“Christ Changes Weeds Into The Fruit Of Good Seed”

            Matthew 13:24–26 ²⁴[Jesus] put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, ²⁵but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. ²⁶So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also.

            Last week’s Gospel reading Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 was about sowing seeds along the path, on rocky ground, among thorny plants, and in good soil.  This passage is about the faith of a Christian and why it is so important to understand the word of God.  There are some people who do devotional readings daily and you know who you are and I know who you are.  There are some who read and study the Holy Scriptures and you know who you are and I know who you are too.  And, God knows who takes the time to get to know Him through His word and who does not.  The truth is we all have the time to get to know God but don’t take the time to get to know our God.  And those who do have great joy added to their life, I know because it has added joy to mine.

            The first seed we read about in Matthew 13:4 and 18, 19 was thrown on a well beaten path, our world is that well beaten path.  Here we are on a path making decisions based on little or no information, and the evil one uses that to tempt our hearts to think that we have no need to understand God.  It is the hard truth, what you don’t know is a gamble of consequences.  The evil one says different, he says hey unless you see the problem slap you in the face then don’t worry about.  The evil one says if you do have a problem then blame God.  The evil one also says, life is short take all you can get now for you don’t know what tomorrow will bring or take away.  The evil one never considers the eternal salvation our God has gifted us with through His grace and mercy.

            We are the field of both good seed and weeds, and our weeds are working against God in us.  The world is also made up of good seed and bad weeds who can be changed by Christ into the fruit of the good seed.

            John 17:23 ²³ I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

            Without Jesus dying on the cross, that is to say, suffering the punishment for our sins, we would be all subject to the law.  The law demands the consequence of death for any and all sin, so we all stand as weeds condemned by the law.  Not one of us has held the up the law perfectly.  With the law we have no hope because we all stand condemned to eternal death.  But take heart. We have a God who loves us and through His works we are of good seed.

            John 17:26 ²⁶ I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

            John 16:33 ³³ I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

            In this world we certainly have our tribulations, and in ourselves we have our weeds.  Our world is made up of good seed and bad weeds; we too are made up of good seed and bad weeds. Our weeds are our sin and the good seed is our Lord.  For the world the good seed is the believer, and the bad weeds are the unbeliever who can be changed by Christ and the Holy Spirit.  Christ is in us because He did die on the cross for our sins, and the forgiveness Christ has gifted us with is for all.  We cannot stand against the law on our own; Jesus Christ has given us that gift of forgiveness by His choice to die for our sins through His grace and mercy.

            Ephesians 2:8 ⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

            Titus 3:5 ⁵ he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,

            Yes we have to believe to be saved, but that belief comes from the Holy Spirit working within us.  But we are not saved by our belief alone.  It is the works of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit that justifies our belief to the Father.  Without Christ dying on the cross for our sins we would have to be justified by the law through keeping it perfectly.  However we have Christ who died for our sins, who justifies us to the Father.  So through Christ first dying on the cross and the belief that we received through the regeneration of the Holy Spirit we are saved through the grace of God.

            See the good news is that Christ takes a weed and turns it to wheat, this is something we cannot do.  When you stop and really think about it Jesus is saving us everyday changing our weeds into wheat for the harvest that will put us in heaven.  Though the sad part is some will refuse the gift of God’s grace and mercy many will not refuse this gift.  This is awesome; our Christ Jesus who loves us all died on the cross for all, so that we may all have the hope of salvation and then brings us to believe in His salvation for us.