Why Does God Allow Evil to Flourish?

The Growing Grain Parable

And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.” (Mark 4:26–29)

In this short parable, Jesus discusses a farmer who scatters seed onto the ground. Like the most well-known of the “sowing seed” parables (the sower in Matthew 13:1–23 and Mark 4:1–20), the farmer starts the planting process by scattering seed by hand over a broad area. We can infer that work had previously been done to prepare the ground for crops, like tilling the soil. Although the farmer does not know the exact mechanisms for how his wheat grows, he is confident from past experience that if he puts in the effort to care for the soil and work during the growth stage, his crops will be ready to harvest at the right time.

The Weeds Among the Wheat (or the Wheat and the Tares)

He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, ‘Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’” (Matthew 13:24–30)

The protagonist in this parable is a landowner with servants (tenant farmers). He sourced good seed, i.e., pure wheat seed with no weeds, for his fields, but the actual sowing and care of the fields would have been delegated to his servants.

However, a saboteur comes in and sows weeds. Since Jesus had just finished telling the parable of the sower, it can easily be seen that the enemy mentioned here is the same one mentioned earlier (Matthew 13:19, 39), specifically Satan. It seems reasonable to consider that the intended weed may have been darnel, also known as poison darnel or “false wheat.” Darnel looks very similar to wheat until the ear appears.1 A small dose of darnel could be added to beer or bread on purpose for a drunken effect, but too much could make a person seriously, or even fatally, ill. It was such a big problem in the ancient world that writers from Ovid to Shakespeare use it as a symbol for “malign subversion.”2

Since, as previously mentioned, darnel looks nearly identical to wheat until it is fully mature, no one would have a reason to question the quality of the crop until it was almost ready to harvest. When the darnel and wheat have grown together for so long, there is no way to pull up the darnel without also damaging the wheat and therefore diminishing the harvest. So the master instructs the servants to let the two plants grow intermingled with each other until harvest. When the wheat is ready to be brought in, first they must go through the field and uproot every darnel plant to burn. If a single darnel seed is stored with the grain to be used for seed the next year, the problem will repeat itself. And if darnel is ground together with wheat, the tainted flour will sicken or kill those who consume it. After the false wheat has been dealt with, then the servants can proceed to harvest the wheat and gather it into the barn.

Jesus’ Explanation

Unlike many parables, we have Jesus’ own explanation of the meaning of this parable, which he told the disciples after the crowds had departed (Matthew 13:36–43). Jesus is the man who sowed the good seed, which is “the sons of the kingdom” and the devil is the saboteur who sowed the weeds, who are “the sons of the evil one.” Jesus’ explanation highlights the conflict between sons of the serpent and the sons of the promise that has continued since God pronounced there would be enmity between the sons of the woman and the sons of the serpent. Jesus’ description of what will happen to the “weeds” at the harvest at the end of the age is sobering.

The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 13:39–42)

One of the biggest questions people have is why God tolerates all sorts of sin and rebellion while his people are often subject to persecution from those who reject him. But part of God’s plan is that some of those who are enemies of God will be converted and saved. If God cut short his timing and judged early, some people would not have time to repent. Any of us who can remember the day of our conversion are glad that Jesus did not return the day before we believed in him! God’s purpose is to give enough time for his people to repent and only then enact the final judgment.

What a great comfort to those praying for loved ones who have not yet come to Christ—and those coming to him—that he is willing to wait until every stalk of wheat is ready before he sends in the harvesters.

When in the parable proper, Jesus states the farmer’s response to the question of why the “crops” must be allowed to grow together, Jesus is instructing his disciples (and us) that he wants to wait until the full harvest comes in before he collects it. What a great comfort to those praying for loved ones who have not yet come to Christ—and those coming to him—that he is willing to wait until every stalk of wheat is ready before he sends in the harvesters.

Comparison to Other Harvest Parables

Jesus is obviously talking about seeds and crops in the same way he did in Matthew 13:1–23 and 13:24–30. The ultimate Sower is Christ himself. But just as the landowner in the wheat and tares parable had servants who did much of the work under his direction, Christians share the gospel as Christ commanded with the result of people being saved by that gospel. And in the growing grain parable, just like the farmer does not know the intricacies of seed to plant transformation, we cannot see how our sharing of the gospel can result in conversions to Christianity. As Jesus said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (Matthew 9:37–38), this farmer has done what God has told him: planting, nurturing, and harvesting a crop that God has given.

Unlike the growing grain parable in Mark, Jesus further explains the weeds among the wheat parable to his disciples, and some of the metaphors he uses are different. He says that the Sower of the seed is himself; while in the growing grain parable, it appears that the sower is not the omniscient God-man Jesus, but just a man (cf. Mark 4:27). Instead of the farmer, it is the good seed which represents Christians here. In addition to there being an enemy, that enemy sows a bad crop (those who reject Christ) in among the good seed. Lastly, the harvest spoken of here is the final harvest at the end of the age, and the reapers are not the farmer and his laborers, but the angels who will separate the weeds to be thrown into the fiery furnace.

Apologetic Takeaways from These Two Parables

The parables of the growing grain and the weeds among the wheat teach us some valuable lessons about ourselves, what we are to do, and what God’s plan for both now and the future is. In the growing grain parable, Jesus is instructing Christians to spread the gospel. The farmer spreads the seed, he rises every day investing care and time on his crops, and he brings in the harvest which God has given to him. Yet even though he doesn’t have knowledge of how big a crop he will have or even how it grows, he has faith in God to supply the harvest. The farmer doesn’t cause the plants to grow; the earth produces it—referring to God who ensures the fullness of the earth (Psalm 24:1) and is the Lord of the harvest (Luke 10:2–3). Likewise, as we spread the gospel, we do not know what the harvest will be, or when it will appear. We just follow what Jesus has told us to do (Matthew 28:18–20), putting the sickle to the harvest (Mark 4:29) and trusting him to provide the increase (1 Corinthians 3:6–8). God can and will use the gospel to open the eyes of some and cause them to come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil (Acts 26:18; 2 Timothy 2:25–26).

In the weeds among the wheat parable, Jesus focuses more narrowly on God’s plan and his involvement in that plan. We see that the field is planted by God, that Christians are the good seed, growing up into Christ and yielding an increase (Mark 4:8; Ephesians 4:15–16). We also see that we do not grow in isolation but must endure the hardships of the world and our enemy Satan (2 Corinthians 12:10; Ephesians 6:11; 2 Thessalonians 1:4; 1 Peter 5:8). But God will eventually bring in the harvest at the end of the age, and all of the wheat will be gathered into his barn—figurative language for heaven (Matthew 13:30).

The Twofold Emphases of the Parables

Taken together, both parables showcase God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility. Just as Paul stated in 1 Corinthians 3—one plants, another waters, but God gives the increase. But “neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth” (1 Corinthians 3:7). Furthermore, Paul also reminds us that God is faithful to reward his servants for their labor (1 Corinthians 3:8), a reminder the writer of Hebrews gives us as well (Hebrews 6:9–11). The farmer in the growing grain parable was not lax in his responsibilities, nor did he grow weary. As Paul states, again using the analogy of sowing and reaping,

For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. (Galatians 6:8–10)

And again, he uses the bearing fruit analogy:

So as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. (Colossians 1:10–12)

And God’s reward to those who love him is no small thing. As Jesus points out in the explanation of the weeds among the wheat parable: “Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear” (Matthew 13:43).