Seed And Weeds and Wheat

Ἄλλην παραβολὴν παρέθηκεν αυτοῖς, λέγων· Ωμοιώθη ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν ἀνθρώπῳ σπείραντι καλὸν σπέρμα ἐν τῷ ἀγρῷ αὐτοῦ, ἐν δὲ τῷ καθεύδειν τοὺς ἀνθρώπους , ἦλθεν αὐτοῦ ὁ ἐχθρὸς, καὶ ἔσπειρε ζιζάνια ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ σίτου , καὶ ἀπῆλθεν. Ὅτε δὲ ἐβλάστησεν ὁ χόρτος καὶ καρπὸν ἐποίησε, τότε ἐφάνη καὶ τὰ ζιζάνια . Προσελθόντες δὲ οἱ δοῦλοι τοῦ οἰκοδεσπότου, εἶπον αὐτῷ· Κύριε, οὐχὶ καλὸν σπέρμα ἔσπειρας ἐν τῷ σῷ ἀγρῷ; Πόθεν οὖν ἔχει τὰ ζιζάνια; Ὁ δὲ ἔφη αὐτοῖς· Ἐχθρὸς ἄνθρωπος τοῦτο ἐποίησεν. Οἱ δὲ δοῦλοι εἶπον αὐτῷ· Θέλεις οὖν ἀπελθόντες συλλέξωμεν αὐτά; Ὁ δὲ ἔφη Οῦ· μήποτε συλλέγοντες τὰ ζιζάνια, ἐκριζώσητε ἅμα αὐτοῖς τὸν σἴτον. "Αφετε οὖν συναυξάνεσθαι ἀμφότερα μέχρι τοῦ θερισμοῦ, καὶ ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τοῦ θερισμοῦ ἐρῶ τοῖς θερισταῖς· Συλλέξατε πρῶτον τὰ ζιζάνια, καὶ δήσατε αὐτὰ εἰς δέσμας πρὸς τὸ κατακαῦσαι αὐτὰ, τὸν δὲ σἴτον συναγάγετε εἰς τὴν ἀποθήκην μου. Ἐν τῇ προτέρᾳ παραβολῇ εἶπε τὸ τέταρτον μέρος τοῦ σπόρου πεσεῖν εἰς τὴν γῆν τὴν ἀγαθὴν , ἐν δὲ τῇ παρούσῃ δείκνυσιν , ὅτι οὐδὲ αὐτὸ ἐκεῖνο τὸ πεσὸν εἰς τὴν γῆν τὴν ἀγαθὴν, ἀδιάφθορον εἴασεν ὁ ἐχθρὸς , διὰ τὸ καθεύδειν καὶ ῥαθυμεῖν ἡμᾶς. Ἀγρὸς οὖν , ὁ κόσμος, ἢ ἡ ἑκάστου ψυχή . Ὁστείρας, ὁ Χριστός. Καλὸν σπέρμα, οἱ ἀγαθοὶ ἄνθρωποι ἢ λογισμοί. Ζιζάνια, αἱ αἱρέσεις ἢ οἱ πονηροὶ λογισμοί . Ὁ σπείρας δὲ ταῦτα, ὁ διάβολος . Καθεύδοντες δὲ ἄνθρωποι, οἱ διὰ ῥαθυμίαν χώραν διδόντις τοῖς αἱρετικοῖς καὶ τοῖς πονηροῖς λογισμοῖς. Δοῦλοι δὲ, οἱ ἄγγελοι, οἱ ἀγανακτοῦσιν ἐπὶ τῷ εἶναι αἱρέσεις, ἢ πονηρίας ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ, καὶ βούλονται ἀνασπᾶν καὶ ἐκκόπτειν ἐκ τοῦ βίου τοὺς τε αἱρετικοὺς καὶ τοὺς τὰ πονηρὰ λογιζομένους. Ὁ Θεὸς οὐ συγχωρεῖ τοὺς αἱρετικοὺς διὰ πολέμων ἀναλίσκεσθαι, ἵνα μὴ συμπάσχωσι καὶ συν αλίσκωνται καὶ οἱ δίκαιοι. ῾Ομοίως οὐδὲ διὰ τοὺς πονηροὺς λογισμούς θέλει ὁ Θεὸς ἐκκόπτειν τὸν ἄνθρωπον, ἵνα μὴ καl ὁ σἶτος συνδιαφθαρῇ. Οἷον ἐὰν ὁ Ματθαῖος ζιζάνιον ὧν ἐκόπη ἐκ τῆς ζωῆς, συνεξεκόπη ἂν αὐτῷ καὶ ὁ ὕστερον μέλλων ἐξ αὐτοῦ βλαστῆσαι τοῦ λόγου σἶτος· ὁμοίως καὶ ὁ Παῦλος, καὶ ὁλῃστής· οὗτοι γὰρ ζιζάνια ὄντες , οὐκ ἐξεκόπησαν , ἀλλὰ συνεχωρήθησαν ζῇν, ἵνα αὐξηθῇ ἡ μετὰ ταῦτα αὐτῶν ἀρετή. Λέγει τοίνυν τοῖς ἀγγέλοις , ὅτι, Ἐν τῇ συντελείᾳ, τότε συνάξετε τὰ ζιζάνια, ἤτοι τοὺς αἱρετικούς. Ἀλλὰ πῶς ; Εἰς δέσμας, τουτέστι, δήσαντες αὐτῶν χεῖρα ; καὶ πόδας· οὐκ ἔτι γὰρ δύναται τις ἐργάσασθαι τότε, ἀλλὰ πᾶσα πρακτικὴ δύναμις δεσμεῖται. Ὁ δὲ σἴτος, ἤτοι οἱ ἅγιοι, συνάγονται παρὰ τῶν θεριστῶν ἀγγέλων εἰς τὰς οὐρανίους ἀποθήκας. ὑμοίω; οὖν καὶ οἱ πονηροὶ λογισμοὶ οὓς εἶχεν ὁ Παῦλος ὅταν ἐδίωκεν , ἐκαύθησαν τῷ πυρὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὁ ἦλθε βαλεῖν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, ὁ δὲ σἴτος, ἤτοι οἱ ἀγαθοὶ λογισμοί, συνήχθησαν εἰς τὰς ἀποθήκας τῆς Ἐκκλησίας. Θεοφύλακτος Αχρίδος, Ἑρμηνεία Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Ματθαιον, Κεφαλὴ IΓ' Source: Migne PG 123.284c-285b

