The Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany

Hymns: 38, 129, 126, 46

Matthew 13:24-30 — “The Kingdom of Heaven Is Likened unto a Man”

Grace, mercy, and peace to you all from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Gospel Reading appointed for the Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany is Matthew 13:24-30:

     Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
     So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?
     He said unto them, An enemy hath done this.
     The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?
     But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Introduction

The last time that I preached this text I stated the following:

The main point of this parable is the fact that until the Last Day, the Day of the Great Harvest, the Church universal or the holy catholic Church must endure the presence of the false preachers and sectarians. While the true catholic Church must always be on guard against all those who sow pernicious doctrine and practice, we Christians must be content to huddle together where the Word and Sacraments are administered purely, and leave the Judgment until the Day of the Harvest.

In examining the text again I realized that while this point is most certainly made very powerfully in this text, it is not in fact, the main point. The main point is far more grand. This is because the main point is not what we must endure but rather what God has worked for us and continues to work among us that enables us to endure.

I. The Kingdom of Heaven Is Likened unto a Man

Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field.

Another parable. Jesus frequently spoke to the crowds in parables. Before we move forward with this opening line of this parable, we need to ponder the reason that the Lord Jesus used parables. Preceding this parable the Lord Jesus told another parable in connection with this one. The first parable we usually call the Parable of the Sower. After Jesus told it, His disciples came to Him with a question.

And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them. Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. (Matthew 13:10-18)

The question of the disciples was the right question. Before even attempting to understand the parables we need to understand why Jesus spoke in parables. To the crowds He spoke parables in order that those who had ears to hear would be urged to do so. The parables were beyond their full comprehension, thus the proper response is the one that the disciples displayed. The proper response is not to interpret it for ourselves, but to ask the Lord to interpret it for us. This is what St. Peter explains in his epistle, saying: “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” (2 Peter 1:20-21)

This is the reason that Jesus spoke in parables, to make certain that those who would choose to interpret His words for themselves would be marked as heretics so that His disciples would know to avoid them and to flee rather to the means of grace wherein the Lord Himself gives the explanation.

So we have the parable of the Sower and the explanation of the parable of the Sower. It is interesting to note that neither in the parable nor in the explanation does the Lord Jesus use the word for seed. The emphasis is on the Sowing One who is opposed by the devil and mankind’s unbelief. After this comes today’s parable with two more, one about a man planting His tiny Mustard Seed in His field, the other about a woman who took a leaven which she hid in a third measure of the flour until the whole was leavened. Again, the Seed and the Leaven are singular. What God does with this Seed and this Leaven is miraculous. He plants the Seed in His field and it rises from the grave to become a great tree to serve as a refuge and home to all of the little birdies that the wind carries to the Tree. And the leaven is given to the Bride, who mixes it into three elements in the Church, water and bread and wine, and the whole Church is made to be one.

Now, back to today’s parable. Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field. Notice that this making of the kingdom to be like a man is something that was done in the past but continues presently to be. Notice also that the sowing of the seed is past tense. Now consider when this occurred. Moses recorded for us:

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (Genesis 1:26-27)

God decreed within the Holy Communion of the Trinity that He would create us in His own image and after His own likeness. In today’s parable Jesus tells us: “The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field.” Later in this chapter, when Jesus explains this He says:

The one sowing the seed is the Son of Man, but the field is the world, but the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom.

There is only one good seed, and these are the sons of the kingdom. Jesus is both the one sowing the good seed as well as the good seed. This is declared plainly throughout the New Testament Scriptures:

(Romans 8:29) For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

(2 Corinthians 4:4) In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

(Colossians 1:15) Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

(Colossians 3:10) And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:

(Hebrews 1:3) Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

Jesus is the image of God in which Man was created. Jesus is the image of God into which we are recreated through Baptism and kept alive through the Holy Supper. Jesus is the Seed by which we are made to be the sons of the Kingdom.

