Matthew 13:36-43
“Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached him, saying, ‘Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.’” vs. 36
One way to deal with the mystery of a parable (a story with one main point), is to turn it into an allegory (a story with many hidden meanings.) That’s what Jesus does here, and he does a fine job. The allegorized parable explains why there are good and bad folks in the kingdom and says that ultimately justice will be done. All sin and evildoers will be destroyed…which may or may not be a word of comfort for hearers. But behind the allegory there lurks yet another truth…followers of Jesus simply don’t need to worry about all the weeds! They’ll be taken care of in due time by God. In the meantime we shouldn’t get obsessed about who’s good and who’s bad…most of the time we’re going to get it wrong. That’s a powerful word of grace for us in our kingdom living. We don’t have to judge anyone! If any judging is going to be done, God will take care of it. Our job is to live side by side with our various neighbors and do our best to love them all. The kingdom at at its best is an exercise in inclusive living and blessings will come to us from the most surprising places. We’ll catch glimpses of God’s presence even among those we could have sworn were nothing more than a patch of weeds.
Thought for the Day: Why is it hard to tell weeds from wheat?
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