Tuesday after the Festival of the Transfiguration of our Lord
Posted on January 31, 2023 by under
Scripture: St. Matthew 13:36-43 (NKJV)
13:36 Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.”
37 He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. 39 The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. 40 Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. 41 The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, 42 and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
Devotion
The presence in the world of the “tares”—“those who practice lawlessness”—is a source of pain and persecution for the Lord’s saints. The “sons of the kingdom” are afflicted by the “sons of the wicked one” every day. Tares are a darnel weed, which is largely indistinguishable from wheat, at first. By the time you can tell the difference, it’s hard to ‘weed out’ without harming the wheat. That’s the point.
The field is the world, and in the world, the works of ‘tares’ and ‘wheat’ may seem quite similar (at least as pertains to civil righteousness), but they are heading for different ends. The lawlessness of the ‘tares’ is hidden for a time, but when it is revealed, it troubles the sons of the kingdom. The Lord assures us that there will be a just division in the end, and that the sons of the kingdom will abide with the Lord forever, even as the sons of the wicked one will be judged.
Prayer: O God, Who in the glorious Transfiguration of Thine Only-begotten Son, hast confirmed the mysteries of the faith by the testimony of the fathers, and Who, in the voice that came from the bright cloud, didst in a wonderful manner foreshow the adoption of sons: Mercifully vouchsafe to make us coheirs with the King of His glory, and bring us to the enjoyment of the same; through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
