Parable of the Weeds among the Wheat

The Sunday Gospel [July 17, 2011]

Matthew 13:24-43

24 He proposed another parable to them. "The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 While everyone was asleep his enemy came and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off. 26 When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well. 27 The slaves of the householder came to him and said, 'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where have the weeds come from?' 28 He answered, 'An enemy has done this.' His slaves said to him, 'Do you want us to go and pull them up?' 29 He replied, 'No, if you pull up the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them. 30 Let them grow together until harvest; then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters, "First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning; but gather the wheat into my barn."'"

Reflection

“Let them grow together until harvest. “ ~ Jesus in v. 30a

The human tendency is to segregate evil men from the good especially when the former become a threat to the latter. Jails and other measures exist for this, a protection provided by society against evil or criminal elements.

With regard to the kingdom of God, in the parable of the Weeds among the Wheat, Jesus presents another perspective. Here Jesus addresses a crowd familiar to life in the farm. To have a good harvest, the farmer roots out the weeds so that the wheat can have all the soil nutrients. Moreover, Jesus speaks of a darnel, [a noxious plant that looks like wheat in its early stage of growth]. The farmers do not have second thoughts to root out this weed and burn it.

But Jesus offers a different solution: wait for the harvest; let the weeds mature with the wheat, and at harvest time the owner can easily separate the wheat from the weeds which must then be burned.

The solution sounds strange, and this is precisely Jesus’ point. In God’s kingdom, human solutions do not always work. The concern of the kingdom is salvation, which is given to all. Jesus opens the strange way by which God sees to it that everybody is given a chance to enter the kingdom: the burning should take place after the harvest and only he can do this. Meanwhile, people should be patient because the weeds of yesterday may yet turn out to be wheat of tomorrow.

The wisdom of this parable is revealed on Calvary when the thief crucified with Jesus is promised entrance to paradise. As long as a little good vibrates in the heart of man, salvation is always possible. God wants to fan to life the dying embers of goodness.

Jesus does not disregard the right of society to protect them from criminals, but presents the different standard of his kingdom, founded not on laws, but on God’s ability to read the hearts of men and women. Salvation is the right of everybody, and no one on earth is damned. Nobody has the right to categorize people into saved and the damned.

We are all fields sown with seeds of good and evil. In damning others, we may be condemning ourselves. The “final solution,” says Jesus, rests in God alone. The perspective that God is the ultimate Judge brings about humility, patience, and the spontaneity of forgiveness which are prerequisites to belong to God’s kingdom.

Credits: Fr. Gil A. Alinsangan, SSP, From the Mountaintop

Source: The Reflection is from Bro. Abel Navarro (you can visit his blog at http://myblogabelnavarro-abel.blogspot.com/).