<p>13:39&nbsp;<em>The enemy that sowed them is-</em>&nbsp;The Lord uses the same word in Lk. 19:27 to describe how the Jews who refused the Gospel were the Lord's &quot;enemies&quot;. Paul likewise uses it to speak of how the unbelieving Jews are &quot;enemies&quot; (Rom. 11:28).&nbsp;</p>
<p><em>The Devil</em>- see on :38.</p>
<p><em>The harvest</em>- The Lord used the same metaphor in Mt. 9:37,38 in speaking of how during that earlier part of His ministry, the harvest was ongoing and He was sending out the disciples to reap the harvest; at that time, the Lord could say that &quot;the fields are white already to harvest&quot; (Jn. 4:35); the disciples were sent out to harvest it (Jn. 4:38 s.w., AV &quot;to reap&quot;, literally 'to harvest'). But now He speaks of the harvest as being at a considerable distance in time from where they were now located- &quot;the end of the age&quot;. This could be an example of the 'now but not yet' theme, whereby the language of the Lord's return and future Kingdom is used about our present experience. But in line with my observations about the abrupt change in the Lord's attitude to Israel at the end of chapter 12 (see on 13:1,10), it seems to me that He now considered that the time of harvest had been delayed. The parable of the sower earlier in the chapter had taught that the crop would only be reaped &quot;when the harvest is come&quot; (Mk. 4:29). This likewise was an implicit statement that the time of harvest in Mt. 9:37,38 had now been delayed. And one of the factors was not simply that the fruit was not ready, but that there had been insufficient labourers to harvest it (Mt. 9:38). Likewise the parable of the weeds suggests that weakness amongst the Lord's servants had led to the problem being experienced- if they had not slept, then the enemy would not have sown the weeds (Mt. 13:25). This is perhaps why towards the end of His ministry, the Lord taught that&nbsp;<em>He personally</em>&nbsp;was going to do the harvesting, albeit assisted by the Angels (Mt. 25:26 &quot;I harvest&quot;, s.w.; AV &quot;reap&quot;); see on :41.</p>
<p><em>Is the end of the world</em>- The Greek&nbsp;<em>aion</em>&nbsp;means 'age', and so there is no suggestion here of the destruction of planet earth. The disciples impatiently asked when this would be, using the same term (Mt. 24:3). The phrase is only used outside Matthew in Heb. 9:26, where we read that the Lord's death on the cross was &quot;the end of the age&quot;- and this is part of an argument that the Mosaic age has ended and should not be, as it were, lived in any longer. Paul uses a related phrase in 1 Cor. 10:11 to describe how his generation lived at a time when the ends of the ages had&nbsp;<em>already come</em>. Paul was writing before AD70. In neither of these references is there any suggestion that 'the end of the age' was in AD70; rather the reference is to the Lord&rsquo;s&nbsp;death on the cross, which ended the Mosaic age. The Lord defines &quot;the end of the age&quot; more specifically in Mt. 13:40 as &quot;the end of&nbsp;<em>this&nbsp;</em>age&quot;- the period in which He was then living, which was the Mosaic age. The significance of the events of AD70 appears to me to have been overstated and over interpreted by many expositors. I suggested that &quot;the harvest&quot; was possible in the first part of the Lord's ministry, but He delayed it because of Israel's lack of fruit and a lack of faithful harvesters. He delayed to 'the end of the age'- His death on the cross. But the harvest didn't happen then either. God's ultimate appeal, indeed the ultimate appeal of Jesus Himself, was in His death, in His body hanging upon the cross for all to see, and in His resurrection. But that appeal went unheeded by Israel. And so it seems to me that the time of harvest has again been delayed, to the final end of the age at His second coming. The great preaching commission includes the promise of the Lord's personal presence with and support to His preachers &quot;until the end of the age&quot; (Mt. 28:20); the implication could be that the new age which the Lord had in mind would be terminated by the Gospel being preached into all the world. This naturally connects with the Lord's teaching that the Gospel &quot;shall be preached in all the world... and then shall the end come&quot; (Mt. 24:14). He doesn't define &quot;the end&quot;. The end of what? Surely &quot;the end of the age&quot; which He had taught about here in Mt. 13:39. But the &quot;end&quot; is therefore without a specific chronological terminus- because it depends upon whether the preachers take the Gospel to all the world. Perhaps He didn't say specifically &quot;the end of the age&quot; in Mt. 24:14 because He realized that His death would be the end of one age, the Mosaic age, but the final end of the age would depend, to use His earlier metaphor, upon the ripening of the harvest and the zeal of the preachers to harvest it.</p>
<p><em>And the reapers are Angels</em>- &quot;The reapers&quot; means literally 'the harvesters'. The same word has been used for how the disciples were sent to harvest in the earlier part of the Lord's ministry. The suggestion could be that this is all part of the Lord's changed program- now, it is no longer the disciples who would reap, but the Angels would. Note how the Lord's parable of labourers in the vine harvest suggests He had a chronic problem getting enough workers- the owner is desperate to get absolutely anybody to do a bit of work in that harvest, paying men a day's wage if they only worked one hour. And connect this with how the Lord prayed and asked others to pray that more labourers would be sent out to harvest (Mt. 9:38).</p>
<p>The point has been made that when the Angels first come to call us to judgment at the second coming (Mt. 13:39), there will be an element of choice as to whether we immediately accept the call to go and meet Christ. Noah and Lot were invited, not forced, to leave the world. Those who respond to Christ's return&quot; immediately&quot; will be accepted, implying that the unworthy delay. This means that the response is optional in the first instance (Lk. 12:36). There are other indications of this.&nbsp; The most obvious is in the parable of the virgins, where the wise go out to meet their Lord immediately, whilst the foolish delay in order to spiritually prepare themselves.</p>