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Attacks on the Kingdom
August 19, 2024
Hey Clawson Family!
Song:
Scripture:
Matthew 13:24-30 NLT
Parable of the Wheat and Weeds
24 Here is another story Jesus told: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. 25 But that night as the workers slept, his enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat, then slipped away. 26 When the crop began to grow and produce grain, the weeds also grew.
27 “The farmer’s workers went to him and said, ‘Sir, the field where you planted that good seed is full of weeds! Where did they come from?’
28 “‘An enemy has done this!’ the farmer exclaimed.
“‘Should we pull out the weeds?’ they asked.
29 “‘No,’ he replied, ‘you’ll uproot the wheat if you do.30 Let both grow together until the harvest. Then I will tell the harvesters to sort out the weeds, tie them into bundles, and burn them, and to put the wheat in the barn.’”
Matthew 13:36-43 NLT
Parable of the Wheat and Weeds Explained
36 Then, leaving the crowds outside, Jesus went into the house. His disciples said, “Please explain to us the story of the weeds in the field.”
37 Jesus replied, “The Son of Man[d] is the farmer who plants the good seed. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed represents the people of the Kingdom. The weeds are the people who belong to the evil one.39 The enemy who planted the weeds among the wheat is the devil. The harvest is the end of the world,[e] and the harvesters are the angels.
40 “Just as the weeds are sorted out and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the world. 41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will remove from his Kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil.42 And the angels will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s Kingdom. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!
Devotional:
What are attacks on the Kingdom of Heaven? Matthew 13 contains three different parables. Today, we read the parable of the Wheat and Weeds.
Directly after Jesus shares this Parable, he shares two other parables. The Parable of the mustard seed and the parable of the yeast. Which we will look at later this week. If you read all of the parables of Matthew 13, a number of things jump out at you.
First of all, in all of these parables we will read, you see the expansion and growth of the Kingdom of Heaven, which Jesus has asked us to work on.
In the parable of the Sower, it says that some of the seed fell on good ground and brought forth 30, 60, and 100 folds, representing the expansion and growth of the Kingdom.
In the parable of the wheat and weeds, we see the wheat comes up and it is harvested. Expansion in the kingdom of heaven. The parable of the mustard seed. The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that began very small, and it grows into this massive tree. That is talking about the expansion of the kingdom of heaven, the parable of the net. You have a net that brings in lots of fish, and the good fish are the expansion of the kingdom of heaven.
This is a beautiful picture of Jesus telling us that the kingdom of heaven will expand over the entire world, which we have seen happen for the past 2000+ years. Exactly what he said has come to pass.
But the second thing that jumps out at you in these parables is that none of this expansion of the Kingdom of Heaven happens without attacks from the enemy.
In the parable of the sower, you have the sun, the thorns, the rocks, and the birds that all stop the expansion of the kingdom of God.
In the parable of the wheat and weeds, the enemy directs an attack on the expansion of the kingdom of God, throwing weeds into the wheat.
In the parable of the mustard seed, notice that the birds that devoured the seed in the first parable are now coming to rest on the tree representing the expansion of the kingdom of heaven. In the parable of the fishing net, the bad fish come in with the good.
Anytime you see the expansion of the kingdom of heaven, something good, or God working, you will see it being attacked by something evil. No wonder Jesus said in Matthew 11:12, the kingdom of Heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.
You can see how the evil in our world is violently taking it by force. But what does it look like for the Citizens of heaven to violently take the world by force?
Maybe it looks like the four men who brought the lame man to Jesus. The house and yard were full, and no one would make room for this lame man to get to Jesus, so what are the options? Go home, try again, next time, wish things had been different, or get radical and do whatever it takes to get to Jesus, push through, or give up.
Or what about the woman with the issue of blood? People were all around Jesus, and she could not reach him, so what did she do? She pushes her way to Jesus. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Be a sissy, or take it by force.
You can know for certain that our enemy is attempting to take it by force, so as citizens of the kingdom of Heaven, it is our job to take it by force.
Another question I want you to consider for a second is… where do all of these attacks come from?
Number 1, of course, some of these attacks come from Satan; Ephesians 6:11 says to put on the entire armor of God that you may be able to stand against the attacks of the devil. He loves to attack anything that God loves.
Number 2, sometimes, they come from the world outside of the church. Jesus said the world will hate you as they have hated me. Let me go on and tell you if you follow Jesus, you will have haters from all of those that this life does not make sense to them.
Number 3: What I find interesting about all of these parables is that most of the time, the enemy's attacks come from within, not without.
Journal:
In your journal today, write down what God is speaking to you about the parable of the wheat and weeds that you read today.
Training:
Lord Jesus,
Your name is a strong tower. Help me to always run to You, and to stand in Your mighty power against every scheme of Satan. Thank You that You have already defeated him on the cross, and that, in You, I’m more than a conqueror.
In Jesus Name, Amen.
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