Matthew 13:24–43

²⁴ He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, ²⁵ but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. ²⁶ So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. ²⁷ And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ ²⁸ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ ²⁹ But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. ³⁰ 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.” ’ ”

³¹ He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. ³² It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”

³³ He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.”

³⁴ All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable. ³⁵ This was to fulfill 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.”

³⁶ 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.” ³⁷ He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. ³⁸ The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, ³⁹ and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. ⁴⁰ Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. ⁴¹ The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, ⁴² and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ⁴³ Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.[1]

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We continue from last week’s Gospel passage, where Jesus is preaching near Capernaum, a series of parables.

There is much wisdom in what Peter Kreeft writes here:

When it comes to the sayings of Jesus, the more words he speaks, the fewer words we have to speak. Here is a long and complex parable that we do not need to explain or expound because Jesus himself explains it very clearly and unmistakably, in each detail. The best way to interpret it is to reread it.[2]

In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus consequently explains that he is the one planting good seeds. He also explains that the devil spreads the bad seeds. Aquinas, in his commentary on Matthew, focuses on the men who were asleep allowing this to happen.

On the part of the guards, He says, But while men were asleep, etc., meaning the rulers of the human race who were appointed to guard, were asleep, namely, through the sleep of death. These rulers are holy men, namely, the Apostles, who knew that the heretics mixed themselves in with the wheat; hence, Paul says, “I know that after my departure ravening wolves will enter in among you, not sparing the flock” (Acts 20, 29).[3]

He further classifies how the bad seed spread:

What is sown is cockle, which is similar to wheat, and is called darnel. What is signified by the cockle? It signifies wicked children who love iniquity, especially heretics. There are three kinds of wicked men: bad Catholics, schismatics and heretics. Bad Catholics are signified by chaff, concerning whom it was said above: “The chaff he will burn with fire” (3, 12). Schismatics are signified by ears of grain that have rotted. Heretics are signified by cockle. They are sown, therefore, in a field, meaning in this world. Similarly, cockle has a resemblance to wheat, and in this way, these men feign the appearance of good men, as it is stated: “Desiring to be teachers of the law: understanding neither the things they say, nor whereof they affirm” (I Tim. 1, 7).[4]

We learn from the Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture that:

This parable describes a real scenario from the first-century agricultural world: there were even Roman laws that specifically forbade the sabotaging of crops by planting darnel. … Though darnel could destroy a crop, it did have one positive use: it could be burned for fuel. The householder alludes to this when he tells the servants that the harvesters will collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning.[5]

John Bergsma has some important insights into the nature of the Church regarding this parable:

In Matthew 13, Jesus tells seven parables about the kingdom of heaven. All of them are important to ponder because they teach us about the nature of the Church. The Church is both the kingdom of David (since ruled by Jesus, the Son of David) and the kingdom of God and heaven (since ruled by God). The Parables of the Kingdom help us to understand that the kingdom is truly present in the Church, despite appearances to the contrary.

One of the reasons we may disbelieve that the Church is the manifestation of the kingdom of heaven is the presence of hypocrites and other willful sinners within the visible Church. In the Parable of the Weeds and the Wheat, Jesus addresses and explains why God permits this to be the case. God permits sinners within the Church to allow them the opportunity of repentance. Were he to execute judgment in this age, some destined for repentance would be judged prematurely. The Church Fathers typically understood this parable as counseling against too quickly and rashly condemning the imperfect believer:[6]

The best antidote to being scandalized by the current state of the Church is to be familiar with the Acts of the Apostles and further Church history.

As I said above, the Church Fathers understood this parable to speak about the presence of hypocrites in the Church. Many schismatics throughout Church history have denied this sense of the text and insisted that the visible church had to be pure.Typically, these schismatics break off with like-minded followers and establish a group aggressively regulated according to the mindset of the founding leader. A certain visible moral rectitude is maintained in such a manner for perhaps a generation or so before the schismatic group loses its momentum and begins to tolerate dissent and diversity within its own ranks. Countless “reform” groups have broken off the Church in this manner through history.[7]

We should remember that we do not divide the Church up into the wheat and the tares as a kind of permanent state. People within the Church can process through either state. I hope I am in the wheat-state now, but I was once a tare-able person. “But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” (Mt 24:13–14) “if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; ”(2 Timothy 2:12).

