In Matthew 13 Jesus teaches in parables. A parable is a story that teaches a truth indirectly. The parables are a contrast with Jesus' direct teaching style shown in Matthew 5-7. One of the parables in this chapter, found in verses 24-30, is about a farmer that sows good seed with an enemy that comes in the night and sows weeds in the field. Matthew 13:24-30 reads:
Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away. But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?' And he said to them, 'An enemy has done this!' The slaves said to him, 'Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?' But he said, 'No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn."'"
The parable teaches about the existence of good and evil. This is not news to anyone. The intent of creation was that everything would be good. Genesis 1 gives an account of creation, in which God concludes in verse 31 "God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good." In Genesis 3 we see the story of the fall of man, the disobedience of man created an entrance of evil into creation. The parable describes this as an enemy that sows weeds in the field.
The field in the parable would not be like those we see today. There would be areas thick with wheat and other areas with more bare spaces. The weeds would be scattered around the field in the same way. Today we see some areas where good predominates. There are other areas where the evil has won, leaving no room for any good. However, in all places there is a mixture of good and evil. We may not understand the plan, but this is clearly the plan of God to allow the good and evil to coexist for the current time.
It is too easy to focus on the evil in the world and feel that we are defeated. This is a great error. This parable teaches us there is always a mixture of good and evil. It is the job of the believer to bring the Holy Spirit to bear in the world to increase the effect of good. Paul tells us in Romans 12:21 – "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."
The parable goes on to teach us the end will bring a separation of the good and evil. It is only when the world passes away when there will be two places, one with all of the evil and another with all of the good. Until that time, we are to keep on working, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to be a positive influence in the world.
