Seeds for 09/06/2023 - Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
Scripture: Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
“The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’
“‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.
“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’
“‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”
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Then He left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to Him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”
He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.
“As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.
Observation: A cursory glance at news reports over the past decade and more illustrates the conundrum of the owner’s servants in the parable: “Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?”
There is a quality to the kingdom of God, on earth in the present age, that biblical scholars call the “already, but not yet.” The notion goes like this. In one sense the kingdom of God is already present among us, begun by Christ and continued by His Church. But we can also tell from current observation and biblical evidence that the kingdom is not yet fully realized. Already begun, but not yet fully realized.
That concept is illustrated and in some ways addressed by this parable. The servants are asking, “If you are good and you put goodness into the world, where did this bad stuff come from?”
It’s not in the nature of parables to provide a comprehensive explanation for all phenomena in a singular vignette, so we still have room for the likes of Jeremiah 17:9 (“The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?”) and Romans 3:10-11, quoting Psalms and Ecclesiastes (“There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God.”). These help us see the overarching biblical perspective captured by the insight from Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn that “The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either – but right through every human heart.”
Nevertheless, the parable provides us with a dose of realism too. Some people are hellbent on evil. Others desire as best they can to commit themselves to the good, even though they are not perfect and have their own problems. In this life, the kingdom—and we might as well substitute “the church”—will include both sorts of people. But this present reality is not our fatalistic destiny. Justice will come in the end. Just because not all evil is addressed in this life doesn’t mean that it won’t be eventually. There’s a promise in the parable that evil will get its due.
This brings up what I’ve called at various times “the problem of evil for atheism.” The problem of evil for Christianity, or any religion or belief system that includes an all-powerful, all-good, all-knowing God, is that the presence of evil seems difficult to account for. And if it can’t be accounted for, then perhaps that belief system can’t be true. But the problem of evil goes both ways. For the atheist, or even agnostic, the problems are in fact legion, but one problem is that evil is never dealt with and justice is never served. Therefore, there is no objective hope, comfort, or meaning for anyone who has suffered injustice.
Christianity may have its mysteries and tensions, but this is not one of them. The parable of the weeds and the wheat asserts at least two clear points. One, God is not the source of evil. Two, God is just and one day evil will be dealt with decisively.
Application:
What might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, grant me strength not to grow weary in doing good, but patiently to endure any hardships and so be found faithful. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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