And He set before them another parable. Here is an image, He said, of the kingdom of heaven. There was a man who sowed his field with good seed, but while men slept, an enemy of his came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and left. So when the blade had sprung up and come into ear, the weeds, too, came to light. His servants went to him and said, 'Master, was it not good seed that you sowed in your field? How is it, then, that there are weeds in it? He said, An enemy has done this.' And the servants said to him, 'Would you have us go and gather them up?' He said, No, lest while you are gathering the weeds you will tear up the wheat with them. Leave them to grow side by side until the harvest, and when it comes I will give the word to the reapers, 'Gather up the weeds first, and tie them in bundles to be burned, and store the wheat in my barn.' 1 In the previous parable that He told, a quarter of the seed fell on to good ground, 2 but in this one He shows that while we sleep and are indolent the seed which fell on good ground is not immune to corruption by the enemy. The field is the world, or the soul of a man. However Christ is the sower. The good seed is good men or good thoughts. The weeds are heresies or wicked thoughts and he who sows that seed is the devil. But men are the sleepers, who on account of their indolence give a place for heretics and wicked thoughts. The servants are angels who are indignant that there are heresies or wickedness in the soul, and they wish to uproot heretics and tear them up of from life, and it is the same with wicked thoughts. But God does not permit heretics to be consumed by war lest the righteous also suffer and be consumed. Similarly God does not want evil thoughts cut out of a man lest at the same time the wheat is ruined. For the sake of an example, if Mathew had been uprooted from this life when he was a weed, likewise the wheat of his writing, which later arose in himself, would have been torn up. It is the same for Paul and the thief. For they were weeds and they were not pulled up but they were allowed to live so that they might later grow in virtue. He then speaks of the angels who in the end shall gather up the weeds, that is heretics. But how? In sheaves, that is, bound hand and feet, for then they shall no longer be able to act, but their power of acting shall be chained. But the wheat, that is, those who are holy, shall be gathered at the harvest by the angels for the heavenly granaries. Similarly the evil thoughts which Paul had when he was a persecutor were burnt up in the fire of Christ, which he came to place on the earth, 3 but the wheat, that is, the good thoughts, they were gathered into the granary of the Church. Theophylact of Ochrid, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint Matthew, Chapter 13 1 Mt 13.24-30 2 Mt 13.3-8 3 Lk 12.49