The parable of the weeds among the wheat (found in Matt 13:36-43) is about a situation when a farmer’s enemy secretly plants bad seeds in the field where this farmer has just planted good seeds of wheat. And as both of these types of good and bad seeds germinate and grow, the smart farmer tells his workers to leave these alone until harvest time because at this early stage and until the kernel of wheat actually appears, it is hard to distinguish the weeds from the wheat, because they all look the same at this stage.
Although this makes practical sense from a farming point of view, the disciples are curious what Jesus means, because Jesus starts off the parable by saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like this.” So, Jesus explains that the one who sowed good seed is Himself, the Son of Man, and the good seed are the people of the Kingdom; the enemy of Jesus is the devil and the weeds are the evil people. Now, Jesus points out that at the end of the age there will be a reckoning. The good news is that everything and everyone that causes sin and does evil will be thrown into hell, while the righteous will be welcomed into the kingdom of heaven.
When I think about this lesson, the obvious thing that comes to my mind is that I’m not surprised that evil exists where there is good. We see it not only in this world; we see it even in ourselves, right?
[Read more…] about EVIL EXISTS WHERE THERE IS GOOD — sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference