In the opinion of many, the Parable of the Weeds among the Wheat . . .

In the opinion of many, the Parable of the Weeds among the Wheat (Matthew 13:24-30) is the most difficult parable Jesus ever told.  It is not difficult to understand necessarily; but it is exceedingly difficult to accept.  After all, what farmer—upon discovering that there are weeds growing amidst the wheat—does not immediately want to begin pulling them?

And yet, this is precisely what this parable counsels us against.  Instead, we are urged to wait until the harvest—which is a stunning statement, when you think about it, because if the weeds represent evil, then what this parable seems to be advocating is passivity.

Passivity in the face of evil?  Shouldn’t we be doing everything in our power to rid the world of evil?

But from what I can tell, there are at least three good reasons why we need to refrain from hasty weed pulling.  In the first place, most of us are not skilled enough to distinguish weeds from wheat—and even if we could, when the roots become intertwined, the collateral damage of extracting weeds becomes considerable.  In short, by rushing to get rid of the weeds, we sometimes wind up doing more harm than good.

A second reason to let the weeds grow is that they may turn out to be useful.  In first-century Palestine, lumber and coal were hard to come by.  The best source of fuel was dried weeds.  Thus, by letting the weeds and wheat grow together, farmers had almost everything they needed to make bread—wheat for the flour and weeds for the fire.  The only other thing required was a little patience, as they waited for the harvest.

And lastly, people who start pulling weeds prematurely inevitably run the risk of becoming a little like weeds themselves.  It’s one of the trickiest things that weeds do; to get the wheat so riled up that they begin resorting to tactics that don’t display much love or Christian charity.  Better to wait until the harvest and let God sort it out.

However, I don’t think that this implies passivity.  There is still plenty for us to do.  But rather than devoting all of our time and energy to the destruction of weeds, our primary task is to be wheat, and to continue bearing witness to the One who planted us as such.  If we concentrate on doing that, then God will take care of the rest!