The Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, July 19, 2020

Matthew 13:24–30

Jesus proposed another parable to the crowds, saying: “The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While everyone was asleep his enemy came and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off. When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well. The slaves of the householder came to him and said, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where have the weeds come from?’ He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ His slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ He replied, ‘No, if you pull up the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them. Let them grow together until harvest; then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters, “First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning; but gather the wheat into my barn.’ ”

Matthew quotes Jesus as speaking often about the “kingdom of heaven”.  While we find these words here and there in the old rabbinical writings, we do not see them in the Old Testament.  Jesus proclaims this kingdom for the first time.  He does not define it in a precise way that would satisfy us modern people, but he often likens it to ordinary earthly experiences involving plants and merchants.  Perhaps the simplest way to think about what the term means is that it is the manifestation of God’s glory, or his righteousness.  The principle manifestation of God’s glory, of course, is the Lord Jesus himself.  Though we might prefer very simple, concise answers and definitions from our Lord, he is revealing eternal truths in human language, and the best way to do this is through parables, which present narratives that lead us to understand more than can be put into words.

The parables Jesus told nearly always included a grotesque  or even ludicrous element.  Here, that element takes the form of a man’s enemy going to extraordinary trouble to ruin the man’s crop.  The means he employs is not an efficient one and the risks the enemy takes in doing this do not seem worthwhile.  Still, this is what the enemy does, and his choices tell us much about him.  They speak of his desperation.

Jesus explains this parable in private to his Apostles: “He who sows good seed is the Son of Man, the field is the world, the good seed the children of the kingdom” (Matthew 13, 38).  By “the children of the kingdom” he means those who are to be saved.  They are set into the world in order to grow and to bear fruit.  They are not there as passive decorations.  This hearing of fruit means producing good works, particularly bringing others into the Church.  Conversely, “the weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil.”  The “children” of the evil one means temptations and wicked people who join themselves to the devil.  These threaten or do actual harm to the children of the kingdom, but their purpose is to turn the “wheat” into “weeds”, and they cannot do this.  At the end of time, the wicked will be taken out and burned in everlasting fire, and the just will rise into a glory that never fades.  The lesson for the wheat: Persevere.  James 1, 12: “Blessed is the man that endures temptation: for, when he has been proved, he shall receive the crown of life which God has promised to them that love him.”

Jesus here also addresses the question of why there is evil in the world.  Why does God allow people to do wicked things?  Why does he allow the wicked, for instance, to desecrate, burn, and blow up Catholic churches, as they are doing now all over the world, seemingly with impunity?  God, in his marvelous providence, created a wide range of creatures.  Among them is the human race.  A human is created in such a way as to know and love God.  Love, however, must be chosen, and so the human person possesses free-will.  Free-will allows for love of God, but it also allows for placing the love of other things above the love of God, effectively resulting in hatred for that which belongs to God.  In short, for a human to love, he must also be able to hate.  In addition, those who choose to love other things above God are especially liable to the temptations of the devil.  But God does not leave his children defenseless prey for the wicked: “The very hairs of your head are all numbered” (Matthew 10, 30), but renders them temporal assistance as well as that of grace.  Ultimately, the one who suffers as a result of evil men, whether directly or indirectly, must look up beyond the dissolving world around us to our eternal prospects, and see that even the devil helps us to heaven, to his frustration, by furnishing the temptations which make us strong in resisting them.