Wheat and Weeds: The Spelling Test Edition - Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Do you remember spelling tests in school? They might be a distant memory now that we have spell check and communicate through emojis. But think back to learning how to spell the word “laugh” for the first time. How the letters “gh” make the sound of an “f” is confusing at best. So it’s no surprise that the subject of spelling in school can be a source of anxiety for kids. Which makes the story of a particular spelling test the perfect way into the parable of the wheat and the weeds.

There once was a first grader who was smart and confident. But she was worried about a particular spelling test coming up, because the words on the list ended with “gh.” The day of the test came. Maybe it was curiosity about her ability to get away with something. Or maybe it was a sudden burst of self-doubt in the face of a tough list. Whatever her reason, she decided to copy the words on a small piece of paper and smuggle it into the test. And since this was her first brush with criminal activity, her tactics were not very sophisticated. The teacher noticed when the student moved her chair back and looked down into her lap before writing each word. She got caught, of course, and cried, a mix of shame and guilt and fear. I think we all know that feeling. But there was mercy. The teacher saw her distress and hugged her before any conversation about the cheating. I hope we all know that feeling, too.

In Gospel terms, you might say that this student, like all of us, was a mix of wheat and weeds, of sin and goodness. The parable of the wheat and the weeds is about this reality, about the coexistence of good and evil in the world and in our own hearts. That’s not a surprise to any of us. But the twist comes in what Jesus asks us to do about it.

“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well.” The first thing to say about these particular weeds is that they were likely a tall grass that looks just like wheat. So when the well-meaning servants ask the sower about getting rid of the pesky weeds, he says no, “for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them.” In other words, when we try to judge what is good and what is evil, we will get it wrong sometimes. That judgment ultimately belongs to God, to the sower in the parable. Who, we should note, is not the one who planted the weeds. That was the work of an enemy. The parable doesn’t solve the mystery of sin or evil; it simply names its presence alongside the kingdom of heaven. The two seem to thrive side by side, which I think is a pretty accurate way of describing the world.

And then the parable takes a strange turn. The sower says: “Let both of them grow together until the harvest.” What strange instructions: let both of them grow together, until the final judgment. At first glance it sounds like Jesus is saying to let the evil be, to do nothing. Which, of course, flies in the face of other teachings. Scripture is full of commandments to fight against evail, to rectify injustice, to alleviate suffering, to help the outcast and the oppressed, all faithful responses to evil in this world. But the sower said to let it be. There must be something we’re missing in the sower’s advice.

And there is. Biblical scholar Robert Capon says the crux of the parable is found in the word, “let,” “let both of them grow together.” The original meaning of that little Greek word is enormously important here. It can be translated as “let,” but also as suffer, permit, even forgive. It’s the same word Jesus used when he taught us the Lord’s prayer, “forgive us our trespasses and we forgive those who trespass against us.” And, it’s the same word Jesus spoke from the cross, “Forgive them, Father, for the they know not what they do.” The root of that little word seems to have more to do with forgiveness than with simple tolerance or inaction.

The spiritual implication of that little word is huge. The evil that manifests in the world and in the lives of people is not to be dealt with by attacking or abolishing the things or persons in whom it dwells. Rather, it is to be dealt with by a letting that is a forgiveness (Capon). As followers of Jesus, we are called to take the same posture toward the world that he took from the cross when he asked God to forgive the crowd. The cross is a symbol of the worst the world can do, the epitome of human sin. Jesus’s words are a glimpse of God’s response to that sin. John Chrysostom once said that on Easter morning after Good Friday, forgiveness rose from the grave. Not retaliation or annihilation, but forgiveness.

It is also important to name that the message of mercy and forgiveness should never be reduced to the idea that anything goes. And the parable is not really about what we do or don’t do, it’s about how we are saved. Our salvation does not depend on how much evil we personally eradicate, how many weeds we pull. We could never pull enough if God was keeping score like that. Our salvation has already been accomplished through grace. We don’t have to defeat evil and death, that’s God’s job.

But as scripture reminds us, we have work to do. Weeds cause enormous suffering that we can help heal. We are called to help our neighbors in need, to fight against injustice, and to care for our little corner of this beautiful world. As we do, we can trust in the mercy of God, a thoroughgoing mercy that runs through whatever grand judgment awaits this world. It’s a mercy bigger than any weeds, and wide enough for the whole world. It’s also close enough to heal our own hearts.  

Remember that little girl and her spelling test? I’d like to think that when the teacher hugged her, it was a glimpse of how divine judgment will be. The teacher had full knowledge of the cheating incident, and loved the student through her remorse and fear. The student was welcomed back into the classroom. So, too, will this world be judged. It will be judged with truth, but also with grace and mercy, fully welcomed back into God. Until then, may we try to be more wheat than weed, and give thanks for the mercy of God.