Scripture Readings: Genesis 28:10-19 & Matthew 13:24-30
It was risky to travel through Canaan alone, especially for a man whose life decisions up to this point had been made by his mother. His destination was about eight hundred km away. He reached a certain place, stopped for the night, put his head on a stone, and had a dream. Although Abraham had built an altar near here, the text does not tell us that Jacob knew this or stopped for that reason.
In verse 12 to 13, Jacob had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. There above it stood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying.”
But the angel escalator or ladder or stairway was not the highlighter of this dream because there above it stood the LORD. Before Jacob could react, he received the promise directly from God. This same self-revealing God talked to Abraham and later addressed Moses. (In Genesis 15:7, Exodus 20) Verses 13 and 14 reiterate promises made to Abraham and Isaac. The promise was that all peoples on earth will be blessed through him and his offspring. Jacob had no more remaining doubt due to the direct confirmation given by God. Verse 15 introduces personal promises to Jacob and guarantees that his return to Canaan would indeed take place.
Through the promises to Jacob, God graciously grants assurances to sustain his faith and gives promises about protection and homecoming. God’s promise was not limited to some geographic boundary or generations. God reveals himself to his people and promises his protection and provision.
Wherever Jacob would travel, God would be with him and eventually God would bring him back home. May we trust God who lets us grow in faith, protects us, and lets us return to where we should be. When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.”
Perhaps still carrying a guilty conscience from earlier events back home, he was afraid and proclaimed, “how awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.” Jacob was in loneliness, doubt, and anxiety alone, but he realized and confessed that the Lord is in this place.” The Lord is here! The Lord intervenes in our repentance and suffering. In the night he was in uncertainty, but in the morning the pillow stone became a pillar stone. Jacob also named the place Bethel which means “house of God.”
In chapter 28, for the first time he came face-to-face with God, and his life would never be the same. He never became a perfect model of godliness and would still see the heartbreak among his own children. In fact, Jacob’s favouritism toward Joseph mirrored Isaac’s treatment of Esau and Rebecca’s treatment of Jacob. However, now Jacob belonged to God, and he would continue his spiritual journey with another level. This is a display of divine grace because God came out to meet him.
God’s grace surprises us when we least expect it, but everyone needs it. It can come in a dream, by an angel’s voice, in our prayers, by individual or collective experiences, through a verse of Scripture or the encouraging words of church family or friends. But we can always trace it back to God. We don’t have to be at physical Bethel, but we need to be at spiritual Bethel which is the house of God. The God of Bethel travels with us wherever we go. May we feel happiness that God travels with us all the time.
God takes the lead in bringing sinners back to himself. God reaches out to sinners not because of any merit on their part but according to his grace. May we acknowledge the constant presence and blessing of God in our lives and respond with worship and obedience.
Our God is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness to all whom God has created. God’s servants and Jesus’ disciples take courage even in the midst of an evil world and find hope and justice.
In Matthew 13, Jesus explains the parable of the weeds. It is addressed to the disciples, and not the wider public. Alongside the shoots of God at work, there are weeds which often threaten to overwhelm. Jesus described what the farmer did with what grew. In their early stages, the weeds are indistinguishable from the young wheat, so they must be left to gain water and nutrients from the wheat until the two can be separated at harvest. Today’s text offered that weeds would be “weeded out” in the end, but it also tells us the faithful must coexist with evil until judgment.
To the farmer, it was more important to save the good wheat than to get rid of the weeds. He instructed his workers to leave the weeds until the harvest, when the two could be sorted out. There is the side-by-side existence of the wheat and the weeds. They are both to grow together. But when the two are separated, the weeds are burned, and the wheat is gathered into the farmer’s barn. However, on God’s providence and mercy, the weeds are allowed as well, and God is waiting for everyone until harvest.
The parable’s ending affirms that there is One who is stronger and smarter than the weed-sowing enemy. God will sort out the good from the bad. In a world where seeds of hatred and injustice are daily sown, today’s text affirms that God is still in charge.
God’s justice will reward the righteous. Even though the kingdom of God seems to be small or hidden, it is of great value in our lives. God will use us to build toward his glorious kingdom. I hope we do not be discouraged if we don’t see the kingdom growing as rapidly as we wish it would. Even though weeds and wheat coexist in our lives, may we discern everything we face and grow in the grace of the Holy Spirit. We are living in a mixture of happiness and sadness, may we praise and glorify the Lord who comes, intervenes, seeks, and takes care of us even in our suffering.
Each of us is some mixture of wheat and weed, of holy and unholy, of potentially fruitful and potentially destructive. However, may we not only passively wait until the last hour, but also actively and boldly attend as a community and as individuals for the kingdom of God.
We are all in different situations, but the Lord is in your place. Even though the kingdom of God is largely hidden, the Lord is with us. Even when we can do nothing, our God is at work for us. Even though our life and faith journey are all different, the Lord is in this place. Even while we are living with weeds, may we happily accompany the Lord for the rest of our lives.
Thanks be to God! Amen.
(Ref. Bible, commentaries, theological books, UCA materials)