Parables: Tales with a Twist

Clearly Season 5
Written By Jimmy & Kelly Needham

Who doesn't love a good horticulture anecdote, am I right? Join us as we talk about the kindness and warnings displayed in this seedy story from Jesus. 

This story is a parable about the kingdom of heaven. What’s a parable? A tale with a twist. A story that has a moral principle as its point. It’s actually its own type of literature. Jesus’ parables are directed towards the common man using concepts the original audience would understand. For example, this parable is about planting seeds. His listeners would’ve known the ins and outs of farming very well.

Let’s look at the important pieces of this parable:

👨‍🌾 The Planter

🌿 The Field

🌾 Wheat Seeds

👎 The Enemy

🌱 Weeds

🧔‍♂️ Servants

Questions we ask ourselves after a story like this: 

  • Who do these people and objects represent?

  • What does the parable mean for me today?

Thinking it through:

How the parable begins: A man is planting good seeds in his field.

How the parable ends: He’s collecting the grown wheat to put it in his barn. 

The conflict: An enemy comes and spreads weeds among the wheat seeds.

In Jesus’ parable of the three soils (Matthew 13:1-11), the seeds represent the Gospel message being spread. But in this parable, the seeds are people! That’s why context is key to understanding passages like this.

The weeds are in the field, but won’t be part of the kingdom of God. The good seeds will be part of the kingdom of God. Jesus is giving us a picture of His kingdom before Jesus comes back for His people. It’s messy when genuine believers and imposters intermingle. Just because a person attends a church, doesn’t mean he is actually part of the Church. But as we’re about to see, right now isn’t the time to tear out the weeds.

The journey to resolution: The servants want to be helpful so they suggest pulling up the bad seeds. But the landowner says, “No.”

The landowner, in his wisdom, recognizes that pulling up the weeds might pull up the wheat too. If believers are the wheat and the landowner is God, this parable shows how much God protects those who are born again into his family. He doesn’t want to risk losing one of His own. 

The conclusion:

Who is represented in this parable? Jesus answers in verses 36-38.

👨‍🌾 The Planter - the Son of Man

🌿 The Field - the world

🌾 Wheat Seeds - the sons of the kingdom

👎 The Enemy - Satan

🌱 Weeds - the sons of evil

🧔‍♂️ Servants - angels

What’s the point?

Read verses 36-28! You thought we were going to give you the answers? Bahaha! You get the chance to exercise those discernment muscles! 💪

Application questions:

  • This passage is both an encouragement and a warning. What’s the encouragement? And what’s the warning?

  • In your own words, what the point of Jesus’ parable is in Matthew 13:24-30?

We couldn’t answer every question about this passage but we certainly hope we helped! Want to ask more questions? Email question@clearlypodcast.com.

Additional resources:

Jimmy & Kelly Needham
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