St. Isidore of Pelusium offers an interesting explanation of the parable of the weeds and wheat: The sinners, represented by the weeds, are not to be immediately pulled and burned in order to give them time to repent. God forbids the angels to gather up the evildoers, “lest they uproot the good wheat together with the tares, that is, so that the sinner may not be cut off while in his mind there is yet a possibility of repentance.” St. Isidore goes on to give examples of God’s patience with great sinners who eventually repent and become instruments in God’s plan of salvation: God did not “slay Matthew, who had given himself to the exacting of the tribute, so that He might not thus impede the preaching of the gospel. Neither did He destroy the harlots who served lust and immodesty, lest models of repentance might be wanting. He avenged not Peter’s denial, because already He beheld his burning tears of repentance. Nor did He strike down with death the persecuting Saul, lest the ends of the earth be deprived of salvation.”[8]

Moving on to the Parable of the Mustards Seed. We are so familiar with the Parable of the Mustard Seed that we don’t realize how odd it is. Brant Pitre points out what should surprise us:

Well this parable is a really surprising one right from the beginning. So the first twist is the very first line, “a man took a grain of mustard seed and sowed it in his field.” Now if you do a little study about mustard seeds and mustard trees, especially if you look at some of the commentaries that scholars have written on that today, what you will find out is that a mustard tree is basically a weed. It is not a desirable plant. Nobody makes a field full of mustard trees to harvest them. If you want a kind of visual equivalent, if you have ever seen a tumbleweed in the American West or in Texas, that is what a mustard tree looks like. It’s ugly. It’s invasive. If you get mustard seeds into your field or into your yard, they are going to grow and you are never going to be able to stamp them out. So the first surprise in this particular parable is why would anybody ever sow a mustard seed in his field? And why would Jesus compare that to the kingdom of God? But it keeps going because he says that the mustard seed is the “smallest of seeds”, and that is true. Proverbially in Judaism in the first century A.D., if you wanted to say something was really small you would say it is like a mustard seed. It was kind of a proverbial image for something that’s really, really tiny.

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Okay, so what’s the message of this parable? Well the meaning is really clear if you focus on the twists. The point is this, the kingdom starts out small and it ends great, but it doesn’t look like what you are going to expect it to look like. It’s kind of ugly. It’s kind of like a field with weeds and wheat in it. It doesn’t look like the kind of thing you think God would do when he brings his kingdom. So it starts small, but it ends great. It doesn’t look like you expect it to. But also notice that the mustard tree, and the mustard seed as well, it’s invasive. In other words, once it gets in, it keeps growing and it spreads and it grows and it spreads. And this would make you think of the Old Testament image in Daniel 2 of the kingdom of God. Because in Daniel 2, Daniel saw this vision of the kingdom that starts out as a little bitty stone, but then it grows into a great mountain that fills the whole earth. This is a very, very similar kind of riddle because mountains might turn into little stones over time as they break down over time, but little stones don’t become mountains. So it’s the same kind of imagery here, Jesus is using the language of the prophets to show the disciples that the kingdom is a mysterious reality. You have to go beyond the visible, which doesn’t look like what you expect it to look like, say 12 guys from Galilee, a couple fishermen and tax collectors. On the outside it might not look like much, but if you let it get rooted, it’s going to grow and it’s going to spread and it’s going to become a great tree so that the birds of the air will want to come and make their nest in its branches.[9]

There is so much in these parables from Jesus to encourage us. It should not surprise us that the Church is not yet “On Earth as it is in Heaven.” We should be joyful that our own faults have not yet condemned us and also hopeful in how God’s love will manifest in other’s lives. The Church does not look like we think it should look because we do not have God’s vision.

There is a well-known quote, “I have a mustard seed, and I’m not afraid to use it.” Attributed to Joseph Ratzinger, but it is not his, although I believe he would appreciate it. It was actually said by David P. Goldman in an essay referring to Ratzinger.

