Monday 14 July 2008
- Bible Book:
- Matthew
] 'Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn'." (v.24-26, 30)
Background
The kingdom of heaven is the place where God's will is done. Butat the same time, it sits alongside evil. Weeds and wheat, good andbad, grow next to each other. The farmer doesn't want the gooduprooted with the bad. He tells his servants to let everything goon growing together.
The harvest is a well-used biblical image of the end of everything,when God would complete creation. This story finishes with aharvest when good and evil finally part company.
The Gospel writer Matthew's community - the Church the story iswritten down for - saw a world which was just like that field. Theysaw some people looking out for each other, fair and just. And theysaw others being violent and uncaring.
Matthew is writing to show this vulnerable and persecuted Churchthat they could be part of the kingdom of heaven in the middle of amixed-up world. But as victims of evil they were not in a positionto change social structures.
We might think Matthew is saying "do nothing about it". But theGospel writer's purpose isn't to give them instructions about howto respond to evil.
Rather the story points in three directions:
- First, towards holding firm in doing God's will we are to bewheat - the presence of God's will being done
- Second, towards taking responsibility for our own actionsrather than looking to put others right
- Third, towards trust in God
In the end all will be well.
To Ponder
In your own life how are good and bad thingstangled up?
If they cannot be untangled, how can you livewith that satisfactorily? And what can you do to focus on doinggood and trusting God?