When Jesus explains the parable of the weeds, He seals His teaching with a promise: though we live in a day of mixed growth as the kingdom slowly grows from small to large and slowly becomes pervasive, the day is coming when that growth will be complete. The day is coming when there will be a harvest. The day is coming when this process of growth will reach its end, and the kingdom will shine forth in its perfection. While the kingdom grows, we mustn’t lose heart.

How should we respond when we feel as though wickedness in the world and compromise in the church are prevailing over the kingdom of God? In Matthew 13:24–43, Jesus teaches on the nature of the kingdom of God—or, as Matthew more characteristically says, “the kingdom of heaven.” He does so by presenting three parables to help us understand how this kingdom grows: the parable of the weeds, the parable of the mustard seed, and the parable of the leaven. And as we will see, these truths about how the kingdom grows provide encouragement and perspective to the people of God in difficult days.

Christ’s Teaching About the Kingdom

The subject of the kingdom is significant in the teaching and work of our Lord. In fact, the first statement of His public ministry was, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 4:17). In saying this, Jesus proclaimed that the kingdom was at hand because the King had come. It is the King who brings the kingdom and rules over the kingdom, and it is the King who reminds us of the blessing we find in the kingdom.

In the Beatitudes, Jesus twice speaks about the kingdom: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” and “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:3, 10). In these passages, Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven is a kingdom for the afflicted, for the struggling, and for the weak. He comes to the people with encouragement, bringing a word of blessing to those who are struggling: “The kingdom is coming.”

Throughout His ministry, Jesus returns to the subject of the kingdom from different angles and in different ways. When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He instructed them to pray for the kingdom: “Your kingdom come” (Matt. 6:10). He also issued a warning about the kingdom: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 7:21). In the Sermon on the Mount, He taught, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matt. 6:33).

Jesus also told His disciples, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 13:11). This means that the reality of the kingdom of heaven is not immediately obvious to everyone. We must be taught about it. We must be led into it. These truths about the kingdom must be revealed to us, and in these three parables in Matthew 13, Jesus tells us about this kingdom and how it grows.

As Christians, we long to see the Word of God and the truth of Christ spread. We often think about how we can serve the Lord, how we make Him known, and how we can be effective in proclaiming His Word to the world. As we consider these questions, we would do well to recognize the point of these parables. In them, Jesus teaches that the kingdom does not grow in exactly the way we might think it should grow.

We’ve all likely had an experience in our lives where we’ve thought, “Why is the Lord doing things this way?” We’re too pious to say it out loud, but we might even secretly think, “I would’ve had a better plan.” That is precisely the situation that Jesus addresses in these parables.

A Deliberate Mess of Wheat and Weeds

In Matthew 13:27, the servants ask the master: “Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?” The master in this parable represents Jesus, who is in charge of everything. What He wants to happen will happen. He has all power and authority, and He has sown good seed, His Word. This parable comes just after the parable of the sower, so the ideas of seed, sowing, and fruit are on Jesus’ mind. The question comes from the servants: “If you, the powerful master, have sown good seed, why do we see weeds coming up?”

There is an implicit criticism in the servants’ question. It’s as if they are saying: “You could have done better than this. Did you get the seed on sale? Is it a mixture of good seed and bad seed? It’s obvious when we look at the field that we don’t see beautiful, straight rows of wheat growing. Instead, we see wheat and weeds growing together. It’s a mess.”

I suspect that we all—in various ways and at various times—see life as a mess: Why is it going the way it’s going? Why couldn’t it be simpler? Why couldn’t it be better? If Jesus is in charge, why aren’t things more obviously successful in the advance of His kingdom? That’s the real crux of the issue. However, what the servants see as a mess is not a mess according to Jesus.

If you were to walk into my office, you’d think it was a mess. My wife will hardly look through the door. She just shakes her head and says, “How can you get anything done in that mess?” I answer: “I know what’s in every pile. It’s not my fault that there aren’t enough places on the shelves for books so that they have to be piled up all around. I grant that it’s a mess, but it’s an unintentional mess.”

By contrast, Jesus is saying here that the mess of this world is not unintentional; the mess of this world is deliberate. The evil one is opposing the advancement of God’s kingdom. There is a deliberate effort to undermine and subvert the growth of His kingdom. The enemy sowed weeds in the field when we weren’t watching, and we need to understand this reality. We face a spiritual battle in which the work of Christ is being opposed by the evil one. It is a mess. It is a struggle. But we shouldn’t be surprised. Jesus knew that this would happen. He knew there would be opposition.

When we look at the life of our Savior on the surface, we might say that His life was a mess.

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