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.’” 

Matthew 13:24 – 29

What is Jesus saying?  In the parable of the different grounds that we just considered and thought about, the emphasis is on the receptivity of the ground into which the seed was sown.  This, his second story, is to be understood considering the first story – the receptivity (or lack of it) of the soils.

So, this story has a nice beginning.  A farmer had good seed, wheat, so he prepared the field and sowed the precious seed where it grew nicely, promising a good harvest.  The story is delightful.  But then, another issue arises, enemies seek to thwart the good effort by sowing malicious seed that wars against the wheat seed already planted.  The story does not tell us anything about the enemy or why he is so determined to harm the industrious and careful farmer.  I suppose Jesus left that up to our imaginations.

The problem is, however, what to do about it.  An obvious answer is to expose the enemy’s tricks and have him punished.  This is not even considered by the story-teller, Jesus.  The answer is to let both grow until it is clear which is the good plant and the bad plant.  Then remove the bad plants carefully, one stalk at a time, then bundle them up and burn them.  After that, harvest the good plants and rejoice.  The good seed will nourish the planter’s family and beyond.

This may, at first glance, look like the wrong approach because the unwanted plants will certainly rob the good plants of nourishment.  We leave that with the story teller. The point is not that there is evil in the world always warring against the good but God shows those who walk with him how to obtain a rich harvest, nevertheless.

As an aside, the story lets us know that as the two kinds of plants grow, it will become obvious to all which grain is good and which is bad.  Early on that is not as obvious!  So it is.

I love this story.