II. His Enemy Came and Sowed Tares among the Wheat

     But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
     So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?
     He said unto them, An enemy hath done this.

Jesus explains this, saying: “But the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.”

Notice that unlike the Seed, the tares are plural. For there are many tares. The devil is busy creating and spreading throughout the world many imitations of the good Seed. There are many gospels in the world and these gospels produce many churches or seeds. These gospels and the sons and churches that they produce are sometimes so close in resemblance to the true Gospel and the true Seed that people count them to be the same, counting them to differ only in small matters, imagining that one church exists that shares in what is counted as “The Basics.” This is truly a great deception, being scattered throughout the world by the devil and his children. The devil played this same trick when he deceived the woman in the garden. The devil only needs to persuade a person to accept one tiny change, one tiny false statement, and the truth is lost. Jesus is the Truth.

Most Christians consider it to be a small thing to call Jesus a liar. They imagine that the Sacraments can be interpreted other than Jesus declared and still have salvation. They imagine that they can define being one as being tolerant of diversity in opinions and still be the Church. Some have even gone so far as to make this the definition of the Church. Some have even gone so far as to accept this as the revelation of Jesus.

But the Scriptures plainly declare that there is only One Seed. There is only One who is Sowing this Seed. Contrary to popular opinion, this is very good news. For this means that the Truth can be known beyond any doubt. This means that the cause of our salvation is not something that we have to understand by our own reason and strength but rather it is ours as a gift through the faith that God Himself generates within us. When we have doubts, God has given us the means by which these doubts can be annihilated. Through Baptism God washes these doubts away and gives us a good conscience instead. Through the Holy Supper God fills us with the very means by which He communes with us and resides in us and forgives us and keeps us abiding in His grace. Because these things are worked through means that we would never choose for ourselves, because these means have been ordained by His own decree, all doubts as to their efficaciousness are removed. We are not left to build up our own faith. Rather, we are turned by God Himself to means by which He is manifested as our Savior and Redeemer and Justifier and Sanctifier and Comforter and Preserver.

III. Let Both Grow Together until the Harvest

The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?
But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

The Lord Jesus does not explain this part. It is easy enough to explain. Moreover, the main point is so clear that it is only ignored by those who refuse to hear it and perceive it. This is a declaration of the nature of the one who is both the Sower of the Seed and the Seed. Our God is patient. He is in no hurry to see anyone receive the condemnation that obstinate rejection of the Lord Jesus brings. His desire is that His declaration of righteousness be received by all the world. Even from the cross He cried out forgiveness for those who rejected Him.

It is fascinating that in the little parable of the mustard seed, Jesus refers to Himself as the least of all the seeds. This is because He is the one who took the sin of the world. According to this, He was crucified and buried as the world’s worst reject, the worst of all sinners. He died in the place of all of us, taking our sin entirely, so that no sin remains to be counted against anyone, except for the sin against the Holy Spirit, the sin of calling the Holy Spirit a liar and rejecting the means of grace through which He works to apply God’s decree of righteousness to us.

Most assuredly God has decreed that in Christ the world is righteous, for Christ has taken the sin of the world and died with it accounted to Him. God has decreed that in Christ Jesus the entire world is reconciled unto Him. St. Paul writes:

Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (2 Corinthians 5:16-21)

This is key to our understanding the working of the Gospel. “To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.”

The Lord Jesus says:

And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:13-18)

God has most assuredly given His declaration. He has justified the world. He has given His declaration of righteousness to His Church to proclaim freely and without measure. The Church proclaims it, and those who have ears to hear do hear it and come to be baptized into Christ wherein this declaration has been made to be theirs.

God has declared it. How else can it be received? Who can receive a declaration before it is made? No one can receive a declaration that has not been made.

