Jesus dismissed the crowds and went into the house.
His disciples approached him and said,
“Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”
He said in reply, “He who sows good seed is the Son of Man,
the field is the world, the good seed the children of the Kingdom.
The weeds are the children of the Evil One,
and the enemy who sows them is the Devil.
The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.
Just as weeds are collected and burned up with fire,
so will it be at the end of the age.
The Son of Man will send his angels,
and they will collect out of his Kingdom
all who cause others to sin and all evildoers.
They will throw them into the fiery furnace,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.
Then the righteous will shine like the sun
in the Kingdom of their Father.
Whoever has ears ought to hear.”
In this passage, we see Jesus explaining in detail the meaning of the parable of the weeds in the field. His explanation is so detailed because the disciples are stupid and do not understand the meaning of parables. Here he is saying he is the Son of Man and his followers are the good seed. He contrasts this with the Devil as being the Evil One and his followers bad seed that need to be burned up. Here the emphasis is on casting out those who sin. This reflects the dualistic nature of the time period and explains the dualism that is deeply entrenched in Christianity. The final line "whoever has ears ought to hear" is interesting because he is saying that everyone can hear his message and that his message is universal. This is very different that Mt 13:14 which says "You shall indeed hear but not understand you shall indeed look but never see". So often in our lives we hear but do not understand. So often it is our ego that blocks us from truly seeing and hearing the word of God.
No comments:
Post a Comment