The record monsoon rain has brought us an abundance of weeds. I drive past houses that are overgrown like I’ve never seen before. I just happened to be reading the parable of the weeds that Jesus told in Matthew 13:24-30 last week. He explained the parable in verses 36-43. Take the time to click the links to read the parable and explanation. What was Jesus’ message through this story?
Those of us who sincerely (not perfectly) seek to follow Jesus live in both the kingdom of God and a world of weeds at the same time. Jesus explains that “the weeds are people of the evil one” (vs. 38). The weeds Jesus was referring to have poisonous seeds. The struggle and pain we experience in this world is the work of the devil. Weeds can do a lot of damage. They damage good crops that provide nutrition and income. And the weeds themselves are poisonous.
The workers in the parable ask Jesus if they should get rid of the weeds. That’s logical! But Jesus gives a surprising answer. Speaking for the farmer in the story, Jesus says that they are not to pull the weeds but wait until the harvest. They are to wait! It’s at the harvest that the weeds and good crops will be separated.
In Jesus’ explanation, he teaches us that the kingdom of God has this reality – weeds and good crops exist side by side. His exact words are: “Let both grow together until the harvest” (vs. 30). There are those who seek to be and do good following Jesus, and there are those who follow the spirit of the world. We live together. We are not to fret over that. That’s the reality of this life. Our purpose in this life is to continue to be good seeds, sow good seeds, and stay faithful to the end. We wait, for there will be a harvest day. For Jesus, the harvest means a day of judgment.
Jesus’ description of judgment (vv. 39-43) is so clear. At the harvest or judgment, the angels “weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil” (vs. 41). All that’s evil will be destroyed in the fire, which is a reference to hell. Those who seek what is right as kingdom people will shine like the sun (“you are the light of the world” – Matthew 5:14).
It’s so tempting for Christians to want to take on the role of harvesters and rid the world of evil. That’s not our job. It is Jesus and his angels who will do that in the end. We will exist side by side in this life with the weeds. We must resist the temptation to abandon seeking Jesus and his righteousness. We must be the good seed that gives life to this world by being Jesus in a very evil and perverse world. We leave the purifying and judging to God and his holy army.
But we get impatient. We want to take things into our own hands and get rid of the weeds now. But we won’t see the uprooting or elimination of evil until the very end of the age. We have hope. Hope is confidence that evil will be defeated, even if we can’t see it now. There will be a day when sin and evil are uprooted and eliminated. But until then, we embrace the words of Paul – Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. (Galatians 6:9).
Glen Elliott
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