The Kingdom of Heaven

DAILY BYTE

In his play, The Tempest, Shakespeare wrote: “Hell is empty, and all the devils are here.” So, this week, as we launch into a confusing parable, I’ll tell you a little about a man who I think you would agree has been one of the devils in the world’s midst. He was involved in an assassination attempt of his country’s leader. He was directly responsible for the execution of over 22 people. His stranglehold on power meant that he ran and operated a security force that sought out, tortured, and executed anyone who opposed him. He oversaw a war that left over one million people dead and others severely injured, and he was eventually indicted for crimes against humanity, including the murder of 148 people and the torture of women and children.

Of course such a man is a monster.

But people like this exist in the world – and have – for as long as history can remember. And so, we ask the eternal question: why does such evil exist, and where does it come from?

Read today a part of a parable from the Gospel of Matthew that is often used to answer such questions: "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away” (NRSV).

If we look at the parable, we see that an enemy comes in the night and sews weeds among the wheat, and we think – ah!! Satan sneaks in and plants evil all around us when we can’t see Him. Often, this is the church’s response to evil. However, when we look at the text, we run into a problem. The word the Gospel of Matthew uses here is not the word we traditionally use for Satan – ho satan, and it’s not the word we translate as devil – ho diabolos. Instead, it’s the word for enemy we find earlier in Matthew Chapter 5 – where it says, “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

Love your enemies. It doesn’t say who they are or what they’re called – it simply says to love them because they exist and because they, too, are children of God.

And so, in this parable, we find that someone has planted the right seed, and someone else, an enemy whom we are supposed to love, has planted weeds.

How might this change the way you look at other people in God’s kingdom? How might you respond to people you consider to be monsters, evildoers, or enemies, if they live alongside you, and you are called to love them?

How might this change the world so that it looks more like the beautiful kingdom of heaven that God desires for us?

FOCUS READING

Matthew 13:24-26 (NIV)

Jesus told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.