NOTES:
1] vv.31-35 may be omitted as they seem to break with the main train of thought. 2] vv.24-30 raise the question: if God is God, why would he allow an enemy to set up as rival? But it's only a parable! 3] In 31-32 Jesus uses Hebrew Bible imagery of trees & birds symbolising rule & oppression. 4] 'Son of Man' means Jesus as both human & supernaturally powerful.

WARMING UP: When did anyone last move in on our 'territory' & queer our pitch in some field?

TREASURES OLD & NEW: Identify God at work in anything this week?

EXPLORING GOSPEL:

24-30    Do we ever feel God's Rule is being frustrated by other influences at work? Do we ever puzzle over why God would let that kind of thing happen? Do we ever come up with a satisfactory answer? Is this parable Jesus' own attempt to explain the puzzle? Does Jesus mean that we - & God - have to live with this paradox? If so, is that more an intellectual issue, or a practical one? What 'tares' or 'weeds' bother us most in our own life? In others' lives? Does what Jesus says here necessarily mean that God isn't bothered by them?

(31-32   Does the thought of God's Rule as a tiny (seemingly defenceless?) seed bother us? Or does it encourage us? Is the end result worth waiting for? How long, O Lord, how long?

33         Do we ever raise dough, by hand or in a machine? Do we ever get impatient with the process? Who do we reckon is more impatient about the slow process of God's Rule taking hold, i.e. 'raising' the world - us, or God?

34-35)  Do we know a more effective method of (verbal) teaching than using parables? Would we prefer more church teaching & preaching to be in parables today?

36-43    Do we ever feel like asking (or do ask) God to "Please explain!" things that puzzle us? If we do, do we ever get an answer? How does that answer come? Or is that another puzzle in itself? Could we, or anyone else spell out Jesus' view of 'the way things are' more clearly than he does here? Is there any aspect of what Jesus says here (remember, he's teasing out a parable, not speaking to an actual / factual situation) that we really need help with?

What about the destructive imagery at the end of the passage - does it put us off, scare us, whatever? Maybe it makes us more determined to be one of the 'righteous, shining like the sun'? Do we ever wish God would do his cleaning up of bad people & bad things a lot sooner? Where would that leave us?