Sources

• Peter Kreeft, Food for the Soul: Reflections on the Mass Readings Cycle A
• St. Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on the Gospel of St. Matthew
• The Gospel of Matthew (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture)
• The Word of the Lord: Reflections on the Sunday Mass Readings for Year A – John Bergsma
• Catholic Productions, Commentaries by Brant Pitre
• English Standard Version Catholic Edition
• Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

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1. English Standard Version Catholic Edition (2019). Augustine Institute.  ↩
2. Peter Kreeft, Food for the Soul: Reflections on the Mass Readings Cycle A, 16th Week of Ordnary Time  ↩
3. Commentary on the Gospel of St. Matthew, Dolorosa Press  ↩
4. ibid  ↩
5. The Gospel of Matthew, Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture, Edward Sri and Curtis Mitch  ↩
6. The Word of the Lord: Reflections on the Sunday Mass Readings for Year A, John Bergsma, 16th Week of Ordnary Time  ↩
7. ibid  ↩
8. PG 77:184–85, as translated in The Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers, trans. and ed. M. F. Toal (Chicago: Henry Regnery, 1957), 1:339–40.  ↩
9. Catholic Productions, Brant Pitre, 16th Week of Ordnary Time  ↩

Matthew 13.1–23 ESV – Bible Gateway

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At the start of this section, the reference he went out of the house is likely a reference to St. Peter’s house in Capernaum. He teaches a series of 8 parables, with the first parable of the sower being presented in this Gospel passage.

There is a large crowd present and Jesus gets into a boat, sits down, and teaches them. Some have wondered, “How could one be heard by ‘a large multitude’ without the benefit of some sort of sound amplification?”

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Archaeologist Cobbey Crisler, together with acoustic engineer Mark Myles conducted tests near Tell Hum, site of ancient Capernaum.[1]

Among several coves near Capernaum, there is one that has recently been found to have such sound characteristics of a natural amphitheater. It is located around mid-way between Capernaum and Tabgha, amongst the major areas of Jesus’s Galilean ministry. Acoustical tests were carried out on this site to show that ‘a great multitude’ of some five thousand to seven thousand people could indeed have clearly heard a person speaking from a boat located at a spot near the cove’s center.”[2]

We are used to Jesus’ teachings in parables, so the disciples’ question can be confusing..

From the Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture:

But there is a dramatic shift in Jesus’ teaching method: he spoke to them at length in parables. This is the first time Matthew specifically uses the word parables to describe Jesus’ teaching. While Jesus occasionally spoke in parables before, here he suddenly addresses the crowds “at length” in parables, giving several in rapid-fire succession. This movement from teaching the crowds primarily in a straightforward manner (Matt 5–7) to a new emphasis on parables (Matt 13) surprises Jesus’ own disciples, who ask, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” (13:10).[3]

This commentary also mentions that “For the ancient Jews, a parable was a cryptic saying or story intended to stimulate thought.”[4] As Brad Pitre often references, Jesus parables often involved a twist, something unexpected.

Jesus’ reply to the disciples can also seem puzzling with both his answer and referencing to Isaiah.

St. Thomas Aquinas into his commentary on Matthew, remarks on this:

The reason is twofold. One reason is that, by parables of this kind, sacred things would be hidden from the unbelievers, lest they blaspheme: for it was said above, “Give not that which is holy to dogs” (7, 6). Therefore, because many men were blaspheming, for that reason, He wished to speak in parables. Hence, “To you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to the rest in parables” (Lk. 8, 10). The second reason is that uncultured men are taught better through parables of this kind. Hence, men, namely, the uncultured, when divine things are explained under similitudes, comprehend and retain them better. For that reason, the Lord wished to speak in parables, so that they might be better committed to memory. For because He had known that worthy men would receive His doctrine, He wished to give it to them in such a way that they might remember it better; “I will open my mouth in parables” (Ps. 77, 2).[5]

Brant Pitre remarks on the apparent carelessness of the sower:

So let’s start back at the beginning of parable. Jesus says: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path.” Now pause there, that is the first unexpected element to this parable, because any first century Jew would’ve known that if you’re going to go and get seed—which was expensive—and you are going to plant it in your field or in your garden and that’s your livelihood, you’d better take good care that none of the seed gets lost. And so what is being described here is a sower who is careless in his sowing of seed.[6]

This facet of the parable strikes me as an aspect of God’s grace. God repeatedly gives us grace, but we often seem to carelessly waste it.. This seems to me to be a glimpse of the same aspect of God’s generousness revealed in the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard.

