The Psychology According to Jesus in the Parable of the Weeds among the Wheat (Matthew 13:24-43)

Following the Parable of Sower (Matthew 13:1-23), which is the Gospel reading for the 15^th Sunday of Ordinary Time (A), Jesus goes on with another parable – the Parable of the Weeds among the Wheat.

Another parable he put before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the householder came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then has it weeds?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he said, ‘No; lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’”

All this Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed he said nothing to them without a parable. This was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet:

“I will open my mouth in parables,
I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.”

Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” He answered, “He who sows the good seed is the Son of man; the field is the world, and the good seed means the sons of the kingdom; the weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the close of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the close of the age. The Son of man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will weep and gnash their teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear. (Matthew 13:24-30, 34-43)

Jesus first spoke the Parable of Sower and taught that we are to be good steward of what God sow in us, being like the rich soil in the parable. As a sequence to this parable, Jesus continues on with another parable, the Parable of the Weeds among the Wheat.

In this sequential parable of weeds and wheat, Jesus first tells that the seed, which God sow, is good. And, Devil, the enemy of God, plant weeds, while we are unaware or off-guard.

As I discussed in my last blog entry, “A Psychospiritual Lesson from The Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:1-23) – A reflection of the 15th Sunday Gospel reading (Year A)” (July 18, 2014), the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:1-9) tells that various conditions of our hearts can affect the way the seed God sow (i.e. the Word – Logos) grow in us. The four types of ground: hardened ground path, rocky ground with shallow soil, ground plagued with thorns, and rich soil, in the parable of the sower, are metaphors of changing conditions of our hearts, rather than different types of hearts.  Even though the condition of our hearts are as good as the rich soil of the parable now, it may turn into a condition like the ground infested with thorns, as we become anxious in the next minute. 

Viewing these four type of the ground in the parable of the sower as varying conditions of our hearts also reflects the truth of impermanence in the world, as taught both in Buddhism, through Samutta Nikaya N 35.43 vol. iv, 28 & Mahaa-Parinibbaana Sutta DN 16.1, and in Christianity, through Matthew 6:19-20; Matthew 24:35 & James 4:14-15. These Buddhism and Christian texts remind us that the physical and psychological realities are subject to constant changes.  This common truth of impermanence in Buddhism and Christianity is a humbling reminder that even a good heart, like the rich soil in the parable of the sower, can turn into less desired conditions for God’s seed to grow. Thus, besides the importance of non-attachment to earthly matters and even a good condition of our hearts, this teaching of impermanence encourages us to constantly monitor and work on our hearts’ conditions to provide and maintain a reasonable condition for God’s seed to grow in our hearts.

When we become attached to a good condition of our own hearts, out of our anxiety with the reality of impermanence, we slip into the inherent danger of complacence and overconfidence. It is when our hearts’ conditions begin to change into roky-ground-like and thorn-infested-ground-like conditions for the seed to die, or to become like the hardened-soil-path-like conditions for the seed to be taken away, in the context of the parable of the sower. To put this inherent danger of our attachment in the context of the parable of the weeds among the wheat, our complacency puts our hearts off guard and makes it easier for Devil to plant weeds.

Thus, following the parable of the sower, the parable of the weeds among the wheat, Jesus also reminds us of the importance of vigilance. The vigilant hearts is found upon acknowledging the reality of impermanence. It is also a form of practicing non-attachment virtue common both in Buddhism and Christianity.

As we must vigilantly watch our own hearts’ conditions, because of their impermanent nature and inherent vulnerability to change in conditions, we also need to stay on guard of our hearts so that it is difficult for Devil to plant weeds. But, in the domain of impermanence, our physical and psychological reality – the World, we are inherently weak due to the marks of Original Sin. Thus, weeds are part of our reality. In other words, as long as we carry the marks of Original Sin, the inherent weakness of our carnal and psychological reality, the weeds in the parable are something we have to deal with every day.

The parable of the weeds among the wheat is Jesus’ practical advice as to what we can do with the weeds growing in our hearts. And it is rather counterintuitive, because his advice tells not to pull the weeds immediately – though our guts urge us to weed them out on the spot.  

The irony is that the richer the soil is, the better not only for the good seed of God to grow there but also for weeds of Devil to grow as well. In other words, Devil will work harder in planting weeds in our hearts when our hearts condition is good – though we tend to think that it would be difficult for Devil to attack us if we keep our hearts good. Such a thought is the very kind of trap that Devil likes to wedge his influence in by planting weeds, because we make ourselves at greater risk when we think we are good.  This is why we must constantly remind ourselves of the impermanent nature of our hearts so that we make constant efforts to monitor our hearts conditions and do our best to keep them in good condition. Namely, keeping our heart in a good condition as the rich soil of the parable of the sower for the good seed is contingent upon our vigilance.

Because of the impermanent nature of our hearts, even though the good seed of God was growing well a minute ago for keeping a good condition, weeds may begin growing, making our hearts like the soil plagued with thorns as the weeds continue to grow.

In response to the problem of the weeds in our reality, Jesus’ counterintuitive advice through the parable of the weeds among the wheat is not to eliminate the weeds. In other words, Jesus is telling us not to react to the weeds out of our negative emotions, such as discomfort, fear, and anxiety. Remember, Jesus’ teaching is always contrary to what our brain’s limbic system, especially amygdala,  does, also as in the case with his teaching on anger (e.g. Matthew 5:39).

