plaice<\/h3>\n

It is so important for any of us who are involved in areas of catechesis, to ensure that all those under their care understand this truth of the Kingdom so that when (not “if”) the catechumens encounter sin and scandal, they will remain unfazed. Rather than being shocked, they will be prepared, trusting that the Lord will one day gather the wheat into His barn.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve had quite a few conversations recently where I’ve referenced two of Christ’s parables. In the process of having these discussions, I’ve started to see the importance of these stories and seen the need for every Christian to spend some time with them to grasp the truths they contain, particularly with regards to the nature of the Church.\u00a0Both of these<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":53871,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,17],"tags":[676,2969,601,290,289],"class_list":["post-23959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-apologetics","category-faith","tag-church","tag-featured","tag-purity","tag-weeds","tag-wheat"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/FeaturedWheat.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23959"}],"version-history":[{"count":40,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23959\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86640,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23959\/revisions\/86640"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}