Torch, Spring 2001

“Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (verse 43). According to the parable, both the landowner and the servants can distinguish between the wheat and the weeds, but allow them to grow together until the time and the plants are ripe. As we live in this world, anyone should be able to distinguish us from the children of the evil one by the lives we live. The idea of shining like the sun is found in other verses such as Proverbs 4:18, “The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the Relationship Implies O b e d i e n c e In Matthew 12 (see also Mark 3:31-35 and Luke 8:19-21), we have an illustration of the first principle. In verses 46-50, Jesus is talking to a crowd while His mother and brothers are standing outside waiting to talk to Him. When someone points this out, Jesus responds by saying, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” He then points to His disciples and says, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” Jesus isn’t denying the relationship He has with His earthly family, but is taking advantage of the situation to help people understand what it means to be a part of God’s family. The passage in Luke is even clearer because it adds another remark made by Jesus: “My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s Word and put it into practice ” (emphasis added). As one of Jesus’ disciples, James, would later write, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says” (James 1:22). We cannot honestly call ourselves God’s children if we only listen to the Word occasionally and never put it into practice in our lives. Relationship Implies R i g h t e o u s n e s s In the next passage, Matthew 13, Jesus tells a series of parables, including the parable of the wheat and the weeds. In this parable, the good seed (children of God) and the weeds (children of the devil) grow together in the same field until harvesttime. At that time the weeds are pulled out and burned; but of the good seed, Jesus says, full light of day,” and Ephesians 5:8b-9, “Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth).” If we choose to compromise our standards or if we’re drawn to imitate the world and its values, that light becomes dim. Or, returning to the parable of the plants, our lives become as useless as weeds. Righteous, holy living becomes children of the heavenly Father. Relationship Implies R e c o n c i l i a t i o n In Matthew 6:14-15 (see also Matthew 18:35 and Mark 11:25- 26), the family characteristic presented describes our relationship with our “siblings”—the need to forgive others, to release them from their debts against us. The passages mentioned are forceful in their insistence that we must forgive others, especially if we expect God to hear us when we pray. We have no right to hold something against one of our brothers in light of the tremendous debt God has forgiven us through Christ. Family unity is clearly the characteristic that sets us apart from the world: Jesus declares Spring 2001 / TORCH 5