Jesus is on a run with agricultural metaphors – in our next passage, he tells another parable of the Kingdom of heaven. But this time there are two sowers:
He put before them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well.'
As we explore this story, we will see how the sower and his servants deal with this mess. Today, lets rest with the image of a nice, neat field of wheat sabotaged by choking weeds. This is a clever way Jesus accounts for evil in the goodness of a good God’s creation – and he is clear that the weeds are the work of an enemy, not intended by the Creator.
In this tale, the evil is inseparable from the good, and until it's time for the plants to bear fruit, no one can tell the weeds from the wheat. It’s all just one big mess growing up in the field we call this world. This parable reminds us not to presume to judge others prematurely – it generally becomes apparent after awhile who is making life-giving choices and who is out for their own gain. And even then, it may not be so cut and dried. This story does not have the wheat taking matters into their own hands and eliminating the weeds from among them – a certain co-existence seems to be called for, at least in the short-term we call life in this world.
Jesus’ parables, like all good metaphors, can fail us if we push them too hard toward the literal. Jesus likens the weeds to the “children of evil” and the wheat to the “children of the kingdom,” but no one is born one or the other. Theoretically, we all have the chance to be fruit-bearing wheat. it's s a question of where we put our allegiance, and from where we draw our power.
Who do you consider “wheat” in the part of God’s field in which you dwell? Who helps you be fruitful?
And are there some whom you deem to be weeds? What happens when you pray for those people? Try it for a few weeks... ask for God to bless them beyond measure.
Today in prayer we might see ourselves as planted in a field, planted by a loving Sower, nurtured by One who tends his beloved creation. We can invite the rain and sun and give thanks as we experience them.
We are creatures of a loving Sower – who allowed an enemy to exercise free will, even at the cost of compromising his crop. Was this Planter careless? Or is his love so expansive, it makes room for people to find their way to good harvest?
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