The Lord Jesus explains this further, saying: “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.” (John 3:19-21)

This is why God’s declaration is not received. Even though God has declared the world’s justification to be accomplished, we sinners refuse to acknowledge it, for to acknowledge it is to expose the truth that we are not righteous by anything whatsoever that we do. Even our attempts at believing are corrupt and evil. God’s declaration is that the world is reconciled in Christ, that the work of justification is like Jesus told us with the example of the Pharisee and the publican. Jesus said that the publican went down to his home justified rather than the Pharisee. Why? Because the publican confessed His unworthiness and trusted only in God’s declaration of righteousness. And so, the declaration that was made already to Adam and Eve, repeated with Noah, and again with Abraham, was heard by the man beating His chest and crying out from within the temple where God commanded, “God be merciful to me, a sinner!” Because of God’s declaration way back at the beginning of the need for the declaration, sinners have come into the light to be exposed as sinners so as to hear the absolution that has been declared from eternity. How else can we believe that we are justified by God so as to go down to our home with this justification in our hearts and souls?

And so we hear that the sowing one does not allow His angels to come and remove the tares until the day of the harvest. Until that time, the Sower spreads Himself everywhere through His Church that He gathers to His means of grace. He waits patiently, so that yet some of those who now are tares will hear whom God has declared them to be in Christ and thus gladly come into the light and be baptized into Christ where their identity as those who have been redeemed and justified resides. You and I and all whom we know are those tares for whom God patiently waits.

Conclusion

Do you agree that the fact that the Church must endure the presence of false teachers and sectarians until the Day of the Harvest is not the main point of our text? Do you agree that the main point of the text is the great mercy and grace of the Lord our God and His great acts of salvation? Oh that we would abandon our every form of self-reliance, so that what the great Sower of the Seed has sown may grow in us and fill us with all that He has declared to be ours in Christ. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus forever. Amen.

The Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany

Hymns: 38, 129, 126, 46

The Introit (Ps. 97:7,8,1)

P:     Worship Him, all ye His angels:
C:     Zion heard and was glad.
P:     The daughters of Judah rejoiced:
C:     because of Thy judgments, O Lord.
P:     The Lord reigneth, let the earth rejoice:
C:     let the multitude of isles be glad thereof.

The Collect

O Lord, we beseech Thee to keep Thy Church and household continually in Thy true religion that they who do lean upon the hope of Thy heavenly grace may evermore be defended by Thy mighty power; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end.

The First Lesson Jeremiah 17:5-10

Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

The Gradual (Ps. 102:15,16; 97:1)

P:     The heathen shall fear the name of the Lord:
C:     and all the kings of the earth Thy glory.
P:     When the Lord shall build up Zion:
C:     He shall appear in His glory. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
P:     The Lord reigneth; let the earth rejoice:
C:     let the multitude of isles be glad thereof. Hallelujah!

The Epistle Colossians 3:12-17

Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

The SENTENCE for the Season (Psalm 117:1-2)

P: Hallelujah! Oh, praise the Lord, all ye nations, and laud Him, all ye people. For His merciful kindness is great toward us:
C: and the truth of the Lord endureth forever. Hallelujah!

The Holy Gospel St. Matthew 13:24-30

      Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
      So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?
      He said unto them, An enemy hath done this.
      The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?
      But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

Strongs
2215 zizanion (dziz-an'-ee-on); of uncertain origin; darnel or false grain:     KJV-- tares.

4621 sitos (see'-tos);      plural irregular neuter sita (see'-tah); of uncertain derivation; grain, especially wheat:      KJV-- corn, wheat.

Rienecker/Rogers     zizanion =     a poisonous weed which is related to wheat and in the early stages of growth it is hard to distinguish from it.

Websters      darnel =     a weedy rye grass (Lolium temulentum) often occurring in grainfields; when its seeds are infested with a certain fungus, they become poisonous

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ωμοιωθη ^{G3666 V-API-3S}

homoioo
Thayer Definition:
1) to be made like
2) to liken, compare
2a) illustrate by comparisons