The Parable of the Weeds
(From the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 13, verse 24-30, 36-43)
Jesus taught about the Kingdom of God by telling stories. His stories were called parables.
This is the parable of the weeds:
Jesus said, "God's Kingdom is like a farmer who planted wheat seeds in his field. While he and his family were asleep, his mean neighbor came and planted weed seeds in with the wheat. Then the neighbor went away.
"After a while, the seeds sprouted and grew into big, strong plants – wheat and weeds together. The farm hands who were helping the farmer with his crop came to him. 'Master,' they said, 'you've got weeds in your field! How did that happen? Didn't you plant good seeds?'
"The farmer answered, 'Yes, I did! I checked the seeds myself. They were good seeds.' Then he thought for a minute. 'My enemy must have done this,' he told them.
"The workers said to him, 'What do you want us to do? Should we go pull out all the weeds?'
"The farmer said, 'No. The weeds look just like the wheat. You might end up pulling out the good plants. Let both of them grow together. When it's time to harvest the crop, we'll separate the weeds from the wheat then. We'll burn the weeds and gather the wheat into my barn.' "
Jesus' friends didn't understand the parable. Here is how he explained it to them.
Jesus said, "I am the farmer working for God. The good seeds are God's children. The field is the world. I am doing everything that I can to help God's children grow strong in the world that God has made."
He went on: "The nasty neighbor is the Evil One. The weeds are his children. Living among God's children are those who are doing things that are not what God want at all."
"And the harvest?" his friends asked.
"The harvest is the time when God's kingdom in heaven will become one with God's kingdom on earth. God's angels will be on hand to help! When that happens, God's children will shine like the sun! Those who have turned away from God will be lost."
Questions to think and pray about:
Have you ever seen weeds growing in a garden? Have you tried to pull them out and accidentally pulled out the good plants, too?
Do you know anyone like the nasty neighbor?
Have you ever been like the nasty neighbor?
What's it like to try to live the way God wants? What is easy? What is difficult?