Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.
The disciples may have had some sense of what Jesus meant by the parable of the weeds and the wheat. But they may have been hoping that he would explain away the difficulties with what the parable taught. How did this enemy get into the field in the first place? This was a similar question to what Adam might have asked in Eden. What was the snake doing in paradise? Could not the Lord have hermetically sealed off the garden from the dangers outside? Rather than explaining directly, Jesus assured the disciples of the good will of the gardener.
He said in reply, “He who sows good seed is the Son of Man,
the field is the world, the good seed the children of the Kingdom.
The Evil One was allowed to act, but in a way that was constrained to this age only, which would be definitively ended at the time of the harvest. It probably seems to us that it would have been better for him to be excluded entirely, for the wheat to not have needed to contend with the weeds. But perhaps this was not so. Perhaps the wheat was made stronger by this exposure. As those who hope to be counted among the good seed we clearly recognize the ways in which the weeds in our own lives help us to exercise virtue that we would not have otherwise needed. The presence of the snake in the world can be an excuse for us not to trust in God, but when we recognize the way that even his efforts are made to work for the good of those who love God, even his presence can lead us deeper into trust in God himself.
The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.
Just as weeds are collected and burned up with fire,
so will it be at the end of the age.
It is actually a wonderful thing that God doesn't destroy apparent weeds immediately. Had he done so after the fiasco in Eden that would have been the end of things. The human race might have seemed to have lost its ability to bear good fruit at many and various times throughout history. But the Lord remained patient. He desired that the good seed of his Kingdom would be able to be vessels and channels of this same sort of merciful love that bore with sinners patiently in hope that hearts would eventually change. This result could not come on the basis of force or instance gratification. It required willingness to let the life of the seeds fully play out, to see finally and for sure which were those of wheat and which those of weeds.
The Son of Man will send his angels,
and they will collect out of his Kingdom
all who cause others to sin and all evildoers.
They will throw them into the fiery furnace,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.
There is strong incentive not to presume on the mercy and forbearance of God. There will come an end to this period of freedom, a period when the commitments of our will toward which we have been heading will be finally and forever set in stone. The harvest will only reflect back to us our own choice about how to respond to the grace of the seed of the word of God. The righteous will find in their own persons proof of the constant care of the gardener. Evildoers, and especially those "who cause others to sin" and who do not repent will find only the withered lack of life that is the inevitable result of selfishness and prideful self-reliance.
Then the righteous will shine like the sun
in the Kingdom of their Father.
How ought we respond to a parable like this? By growing in our likeness to the one who first showed us mercy, who was first patient with us when we ourselves looked more like weeds than wheat. We can profitably receive the advice of Peter, who wrote, "love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God" (see First Peter 1:22-23). If we do this we will be able to respond like Jeremiah, with deep sympathy, even in the face of hostility and opposition.
For your name’s sake spurn us not,
disgrace not the throne of your glory;
remember your covenant with us, and break it not.
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