The Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds was a difficult parable for the disciples to understand for it contained a truth that contradicted what they assumed would be the Kingdom of God. This parable is short but poignant and paints a picture of the future of humanity. The story goes that a good farmer sowed good seed in his field. At night, the enemy came and planted weeds. When the workers discovered what happened, they asked if they should pull up the weeds. The good farmer said, “No, you may uproot the wheat as well.†It was decided that the wheat and weeds would grow up together and, when harvest time came, the workers would separate the wheat from the weeds. The wheat is stored in the barn, and the weeds are burned.

Jesus explains this parable in verses 36-43 of Matthew 13. The disciples need an explanation because they don’t get it. They are confused as to why the wheat and the weeds grow up together. Jesus explains that He is the farmer, the field is the world, and the wheat is His children. The enemy is the devil and the weeds are his followers. He illustrates how, throughout human history and up until the end of the age, righteous and unrighteous people will live and co-mingle together. This concept baffled the disciples because they were waiting for the Messiah to clear the world of the infidels and soon.

Jesus had to make it clear that, first, humans would live together regardless of their beliefs and, second, that it would be the angels who separated the wheat and the weeds. Humans do not have the spiritual capability to discern who is a wheat and who is a weed. We too easily judge people! We watch the world around us growing more evil every day and can sometimes become prey to the thought of, “God, won’t you just end it now and get it over with?†God is withholding His judgment until the appointed time. Then and only then will He allow the angels to separate the people. He wants and is giving all of humanity ample time to choose what to be: a wheat or a weed, and here is the truth of the matter: we were all weeds. Salvation transforms us from the weed to the wheat. Only Jesus can do that; only He can redeem the seed; and only He will determine when it is time to sort the harvest.