The Story of the Weeds – Parables Part 4

Scripture: Matthew 13

24 Here is another story Jesus told: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. 25 But that night as the workers slept, his enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat, then slipped away. 26 When the crop began to grow and produce grain, the weeds also grew. 27 “The farmer’s workers went to him and said, ‘Sir, the field where you planted that good seed is full of weeds! Where did they come from?’ 28 “ ‘An enemy has done this!’ the farmer exclaimed. “ ‘Should we pull out the weeds?’ they asked. 29 “ ‘No,’ he replied, ‘you’ll uproot the wheat if you do. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. Then I will tell the harvesters to sort out the weeds, tie them into bundles, and burn them, and to put the wheat in the barn.’ ” (Matthew 13:24–30 (NLT)

The farmer planted good seed in his field. An enemy came and planted weed seeds in the field along with the grain. It didn’t show at first, but as the grain grew, the weeds also grew and when the workers discovered the problem they went to tell the farmer what had happened. The farmer knew that the field was good soil, that the seed was pure good quality, and that an enemy had done this to ruin the crop. The workers suggested going through the field and trying to pull all the weeds. This would pull up the young, tender wheat and the workers’ activity would trample what didn’t get pulled up. But when the wheat was ripe for harvest, it would be easy to distinguish between good grain and bad weeds and they could separate the wheat and weeds then, grain to the barn and weeds to the fire. For the hard of hearing, and hard of heart, this was a silly farming story. For the teachable hearts and the hearing ears, this was a revelation of God’s wisdom, of the nature of the Kingdom of God in the world, and how much God valued the wheat, the good seed, and the thirty, sixty, and hundred-fold multiplication of the harvest. For you and me: The farmer was concerned, but not worried. He had a plan and he was patient. When we face an unexpected problem, we should check with the boss before we react and make matters worse! He still has a plan and he’s still not worried! Prayer: Father, I know there’s still an enemy and it’s so easy to get worried when he tries to mess things up! Help us to check with you before we panic or react. I know you’re not worried and that you have a plan. Amen!