On Cycle A, for three consecutive Sundays, 15th, 16th, and 17th Sundays in Ordinary Tim, we read Jesus’ parables of the Kingdom from Matthew 13. Through these parables, Jesus gives different ways to come to terms with the Kingdom of heavens.
For the 15th Sunday, we read and reflect on
the Parable of the Sower and Jesus’ explanation of it (Matthew 13:1-23). Through
this parable, Jesus reminds that only those who can understand the Word of God
and it grow into abundant fruition are entitled to the Kingdom. Such persons
are like the fertile soil where seeds grow and yield manifold fruition for a
great harvest. And Jesus speaks in parables so that only those who can
understand will know the mysteries of the Kingdom of heavens (Matthew
13:11-17).
In the Gospel Reading of the 16th Sunday (Matthew
13:24-43), Jesus speaks to the crowd the parable of the tares (Matthew
13:24-30) and the parable of the mustard seed (Matthew 13:31-32) and the
parable of the yeast (Matthew 13:33) to address the Kingdom. Then, he explains
what the parable of the tares means to his disciples after the crowd left
(Matthew 13:36-43). And Matthew gives his account on why Jesus explains the
parable only to his disciples but not to the crowd (Matthew 13:34-35), as to
reiterate Jesus’ explanation for this (Matthew 13:11-17).
According to Matthew, Jesus uses a parable to reveal what
has been hidden (apocryphal) since the foundation of the world to those who
deserve to know (Matthew 13:34-35), in opposition to those who do not believe
his teaching, in light of Psalm 78:2
(cf. Matthew 11:25). And this echoes Jesus’ explanation on why he speaks in a
parable (Matthew 13:11-17), citing Deuteronomy 29:4 (cf. Jeremiah 5:21; Ezekiel
12:2; cf. Psalm 19:1-4) and Isaiah 6:9.
The parable of the tares (Matthew 13:24-30) is about
how God executes the judgement at the eschatos (Revelation 20:11-15; CCC
1038-1041). It draws a contrast between the way God judges and how we judge. God’s
way of judgement is prudent, reflecting His wisdom and forbearance, rooted in His
mercy, while our way is more like a knee-jerk reaction to a problem. This
contrast is illustrated in this exchange between the servants and the master in
the parable (Matthew 13:27-30):
Servants: Master, did you not sow good seed in your
field? Where have the weeds come from?
Master: An enemy has done this.
Servants: Do you want us to go and pull them up?
Master: No, if you pull up the weeds you might
uproot the wheat along with them. Let them grow together until harvest; then at
harvest time I will say to the harvesters, ‘First collect the weeds and tie
them in bundles for burning; but gather the wheat into my barn.’
We tend to assume that tares are to be pulled out immediately. But, according to Jesus, that is not always the case, because tares not only resemble wheat but they often entangle their roots to these of wheat. Therefore, through the voice of the master in the parable, Jesus tells that it is better to let both tares and wheat grow together until harvest time, because pulling grown tares out of wheat might inadvertently uproot wheat. This is not what the servants thought when they were intending to pull tares right away.
At least the servants in the parable seem to be able
to distinguish tares from wheat, though these look alike. Even this is the
case, however, there is a significant possibility that they might accidently
pull out some wheat unless they examine whether it is tare or wheat thoroughly
each time before pulling. Because human perception cannot render a perfectly
objective recognition of an object, our evaluation and description of observed
object cannot be free of error. Otherwise, there would be 100% confidence
level, as well as, 0 p-value, in statistical analysis. But anyone in science
knows that there is no such a thing as 100% assurance and 0% probability of
making an error no matter how carefully we design research study and analyze
its data, because of the limitation of human mind. Therefore, it is impossible
for human mind to generate a perfectly right and just judgement.
In contrast human imperfection, God is perfect
(Matthew 5:48). Only God can make a perfect judgement, because His judgement is
true and just (Revelation 16:7). We must humbly remember that God’s way of
thinking is higher than ours because these are like the heavens and the earth
(Isaiah 55:8-9).
