He put another parable before 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 weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”
The servants asked their master an interesting question. They wondered whether he planted good seed because they saw weeds also growing with the wheat. They seem surprised, and I think it is because they knew that their master knew what He was doing in planting those seeds. The servants wanted to rid the field of those weeds right away, but the master had another plan. He knew that the only way to preserve all the good wheat was to wait for both plants to mature together. Then, once they had grown to maturity, the weeds could be removed without harming the wheat. In order for the harvest to be carried out without losing any good wheat, they would have to wait until the right time.
I am sure that many of us today look around the world and wonder why Christ has yet to return. We see so much evil and so much suffering, and we just want it to end. What we can forget very easily is that the timing of the harvest is critical. There are some who belong in God’s kingdom who might not even be born yet. There are others who are lost today but might be saved tomorrow. While we wait for God’s kingdom to grow to maturity, for the crop to be ready for the harvest, we also must endure watching evil mature alongside it. There is no option in that regard. The good news is that the harvest will come one day and that it will be perfect and complete without one soul missing.
One practical reason for allowing the weeds and the wheat to mature is that some weeds resemble the wheat in their early life. Once fully mature, the differences between the two plants are clear. In a similar way, God allows us all to mature and show the fruit we will produce. This is patience and long-suffering on the Father’s part. He will be satisfied only once He has collected the entire harvest. Our desire should match his, which is to make sure that his kingdom is complete. What we need is the patience to endure the maturity of evil along with good. Father, give us the insight and discernment to wait patiently and productively for the harvest, wanting nothing less than your kingdom to be complete.