Description
What to do about weeds? That question posed in Matthew 13:24-23. Anyone who is a gardener or who has a path or footpath will recognise the issue of weeds and how difficult they are to eradicate at times.
The people Jesus was talking to may not have had our garden weeds, but they certainly knew about the problem of tares or weeds in the wheat crop. The weeds Jesus was referring to called “Darnel”. The shoots of Darnel look like wheat until they mature, but as they grow the invasive and destructive nature of the weed is shown as its roots wrap around neighbouring plants strangling them. But Darnel cannot stay hidden for long because by the time the wheat is ready for harvest, Darnel is identified by a different head, and it grows taller than the surrounding wheat.
The people of Jesus time lived close to the land, they depended on a good growing season in a more immediate way than most of us do. Jesus also knew something about farming and identifying wheat from weeds. However, Jesus wasn’t advising his listeners on how to be good farmers. In this parable Jesus was telling the disciples to live in God’s way now and tells them not to worry about those they think are not genuine disciples. Basically, don’t do God’s job.
Jesus says the reality is that we live with differences, where grace and compassion exist with opposition, judgement and prejudice. We don’t need to worry about being choked out by evil, or by those things that keep us from living a full and good life in Christ. God will decide who is acceptable and who is not in God’s time. As disciples of Jesus, we can be patient knowing that God is in control. Jesus tells us instead of worrying about everyone else, our job is to be a community that supports each other, so that we all grow in faith and into God life for us.
