Key Verse: "The Son of Man will send out His angels,
and they will weed out of His Kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do
evil."
Matthew 13:41
This seems to be the basic plot of any good novel.
Everything starts out in blissful harmony, then, something happens, often
something intentionally evil, to upset the apple cart, and the rest of the book
deals with the characters working against evil to restore the blissful harmony
once again while the main characters deal with the effects of the ordeal that
they experienced.
This is the basic plot of the story told in the Bible. Eden
was beautiful, then enter the serpent to tempt eve, who succumbed, and from
Genesis 3 on, God unfolded a plan to make things right again.
No one needs a theological degree to explain this parable.
Jesus does it for us. The farmer is Jesus. The good seed is His followers. The
field is the world. The bad seed are those who are bent on evil. They are in
the world because they were planted by the devil himself. The harvest is the
end of the age and the angels are the harvesters who will sort the good from
the bad.
Yes, there will be an end. There will be a time of reckoning. Our question is, "why?" Why is evil allowed to continue? Why is God so patient while we continue to suffer?
These questions are answered in the parable itself.
"No, because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat
with them." (Matt. 13:29) Our real question is, why is it better for us to
live alongside evil? How might we be harmed if evil were removed from our lives
while we are still on this earth, in this field?
The answer must have to do with maturation. Notice, the
weeds don't stop the wheat from maturing. The wheat continues to concentrate on
being wheat while the weeds continue to be weeds. Jesus had told His disciples
in Matthew 7:16, "by their fruit you will recognize them." That is
the means to be used for the sorting process now.
Also, in truth, we all begin as weeds, but through some
miraculous process, in Christ, we have been changed to wheat. Delaying the
culling process allows others to enjoy the same metamorphosis we have. Think of
it, we are surrounded by evil, but we can actually have an effect on it, or
them, for the good. We do this through prayer and relationship, not by turning
up our collars and hoping that they simply go away.
We can be surrounded by evil, but we do not need to succumb
to it. In fact, resistance to it will make us stronger and healthier for
Christ. The stronger we grow, the more fruit we will produce to set us apart
from the evil around us. This is simply how God made us. Our character grows
when we are tested.
One need look no further than the example of someone who
gets everything he or she wants without effort, or someone who never exercises
to see that life without discipline or enduring suffering makes one weak.
Remember what we learned from The Christian's Prayer: testing builds us up to
show Satan how strong Christ can make us. Yet, we are assured over and
over, that this will come to an end. There will be a sorting. Through Christ, the blissful harmony will
return. Just think what strong, healthy fruit we will have to enjoy it with.
Hymn: "Blessings"
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