The servants said to him, "Do you want us then to go and gather them up?" But he said, "No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them"

 

 Another parable He put forth to them, saying:  "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.  But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared.  So the servants of the owner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field?  How then does it have tares?'  He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.'  The servants said to him, 'Do you want us then to go and gather them up?'  But he said, 'No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them.  Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn."'"

 

- Matthew 13:24-30 

 

In yesterday's reading, Jesus explained the parable of the Sower (see earlier readings from Tuesday and Wednesday):   "Therefore hear the parable of the sower:  When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart.  This is he who received seed by the wayside.  But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while.  For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.  Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.  But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces:  some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."

 

  Another parable He put forth to them, saying:  "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.  But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared.  So the servants of the owner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field?  How then does it have tares?'  He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.'  The servants said to him, 'Do you want us then to go and gather them up?'  But he said, 'No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them.  Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn."'"  My study Bible comments that this parable builds on the previous parable of the sower.  Here, it says, Christ gives attention to the enemy who has sown his seed among the seed of Christ.   As falsehood came after truth and false prophets came after the true prophets, so also the Antichrist will come after Christ.  The weeds first appear similar to wheat in this parable -- and so the devil crafts lies to resemble the truth.   That the devil sows while men slept indicates that heresy and lies creep in when people are apathetic, my study Bible adds.  This parable also explains why the Church neither condemns nominal members, nor judges those outside the Church (1 Corinthians 5:12-13).  As wheat would be destroyed in weeding out the tares, so also, there are those who might ultimately find salvation but would be otherwise lost if condemned before the judgment of Christ. 

 

 Today's parable given by Christ seems to round out some of the recent teachings we've read in the Gospel of Matthew lately.  There has been a lot of emphasis by Christ on where our hearts are, on the importance of loving God past the minimum, so to speak, and past the kind of legalism of the Pharisees that couldn't see the spirit of the law for the letter.  Most recently, we've been introduced to parables through the parable of the Sower, speaking about Christ's word that He sows among us and what we do with it, what kind of ground it falls upon in us, how it's nurtured, or not.  We've focused on faith and our endurance in faith.  But here there's another fullness offered that takes us into a new dimension about faith, and that is how important it is that it not be "rooted out" by putting too fine a point on perfection.  Every care must be taken so that those who do have faith are nurtured as much as possible, even to the point of tolerating the seeds of the enemy if that is necessary in order to prove the faithful.  It's a reminder of the story in Genesis about Abraham's dialogue with God in Genesis 18:16-33.  This is the story in which God reveals a plan to bring justice to Sodom and Gomorrah.  But Abraham starts questioning God first:  "Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it?"  When God indicates that would work to spare the city, Abraham begins to bargain:  "Suppose there were five less than the fifty righteous; would You destroy all of the city for lack of five?"  When the answer comes that God would spare the city, Abraham bargains God all the way down to but ten righteous people, and for those ten God would also spare the city.  So in this story about refraining from uprooting the unrighteous for the sake of the faithful, we also get a similar answer that teaches us about the preciousness of faith -- or perhaps we should say, the preciousness of faithful people.  Clearly, to God, these precious faithful are worthy of sparing all for their sake.  When we get impatient with the world for the things we see that we feel are wrong, we should take heart and ponder this story.  What, really, would our lives be like if we all got instant justice?  Have there been times when you have made a mistake, or lapsed in your faith?   At the present stage of my life, my mistakes are uncountable, and the things I once believed that I now think were wrong are also uncountable and past my memory capacities!  In short, we should be thankful for God patience, and the mercy that gives us more time and a space to reconsider.  Life may seem at times very difficult because of all the wrong things we see in the world, the things that make people's lives difficult and harsh, the wicked and evil things people can do to one another.  But God has a wisdom and a foresight beyond our own, and we should be thankful for that mercy, and the breathing space to grow and come to maturity.  Above all, we should understand this as a way to nurture the faithful, for real justice might also shock us for the things we don't know and are hidden from our understanding.  Let us be grateful for the wisdom of God, and the judgment that comes in the fullness of time, and not before it.