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The Gospel for July 26, 2026 continues with the theme of describing the kingdom of God. Again, the kingdom of God appears to be something we live here on Earth. Jesus is not addressing what Heaven will be like but rather teaching us how to achieve Heaven. It appears the Gospel is a collection of teachings of Jesus linked together by common theme. There are a couple of themes worth noting here. We have an individual finding treasure and sell everything so that he can obtain the treasure. Nothing else is important. The selling off of possessions to purchase the field also has a notion of sacrifice and freeing up the individual to pursue what is valued by them.

This is not a new theme. Jesus requires letting go of possessions, obligations, or burdens — especially Matthew 4:18–22 / Mark 1:16–20 (the first disciples leaving nets), Luke 5:27–28 (Levi/Matthew leaving his tax booth), Luke 9:57–62 (warnings about delaying or returning for family/business), Luke 14:25–33 (the cost of discipleship and renouncing possessions), Mark 10:17–31 / Matthew 19:16–30 (the rich young man told to sell all and follow),

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In this Gospel, Jesus presents three parables that illuminate God’s plan for creation. The first is the parable of wheat and the weeds. A farmer’s field is deliberately sown with weeds by an enemy. When the plants begin to grow, the laborers offer to remove the weeds, but the landowner declines, recognizing that in doing so they may also uproot the wheat.

At a practical level, many who garden will recognize the risk of pulling out healthy plants along with weeds. At a deeper level, Jesus is speaking about the coexistence of good and evil and the necessity of discernment. Human beings are not simply passive actors; we are moral people capable of choice. Without alternatives, there can be no true choosing—only compliance.

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In the Gospel today we hear one of the most famous of parables. Jesus uses a well-known event to describe people’s faith experience. People would be familiar with gardens especially vegetable gardens. Most people did not have the luxury of growing flowers for their beauty. As I have mentioned in a previous podcast the gardener was quite generous in sowing the seed. Likely people took notice. Collecting seeds for next season’s garden was critical if you wanted food in the next season. After some reflection and to put this in a more positive perspective the gardener was indeed very generous with the seeds. He wasn’t being selective. Every space got an opportunity to receive the seed. Later the disciples ask Jesus to explain the parable. Its very clear and simple. Jesus is talking about threats to our spirituality and faith. Notice that in no situation did the seed refuse to grow. But something happened, not immediately but something later prevented the seed from growing.

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