Series on Weed - 3

He often spoke in parables in order to fulfill the prophecies.  The result was a teaching that needed enlightenment - not in the form of smarts, but in the form of faith.  One had to receive the parable from faith in order to understand what it meant.  This series takes a look at one of these parables in depth.  Read installment 2 if you have not yet done so - click here.

Just like any other plant, a weed has its growth cycle.  In the Parable of the Weeds, we see that our weed comes up right at the time when the plants coming from the good seed are bearing fruit.  I am sure the enemy loves that idea.  Let that good seed work, grow and bear fruit and then let’s see the weed appear.  Ever had that experience?  Just about the time you get some good fruit growing in your life, a person “of the evil one” appears.  

So we see that part of the enemy’s plan is working well.  He is spoiling the owner’s field.  The weed is in with the good plants and now there is a problem - or rather a bunch of problems.  

The owner of the field and sower of the good seed, Jesus, is consulted to find out why the weed is there and what to do about it.  Answer to question one: the weed is there because an enemy sowed it.  Jesus has an enemy and He knows his enemy’s ways.  Jesus is never surprised by what the devil does.  When we can’t figure out why, Jesus knows.

Answer to question two: you should not try to gather the weeds out of the good seed.  There will be a time for separating the weeds from the good plants.  Trying to pull the weeds out at the wrong time may do damage to the good plants.  So the owner of the field decides to leave the weeds in among the good, fruit bearing plants in his field to protect his good seed.  The world is full of atrocities.  The proposition that a loving God owns such a place is an affront. 

Ever heard the question, “If God loves us, why does He let bad things happen?”  The answer is simple - because He loves us, He allows bad things to happen.  The reality is that in a field sown with good seed (people of God’s kingdom) and weeds (people of the evil one) there is going to be bad things happening.  The weeds appear for a purpose - to damage the good plants and to spoil the field.  Jesus allows the last part of the plan to be successful so that the first part of the plan is not.  In order to understand this you must believe that God does not do bad things (things intentionally done for the sole purpose of harming His creation) and that there is more than this physical world in which we live.  If you believe these two truths you can see that Jesus, as the owner of our world, seeks your best by allowing the weeds to grow until a time to come (to be discussed in our next installment).  

Matthew 13:36

"When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared."