“But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed

weeds among the wheat” (Matthew 13:25, ESV). Jesus Christ, the

One who sows the seeds of the kingdom, has an enemy. We need to

know a few things about this enemy. First, he is crafty and

deceitful. He secretly sows weeds while the workers sleep. But why

does the enemy sow weeds? Just as Jesus is good, the enemy is evil.

“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed

good seed in his field . . .” (Matthew 13:24). The Parable of the

Weeds starts with such promise—a man sowed good seed in his

field, and since the seed was good, the harvest should also be good.

We learn that the man sowing represents Jesus Christ, and the seed

represents His followers in the kingdom. The fact that he sowed

good seed does not surprise us because we know that everything

that God does is good.

As we discuss this parable, let’s first ask ourselves, “Why did Jesus speak

to the people in this fashion?” The apostles wanted to know this also, and

Jesus answered by quoting the prophet Isaiah, “This is why I speak to

them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not

hear, nor do they understand For this people's heart has grown dull, and

with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest

they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand

with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’"(Matthew 13:13-15,

ESV).