Chances are, we would make unjust judgements, because
we cannot make a perfectly objective and accurate assessment. Consequently, our
judgement is not free of error. Countless miscarriages of justice in the name
of “justice” in our judicial system prove this fact.
Then, what are we to do?
Just as the servants in the parable consulted their
master as to what they should do with the tares (Matthew 13:27-30), we should
seek God’s advice when we have to make decisions that affect other persons. Then,
the Holy Spirit will help us in our weakness in response to our inexpressible
groanings (Romans 8:26). God will give us His prudent instruction in response
to a situation like the tares in the wheat field through the Holy Spirit.
This parable is also about how God patiently works
with sinners while taking care of those who are righteous in His eyes in this
world until He executes the judgement. This is why the master in the parable
did not order his servants to pull the tares right away but let them grow
together with the wheat until harvest (Matthew 13:29-30). And God’s forbearance
in executing judgement, addressed in the
master in the parable waits to destroy the tares until harvest (Matthew
13:29-30), is reflected in the First Reading (Wisdom 12:13, 16-19).
Jesus explains that the tares grown out of the evil
seeds are the children of the evil one, while the wheat grown out of the good
seeds sown by Christ are the children of the Kingdom (Matthew 13:38). The fact
that the master lets both to grow together in his field until the harvest time
(Matthew 13:30) suggests that God gives sinners, the children of evil ones,
ample opportunities to repent and convert and reconcile (Wisdom 12:3-22) so
that they might not be condemned at the harvest time, at the time of the final
judgemen.
In reality, tares will be tares. They will not
transform themselves to be wheat. However, Jesus is not speaking of tares and
wheat in a scientific term. Rather, these are metaphors. So, we can imagine the conversion of the
wicked among those who are righteous in God’s eyes by the grace of God –
through the work of the Holy Spirit – is
like tare is being redeemed as wheat by the power of merciful God, before the
final judgement.
The parable of the tares speaks that God is right and
just because He is patient and merciful, giving enough opportunities for the
tares to be redeemed as wheat by the time of harvest. This reflects a good
criminal justice system, in which those who are sentenced to serve their prison
times go through genuine conversion and transformation so that they can be
redeemed as good citizen, overcoming the evil effects on them, by the powerful
grace of God. Good judges, prosecutors, and police officers, all work for this
purpose, rather than mechanically condemning those who are alleged with crimes.
In the Gospel Reading of the Sixteenth Sunday (Matthew
13:24-43), between the parable of the tares (Matthew 12:24-30) and Jesus’
explanation of it to the disciples (Matthew 13:36-43), two small parables, the
parable of the mustard seed (Matthew 13:31-32) and the parable of the yeast (Matthew
13:33) are inserted. These little parables address that the Kingdom grows out
of small things, like a mustard seed and a yeast. The growth of the Kingdom out
of such small things is like how a tiny mustard seed grows into a large tree to
provide nestling places for birds. It is also like how yeasts leaven the dough for
a loaf of bread.
Both the mustard seed and the yeast are very small yet
these are potent, capable of growth and transformation. So these parables reminds
us that nobody is insignificant, no matter how small one’s physical size is, if
one is a child of the Kingdom. Not only that, every child of the Kingdom is a
manifestation of the Kingdom’s growth on earth.
For every child of the Kingdom, God has bestowed grace
(1 Corinthians 15:10). This is why children of God are capable to have the
Kingdom grow as it manifests in and through them, regardless of their physical
sizes. And God let them grow with the children of the evil one in the hope that
these evil children might repent and convert to be redeemed as children of the
Kingdom by the time of the final judgement. The children of the Kingdom can
help these evil ones to seek God for their redemption.
On the Seventeenth Sunday, the Gospel Reading (Matthew13:44-52),
three more parables on the Kingdom: the parable of the hidden treasure (v.44),
the parable of the precious pearl (vv.45-46), and the parable of the fishing
net (vv.47-50). The first two parables teach us that we pour all we have, even
our earthly lives, for the Kingdom. And the last parable is about the
redemption into the Kingdom through the final judgement, which the parable of the
tares also touches on.
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