Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field.25But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away.26When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, and then the weeds also appeared.
27 “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’
28 “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.
“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’
29 “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them.30Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First, collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’ ”
The concept is as follows: Christ sows good seed in the world. The seeds of goodness are the believers. But at the same time, the enemy of Christ, Satan, is sowing the evil seed, the weed. The type of weed mentioned in this parable is similar to wheat. Therefore, when wheat and weeds start to grow, it is difficult to distinguish them.
In the same way, there are “weeds” among the believers in the church, that is, false believers. These are the wicked sons (verse 38), that is, the servants of Satan. They say “I believe” and try to act like other Christians. They, like the good seed, enjoy the blessings of rain and the sun (Matthew 5:45). But they are weeds.
In this parable, the servants ask their master, “Do you want us to go and collect them?” (Verse 28). Many of us are like those servants, that is, we judge quickly and we condemn quickly. We like to get rid of weeds soon.
But Christ says, “No … lest you gather up the weeds with them, you will pull out the wheat with them” (verse 29). You do not know what weeds are. Let both grow together until the harvest” (verse 30).
Verses 40-43, Christ teaches in the parable that until the final judgment, there will be evil in the world. Only then will Satan finally be defeated. Only then will the collected weeds be burned. It is not our job to collect weeds, which is to judge and condemn others. This is the sole responsibility of the Son of Man and his angels (verse 41).
There will also be weeds in the church. Just as one of the twelve disciples, Judas, was the weed who betrayed Christ, so the weeds in the church, the false Christians, are wolves in sheep’s clothing (Matthew 7:15). We have to take care of them. We must reflect on their teachings. We must rebuke the error and discipline the brethren who make mistakes (see 1 Corinthians 5: 1-5 and interpret it). But we should not judge them. See also (Matthew 7: 1, 1 Corinthians 4: 5)
There are two major dangers that every church faces. One of them is weeds that weaken the church. They undermine the faith of other Christians and disgrace the church.
The second danger is just as great as that caused by passionate Christians who are in a hurry to get rid of weeds. They want to cleanse the church, and that’s good. But at the same time, they have a spirit of judgment, and that is a mistake. Yes, they do pull out a lot of weeds and point out false Christians. But at the same time, they also judge true Christians. This divides the church. They end up doing more harm to the church, while if they left the weeds alone, they would not do much harm, and this is the deepest meaning parable of the weed.
Only the son of man can really judge. He separates the wheat from the carcass at the right time. Then there will be a new heaven and a new earth … and a new city (Revelation 21: 1-2). Nothing impure will ever enter it (Revelation 21:27). At the same time, the weeds will be destroyed. Then Christ will send his angels and gather his elect (Mark 13: 26-27). Then the righteous will shine forth like the sun (verse 43). Those who are light in this world will shine even brighter in the world to come (Matthew 5:14).[1]
[1] ‘تفسیر کتاب مقدس’, accessed 9 March 2021,
Translated by Jahangeer