Another point that strikes me is that this sowing of the seed is not a one-time event in our lives. Jesus the sower does not just come once and we hope to be lucky enough that he comes when we have good soil. In my life, I can recall my own rocky landscape where I rejected grace because I was confident in my atheism.. There were other times in my life where I was sure of my atheism, but wanting to be wrong since I was living a nihilist existence. Those tentative steps towards Christianity, the thorns of my pride choked them and a grasping towards faith withered away. It was only after so much time that the soil became more suitable for growth. Nothing could grow until I could grow.

Oddly, quickly looking up “Amending rocky soil”:

1. Remove Large Stones….
2. Use A Straight Rake To Remove Surface Rocks And Debris….
3. Use A Shovel To Break Up The Soil….
4. Work In Organic Compost….
5. Rake A Layer Of Top Soil Onto Your Chosen Area.

I now see how that process applied spiritually for me. First, those large stones of sin being removed. Continuously working on sins that thus became visible. Repeating the process and replacing evil practices with more virtuous ones. I did not know at the time I was doing this or what this ultimately would lead to, other than knowing I was not a good man and desired to be one. What is annoying is that this is a never-ending process in this life to grow closer to Christ.

Sources

• The Gospel of Matthew (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture)
• St. Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on the Gospel of St. Matthew
• Catholic Productions, Commentaries by Brant Pitre
• Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

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1. “The Acoustics and Crowd Capacity of Natural Theaters in Palestine”, Biblical Archaeologist Dec 1976, pp. 128–41.  ↩
2. The Holy Land Jesus Knew, Robert J. Bull and B. Cobbey Crisler  ↩
3. The Gospel of Matthew, Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture, Edward Sri and Curtis Mitch  ↩
4. The Gospel of Matthew, Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture, Edward Sri and Curtis Mitch  ↩
5. Commentary on the Gospel of St. Matthew, Dolorosa Press  ↩
6. Catholic Productions, Brant Pitre, 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time  ↩

Matthew 10:26–33

²⁶ “So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. ²⁷ What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. ²⁸ And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. ²⁹ Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. ³⁰ But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. ³¹ Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. ³² So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, ³³ but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.

Matthew 10.26–33 ESV – Bible Gateway

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In the broader section this passage is in, Jesus is training and preparing the disciples for their overall mission. He is sending them out into the mission field and that fundamentally, they must rely on him to equip them with their material and spiritual needs. To prepare them that many and that will reject his message this should not deter them from preaching the message. This paragraph and the preceding paragraph is focused on the persecution they will meet and how they should deal with it.

Peter Kreeft on one of the central point:

For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed. But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God” (John 3:19–21). If you are committing a crime, you prefer the night to the day. If you love good and hate evil, then you will love light and hate darkness, and one day there will be no more darkness, only light, and those who love God, those who love what God is, which is truth and goodness, and who hate falsehood and evil, will be totally happy because they will get only what they love and none of what they hate. That is the day when, as Jesus puts it, “nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known.” Fear needs darkness; in heaven there is no darkness. The more we love light, the more we will love heaven.[1]

Death avoidance is a natural human reaction. Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane asked the Father to remove this cup from him, but foremost that his will be done. We are not to just rush into danger thinking that God’s providence will remove any problem. St. Joseph, in response to the Holy Spirit, moved the Holy Family to Egypt and that on return later, prudentially determined where to live to lessen any danger to them. Still, what we prioritize shows us what we value the most. If we focus only on materialistic desires, we risk our relationship with God.

