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Online Summer Bible Study, 2004
Week 13 (August 29-September 4): Matthew 11-20

Hi all,

I will be relying again on Paul Beeching's book Awkward Reverence: Reading the New Testament Today (Continuum, 1997, pp. 76-78).

Matthew 13:36-42 (NRSV) reads…

“Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached him, saying, ‘Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.’ He answered, ‘The one who sows the seed is the Son of Man; the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the 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 causes of sin and all evildoers, and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father. Let anyone with ears listen!”

Beeching notes that this passage contains what could be called the “orthodox eschatology”—life on earth, the devil, the last judgment, and the reward of the righteous. He suggests that this eschatology has been at the heart of the worst mistakes of the Church over the centuries, but at the same time, it has also been at the heart of the Church’s success in spreading the Gospel. (He also notes that this eschatology is found in Matthew because Matthew’s interpretation of the Jesus story is that Israel’s fulfilled messianic hope can be found in the Church: Matthew provides a foundation story for a Church that already existed at the time

Given that a recurring concern on TheoTalk is how we can retain the power of the Christian message without falling into the excesses of exclusivism, this passage seems especially relevant. Can it provide an eschatology that does not lead to abuse of non-Christians?

One possibility is to return to a recurring early Christian idea: that the "weeds" are not so much non-Christians, but professed Christians who are not true members of the Church, not truly followers of Christ: they are difficult to distinguish from the true Christians, and so cannot and should not be rooted out, lest the "good seed" suffer as well. (Conservative and liberal Christians are often happy to embrace this idea, since they can then represent the other side as the "weeds"). Judgment is a task that beongs the Son of Man and his angels (or just plain God, if one prefers to be less anthropomorphic), not mere humans, who lack the necessary wisdom: therefore there is no justification for persecuting non-Christians.

Another possibility is to embrace an idea best expressed by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, in The Gulag Archipelago:

"It was granted to me to carry away from my prison years on my bent back, which nearly broke beneath its load, this essential experience: how a human being becomes evil and how good. In the intoxication of youthful successes I had felt myself to be infallible, and I was therefore cruel. In the surfeit of power I was a murderer and an oppressor. In my most evil moments I was convinced that I was doing good, and I was well supplied with systematic arguments. It was only when I lay there on rotting prison straw that I sensed within myself the first stirrings of good. Gradually it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either, but right through every human heart, and through all human hearts. This line shifts. Inside us, it oscillates with the years. Even within hearts overwhleme

The events predicted in Matthew 13, then, could be understood not as *simultaneous* across humanity, but *sequential* within individuals. First all causes of sin and evildoing in each person will be gathered and thrown in the furnace, with great suffering; then, having been purified, each person in their remaining righteousness will enter the kingdom of God, with great rejoicing. As a universalist who also believes in some version of original sin and utter depravity, I find this interpretation appealing. Whether others will as well, or whether it can hold up under more study of the Bible, is (as always) open to question.

Peace,
Mark Kille
John P. Webster Library

"Beeching.suggests that this eschatology has been at the heart of the worst mistakes of the Church over the centuries, but at the same time, it has also been at the heart of the Church's success in spreading the Gospel."

The church, and I include RSF in that gathering, has the task, I believe, of examining, on both the local and national level, the shadow side of the eschatology that has created some of the "worst mistakes" while spreading the gospel. I realize some will consider this to be just another example of liberal hand-wringing, but the mistakes are real and their effects are still felt in our society. The full potential of the Christian message cannot be realized until this task is undertaken (imho).

"He also notes that this eschatology is found in Matthew because Matthew's interpretation of the Jesus story is that Israel's fulfilled messianic hope can be found in the Church: Matthew provides a foundation story for a Church that already existed at the time this gospel was written).

I think it is important to recognize that Matthew itself is an interpretation.

"One possibility is to return to a recurring early Christian idea: that the "weeds" are not so much non-Christians, but professed Christians who are not true members of the Church, not truly followers of Christ: they are difficult to distinguish from the true Christians, and so cannot and should not be rooted out, lest the "good seed" suffer as well."

This is an interpretation that holds out promise for our multi-cultural world. It shifts our attention to the beam in our own eye. However, it also demands that we identify who is and is not a "true member of the Church". As I do not believe, for example, in a literal resurrection and ascension, there is a pretty good possibility that many (most?) "true" Christians would consider me to be one of the weeds.

"Judgment is a task that belongs to the Son of Man and his angels"

I wonder what Jesus of Nazareth would think of that?

".therefore there is no justification for persecuting non-Christians."

True, not judging each other is part of Jesus' basic message.

"It was only when I lay there on rotting prison straw that I sensed within myself the first stirrings of good."

God's light shines in through the broken places.

"The events predicted in Matthew 13, then, could be understood not as *simultaneous* across humanity, but *sequential* within individuals."

To me, this is the highest form of Biblical interpretation.

"First all causes of sin and evildoing in each person will be gathered and thrown in the furnace, with great suffering; then, having been purified, each person in their remaining righteousness will enter the kingdom of God, with great rejoicing."

Nietzsche said, "Beware in casting out your demons that you do not cast out the best part of yourself."

"As a universalist who also believes in some version of original sin and utter depravity."

Do you believe that in your heart of hearts, there is a part of you that is "utterly depraved"? What in your experience leads you to that conclusion? I am not asking you to reveal your deepest secrets on the Internet, but to perhaps describe how "utter depravity" manifests itself in an average man. (I am sure that, to your family, you are far from average!)

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