Devotion 20 October 2026

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Matthew 6: 33

READING: Matthew 13: 24-30

Jesus’s listeners would have been familiar with the concept of someone seeding tares (or weeds) in amongst the growing wheat. It was so frequent that in Roman times there was a law for the crime of seeding someone else’s field with weeds.

Tares were a weed called bearded darnel which in its early stages was so like wheat that it was nearly impossible to distinguish them. After it grew, the difference was clear – but by then the roots were inextricably intertwined that any attempt to root out the darnel would have destroyed the wheat too.

There were different ways to separate the darnel from the wheat at harvest. Darnel never grew as tall as wheat, so the wheat could be harvested over the top of the darnel and then the whole field burnt; otherwise, it could be harvested together, and then the kernels were picked over, often by women, and the semi-poisonous darnel picked out before being milled.

This parable was told in the context of the intolerant and critical spirit of both Jesus’ own disciples and the Pharisees. The disciples were often concerned about the integrated company that Jesus kept – the Samaritan woman, the Gentile women (Matthew 15:23), the tax collector (Luke 19:7). The Pharisees were scandalised by it.

The parable tells us that we are simply not able to distinguish between the good and the bad. Judgement must be left to God. Leave the weeds to me, says Jesus. You just worry about developing into good strong wheat.

Finally, in verse 30, the disciples are effectively asking Jesus a familiar question - how can you say the kingdom of God is come when there are so many bad people around? We learn that weeds do not prevent the harvest from being completed. So, sinners or no sinners, the Kingdom is here and God’s harvest is underway. By accepting or rejecting Jesus as Lord, persons place themselves among the wheat or the tares. It’s not so much that God has judged them, they judged themselves. In that sense the harvest has come.

Prayer

O Lord, help me to learn not to judge others, but leave them to You. Help me to make wise choices, so that I may grow into strong healthy wheat, providing harvest for Your kingdom. In Your strength I pray, Amen