363 In Sacred Scripture the term “soul” often refers to human life or the entire human person. But “soul” also refers to the innermost aspect of man, that which is of greatest value in him, that by which he is most especially in God’s image: “soul” signifies the spiritual principle in man.[2]

From Brant Pitre’s commentary on this passage:

So what Jesus is trying to get the disciples to do here is to have a rational, rather than an irrational, fear. Although most of us think it’s rational to be afraid of death, and there’s a sense in which it is, death is painful, it means an end to our natural life. What Jesus is saying is it is irrational to be more afraid of physical death, which is temporary and finite—however horrible it is, it only lasts for a time—than to be afraid of spiritual death, because spiritual death—being separated from God forever in Gehenna, the ancient Jewish name for hell, the realm of the dead—is something that’s not finite, it’s going to last forever, it’s never going to end. So what he is telling the disciples is “as you go out to preach the Gospel, there’s simply no reason to be afraid, even if your life is in danger, because by preaching the Gospel you will save your soul, and the life of your soul will last forever, whereas the life of your body in this world is only for a time and for a season. So he’s trying to turn the disciples way of looking at their lives, looking at reality, upside down and get them to see it the way God sees it, to see from God’s perspective, to see it from an eternal perspective, to understand that although they live in this world, they were made for everlasting life, they were made for eternity.[3]

He also makes a related point:

Now notice this—Jesus is so good about this with the way teaches—as soon as he brings up the fear of God, he recognizes that people can take that in the wrong way, that they could concoct out of that an image of God that would make them terrified of him, as if God is out to get us. So no sooner has he said something about the fear of God that he also talks about the providence of God, and the fatherhood of God, and the care of God for us. So what does he say next? He says “are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father’s will [or apart from your Father’s will]. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” So no sooner has he taught them to fear God that he also wants to make sure they understand that they are not just creatures of the Creator, they are the children of a loving father.[4]

St. Thomas Aquinas makes a similar point in his commentary on Matthew:

Fear not those who only kill the body, but rather fear him that can destroy both soul and body in hell, because one ought not to be subject to God on account of fear of punishment, but on account of the love of justice, as is stated: “For you have not received the spirit of bondage again in fear: but you have received the spirit of adoption of sons of God” (Rom. 8, 15).[5]

I think of St. John Paul II’s constant refrain: “Be not afraid!”

“Do not be afraid. Do not be satisfied with mediocrity. Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch…. I plead with you—never, ever give up on hope, never doubt, never tire, and never become discouraged. Be not afraid.”

I also think of another Pope, the first one, Peter. On the night Jesus was arrested, it was fear of arrest and torture that partly drove his denial of Jesus that night. He is transformed on the day of Pentecost and his fear of physical evil was diminished. His will was united with Christ’s will. He would not only face opposition, but be moved to speak against the authorities that had imprisoned him. Jesus said “but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” Peter denied him, but would go on to acknowledge him before men. Our failures and our brokenness are not a permanent state when we repent before Jesus, who knows are value.

St. Hilary of Poitiers. For it is an unworthy task to number things that are to perish. Therefore that we should know that nothing of us should perish, we are told that our very hairs are numbered. No accident then that can befal our bodies is to be feared; thus He adds, Fear not, ye are better than many sparrows.[6]

Sources

• Peter Kreeft, Food for the Soul: Reflections on the Mass Readings Cycle A
• Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd Edition
• Catholic Productions, Commentaries by Brant Pitre
• St. Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on the Gospel of St. Matthew
• Catena Aurea Commentary on the Four Gospels, Collected out of the Works of the Fathers, Volume 1 St. Matthew – Verbum
• Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

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1. Peter Kreeft, Food for the Soul: Reflections on the Mass Readings Cycle A, 12th Sunday of Ordinary Time  ↩
2. Catholic Church. (2000). Catechism of the Catholic Church (2nd Ed). United States Catholic Conference.  ↩
3. Catholic Productions, Brant Pitre, Year A, 12th Sunday of Ordinary Time  ↩
4. ibid  ↩
5. St. Thomas Aquinas Commentary on the Gospel of St. Matthew, Dolorosa Press  ↩
6. St. Thomas Aquinas. Catena Aurea: Commentary on the Four Gospels, Collected out of the Works of the Fathers: St. Matthew, St. Hilary, Bishop of Poitiers, A.D. 354.  ↩