“Let Both Grow Together”

     Another parable he put before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away.  And when the crop sprouted and produced fruit, then the tares also appeared.  And the landowner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Master, didn’t you sow good seed in your field?  Where, then, did the tares come from?’  He said to them, ‘An enemy did this.’  Then the servants said to him, ‘So, do you want us to go out and pull them up?’  But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering up the tares, you uproot the wheat with them.  Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest-time, I will tell the reapers, “Gather up the tares first and bind them into bundles to burn them up; then, gather the wheat into my storehouse.”’”  – Matthew 13:24–30

Over the millennia, it has vexed many a righteous soul that the wicked are blessed.  Jeremiah was puzzled by it:

Jeremiah 12

1. You are righteous, O Lord, though I complain to you.  Nevertheless, let me speak with you about matters of justice.  Why does the way of wicked men prosper?  All those who deal treacherously are at ease.

2. You have planted them, and they have taken root; they grow and bear fruit.  You are near in their mouth, but far from their hearts.

3. But you, O Lord, you know me; you see me; and you have tried my heart toward you.  Drag them away like sheep to the slaughter, and set them apart for the day of slaughter!

It so frustrated David’s friend Asaph that he almost lost his soul because of it:

Psalm 73

2. My feet had almost slipped; my steps were almost gone.

3. For I was envious of those who are praised.  I saw the happiness of wicked men.

     . . . .

5. They are not in trouble as other men are; neither are they plagued along with other men.

     . . . .

7. Their eye stands out with fatness; they have more than heart can wish.

     . . . .

12. Behold, these are the wicked, always at ease; they increase in wealth.

13. Truly, I have kept my heart clean for nothing, and washed my hands in innocence,

14. for I am plagued all day long, and correction comes to me every morning.

It frustrated Jeremiah too much at one point.  He even dared to compare God to a liar:

Jeremiah 15

15. You know, O Lord!  Remember me, and visit me, and avenge me of my persecutors!  Do not defer your anger.  Receive me!  Acknowledge that for your sake, I have borne reproach!

16. Your words were found, and I consumed them.  Yea, your words were my joy and my heart’s delight.  Surely, I am called by your name, O Lord, God of Hosts!

17. I do not sit in the council of mockers and rejoice.  I sit alone because of your hand, for you have filled me with indignation.

18. Why is my pain unending and my wound incurable, refusing to be healed?  You are like a liar to me, like waters that do not last.

Jeremiah had to repent for that, and he did.  But it was a hard lesson for him to learn, that whether the righteous like it or not, God is going to bless the wicked and the righteous together.  And when the Son of God came to earth, he commanded his followers to be like God in their attitude and conduct toward the wicked:

Matthew 5

44. I say to you, love your enemies; bless those who curse you; do good to those who hate you; and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you,

45. so that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven.  For He makes His sun to rise upon the evil and the good, and sends rain upon the just and the unjust.

That reality teaches us that we cannot know who God loves by who He blesses, for He blesses all alike.  Some, like the unwise pastor in ancient Laodicea, judge themselves to be good in God’s sight because God blesses them.  But Jesus had a stern message for him and for all who think the way he did:

Revelation 3

17. “You say, ‘I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing,’ and you do not know that you are wretched, and pathetic, and poor, and blind, and naked.”

There is only one condition by which we may judge who God loves.  Jesus told that unwise pastor: “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten” (Rev. 3:19a).  Understanding this, Solomon gave his son this wise counsel:  

Proverbs 3

11. My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of His correction,

12. for whom the Lord loves, He corrects, even as a father the son in whom he delights.

Jeremiah and Asaph grew weary of God sternness toward them when they had done what was right and yet, they saw God blessing the wicked.

It is a hard reality to face, but God in His wisdom has decided to let the good and the evil grow together in this world, drinking in the same sunshine and rain until the harvest.  Until the harvest!  That is the thought which shook Asaph and woke him from his foolish stupor, and made him glad that he was living right, even if he suffered:

Psalm 73

16. When I tried to understand this, it was hard for me

17. until I entered into God’s sanctuary; then, I considered their end.

     . . . .

21. When my heart was bitter [against you, God], my soul was pierced,

22. and I was brutish and did not understand.  I was like an animal before you.

23. Yet, I was always with you.  You held onto my right hand.

24. With your counsel, you will guide me, and afterwards, you will receive me to glory.

     . . . . 

27. For, behold, those who are far from you will perish.  You will destroy all who go a-whoring from you.

28. But as for me, the nearness of God is good for me.  I have made the Lord Jehovah my refuge, that I might declare all your works.

And so, let us continue doing the will of God, whatever our circumstance, knowing that at the harvest, the righteous and the wicked will no longer enjoy the same blessings as we do now.  In the next world, God will not command that the righteous and the wicked must grow together, but He will have them in very different places indeed.