July 26, 2025

Today I see Jesus upright, strong, resilient, and unchanging, like a tree.  Jesus is like a tree because it is alive, strong, and lasting. A tree is resilient because it is able to bend with strong wind but then return to upright. A tree spreads its branches to provide shade and protection, and sometimes fruit or nuts.  A tree is leafy and pleasant to behold. A tree is comforting, because it is always there and can be relied on. We can take refuge under the tree.  This is the way it is with Jesus.  As he says, ““Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

Matthew 13:24-30

In this chapter of Matthew, Jesus gives a series of parables based on agricultural analogies.  In this parable, he says the kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good wheat seed in his garden, but that night an enemy came and sowed weeds there. Both the wheat and the weeds grew together. The farm workers asked the farmer if they should pull the weeds, but he said no, that could uproot the wheat too in the process.  But when it comes to harvest time, he said, pull the weeds first, bundle them up, and burn them. Then harvest the wheat into the barn.

Jesus himself explains this parable later in the same chapter, Matthew 13.  He explains that the wheat seeds represent the people of the kingdom, but the weed seeds represent the people of the evil one. At the end of the age, the Son of Man will send out his angels to weed out all who do evil and cause sin. Like the weeds, they will be thrown into a blazing furnace, but the people of God will shine like the sun in the kingdom.

This is a rather harsh and stark contrast in the spiritual trajectory of those who try to do good towards others, and those who have evil intentions.  Evil surely is a downward spiral that does not end well.  This parable in a way explains the answer to a frequently asked question: Why doesn’t God root out evil on the spot?  Why do karmic consequences come later?  These things are a mystery, but this parable provides a partial answer.  The wheat and the weeds have to grow together; they are sorted out later.

Today I also hear that reading Scripture is beneficial, even when the story has been heard before or when the meaning seems obvious. The Scripture passage is stored away in our memory banks, and when we need it most, it may come to mind.  It is quite simple that way – simple like Jesus standing strong like a tree, always there when we need his shelter.  Amen.