Last Updated on July 29, 2025 by Gloria M. Chang

A reflection on Matthew 13:36-43
Tuesday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
©️2021 Gloria M. Chang
Then, dismissing the crowds, he went into the house. His disciples approached him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.” He said in reply, “He who sows good seed is the Son of Man, the field is the world, the good seed the children of the kingdom. The weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. Just as weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all who cause others to sin and all evildoers. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears ought to hear.
Matthew 13:36-43
Fire of Divine Love
In the Parable of the Weeds, a man sows good seed in his field, only for an enemy to scatter weeds among the wheat under cover of night. Rather than uprooting the weeds, the man allows both to grow together until the harvest, when they will be separated, the weeds burned (Matthew 13:24-30). To his disciples’ confusion, Jesus explains that he, the Son of Man, is the Sower, and the field is the world. At the end of the age, his angels will gather all, separating the righteous from the wicked. The fiery furnace awaits those who cling to evil, a fire that reveals the purifying judgment of God’s love, burning away aversion to the good. Those who cause others to stumble will face the anguish of their choices, yet the promise remains that all who are refined in the image of the Son of God will shine like the sun in their Father’s kingdom.
Seeds set in the Son
Shall shine like the sun.
Traditional Chinese Translation
《闡釋稗子的比喻》
種子種在神子裡
它會閃耀如太陽。

Jesus, teacher exemplar,
You patiently impart wisdom,
Explaining lessons to anyone
who answers your call.
I want to follow you.
Help me understand your great love,
Challenge me to imitate you,
Lift me up when I fall.