Sabotage In The Field

The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. But that night as the workers slept, his enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat, then slipped away.   Matthew 13:24-25

Jesus told a second story to help us understand the mystery of the Kingdom. In this second story, the seed that is sown represents people, and the field is the world (see Matthew 13:38). Jesus is telling us that God plants his people in the world. Then he speaks about another sower who comes to the field at night—an enemy who wants to sabotage the farmer’s work, so he sows weeds in the farmer’s field.

The following morning, nobody knows what has happened. In fact, for a long time it is difficult to distinguish the wheat from the weeds. But when the wheat sprouts and the heads form, it becomes obvious that an enemy has been at work in the field.

At this point, the farmer’s servants want to pull out the weeds. But the farmer refuses: “Let both grow together until the harvest” (Matthew 13:30). Then the whole field will be cut down, and the wheat will be separated from the weeds.

If you are going to grasp the mystery of the Kingdom, you need to know that there are two sowers, and they are sowing different kinds of seed. God is sowing his people in the world and bringing a great harvest, but the enemy is also at work, sowing his weeds. Jesus is telling us, “Let both grow together until the harvest.”

We live in the tension of a divided world. Christ has come and is doing what God promised, but the enemy is still at work and his weeds are also growing. God has determined that this is how it will be until the harvest.

Why doesn’t God pull up the weeds now? He is able to stop the work of the enemy and bring his weed-sowing to nothing. Christ tolerates the world, the flesh, and the devil because they’re useful to him. They’re the anvils on which Kingdom character is painfully hammered out. They’re the hurdles we must jump and the pressure we must endure to demonstrate that we truly love Christ.

For further reading, see James 1