But why?

It is because Jesus wants us to understand that our typical intuitive emotional reaction can be the real weeds. The psychology that Jesus teaches with the parable of the weeds among the wheat (Matthew 13:24-30), along with his teaching on turning other cheek (Matthew 5:39), transcends the psychology of the limbic system. Because the limbic system is rooted in our evolutionary psychogiological development, shared with other animal spices, the counterintuitive psychology of Jesus takes us to a much higher level so that we can attain salvation – transcending the “yoke” of the reality of flesh and emotions.

When we recognize certain objects, such as the weeds, our limbic system processes this sensory-perception information and sends certain emotional responses. Sometimes, these emotional responses are pleasant ones, triggering the dopamine circuit. But, if the sensory-perception information of the object is processed as unpleasant or threatening in the limbic system, then, catecholamine is infused into the blood stream from the adrenal glands, resulting in repulsive and even “flight or fight” kind of defensive behavioral reactions. But, the psychology that Jesus teaches with the parable of the weeds among the wheat and the principle of turning the other cheek is to overcome such biochemicals’ control over our behaviors – whether it is catecholamine or dopamine, which is actually deeply related to catecholamine.

The psychology of Jesus tells us not to simply feed into the limbic system’s biochemical signals of catecholamine – by telling us not to pull the weeds and to turn the other cheek instead of fighting back.

The catecholamine, as our limbic system reaction, to the weeds, can be the real weeds – the real threat, according to the psychology of Jesus in the parable of the weeds among the wheat.

Though it is meant to defend us from a threat, it can also harm us. This irony of psychophysiology can be explained through harmful side effects that catecholamine can cause. So, the real weeds – what really harm us – is not always necessarily what we perceive as a threat – the weeds. For us to realize this importance of Jesus’ psychology, we must make sure that we are not merely controlled by the limbic system and its biochemistry.

What we can learn from the psychology of Jesus in the parable of the weeds among the wheat is to assume that real weeds (threat) is our own anxiety and fear, stemming from the limbic system, biochemically loaded with catecholamine, rather than what we perceive and assume as weeds. But, if we fail to recognize this and let our fear and anxiety dictate us, we may pull what we perceive as the weeds and inadvertently harming the wheat – meaning, unintentionally hurting ourselves.

Because we are afraid that weeds grow fast and destroy the wheat, as the thorns in the parable of the sower will choke and kill the growing seed.

In Jesus’ teaching with the parable, this fear is what we need to work on, rather than the weeds. Interestingly, the weeds can be understood as a metaphor of our fears and anxieties, to understand the parable psychologically.

Have you ever regretted for acting out of fears and anxieties? If that is the case, then, you know the psychological lesson in the parable.

In the parable, the master explains why he told his servants not to pull the weeds. It is because pulling the weeds prematurely can result in inadvertently damaging the wheat. In fact, the wheat managed to grow all the way for harvest, even though the weeds also grew.

This tells that the good seed, which God sow, is not going to be damaged so easily. But, what can damage the good seed and its growth more than weeds in the field is the real weeds we make – our own fears and anxieties, which were addressed through a metaphor of the thorns in the parable of the sower.

Pulling the weeds out of fear and anxiety – against the master’s advice not to pull, is like condemning and harshly eradicating people and views with different or challenging viewpoints to us.

Think of inquisitions and persecutions.

The Christians have our own shares of this horrible acts out of our own fears and anxieties. In the name of “religious purity”, Christians have persecuted Muslims and other traditions deemed “heretics”.

Deeming different views as heretics out of our own judgement and persecuting them is like deciding which is weed and pulling it without consulting the master.

In the case of Christians persecuting Muslims when they emerged during the 6^th century in Arabia, now Christians are suffering from persecutions by Muslims as a consequence of this persecution against Muslims. Imagine, if Christians did not react to Muslims as if the servants in the parable would have reacted to the weeds without discussing with their masters, Christians and Muslim would have coexisted in harmony. In fact, how Christians know if Muslims are to be regarded as something like the weeds to be pulled out? 

Originally, Muslims did not regard Christians as the weeds. To early Muslims, Christians are like another kind of wheat. Imagine, if the 6^th century Christians had acted wisely, like the servants who did not pull the weeds but consulted their master, the field of God would have been richer as it would be blessed with both Christian wheat and Muslim wheat growing so well. But, because of the weeds now planted both in Christians and Muslims, these two kinds of God’s wheat have been treating each other as if they are the weeds to one another.

There are many kinds of the wheat that God sow. Let us not weed different kinds out just because they appear to be weeds in our own perceptions. Our perceptions can be clouded by the weeds in hear hearts. In the yogacara (vijnanavada) psychology of the Tantric Buddhism, it is called mano maana vijaana. It is a deep-seated perceptive element of our mind, affected by defilement (kleshas), resulting in deceiving us with an illusion. According to this Buddhist psychology in the Tantric tradition, mana maana vijaana is what keeps us in an illusion, making us think that it is a truth. Thus, it is mana maana vijaana that confuses us the reality of impermanence with our wish-driven, defilement-influenced illusions of permanence. It is also what puts us in irrational fears and anxieties, resulting in growth of weeds in our hearts, myopically judgement what is different as the weeds and react to them with persecutory actions.