The parable of the weeds is not so much a parable to be understood as it is a parable to be accepted. That is to say, the parable isn’t really calling us to understand why things work this way with evil in God’s kingdom. It’s calling us to humble ourselves, to recognize that we cannot, in this life, fully understand the problem of evil and that we must submit to the greater wisdom of God.
And this is a difficult thing to do because it seems so obvious to us. “Look at all this evil in the world. Look at these wicked weeds choking and destroying the sons of God in the field. If I were God, I would snap my fingers and erase all Hamas terrorists from existence. I would remove every nuclear weapon from the hands of hostile nations. I would break the legs of all murderers and thieves and abusers. I would wiggle my nose and delete all wickedness from the coding of this world. If I were God, I would simply pull the weeds out without uprooting the wheat. That’s how I’d make things work.”
Now, you can either keep telling yourself that and be perpetually despondent about the world or you can accept the reality that things don’t work this way even if you can’t understand why they don’t work this way. You can keep despairing when you see that God doesn’t god the way you would god if you were God or you can accept that there is greater wisdom to His ways, even if you aren’t capable of perceiving it in this life.
So hear the parable and accept it. Submit to the frustrating reality that God’s love is not always going to look perfect and complete and rational to you. Evil is going to remain in this world. It can’t be rooted out without destroying the innocent. That’s just how things are.
But the day is coming when Christ will return in glory. His angels will then take the wicked and throw them into the fires of condemnation while those covered in the righteousness of Christ will shine like the sun forever. So until that day, keep your eyes on the cross of Christ, the wellspring from which all righteousness flows. Trust in His mercy. Hunger for His salvation. Weep over evil, but as you do, rejoice to know that it will soon be burned into eternal ashes before your eyes as you are welcomed into the eternal embrace of the Lord who has always loved you perfectly.
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