Gospel: Matthew 13: 24-43
Jesus provides us with three parables that give us an important insight into the kingdom of God. These are: the parable of the wheat and weeds. the parable of the mustard seed, and the parable of the yeast and leaven. Each of the parables shows us that the kingdom of God is present among us and yet not fully realized. The kingdom is small and humble among us. It requires time and patience for the kingdom to grow. It also requires our cooperation and effort in cultivating seeds and kneading yeast into dough.
At the same time our cooperation is limited to cultivation and nurturing efforts. Jesus rejects the idea of violence in these parables. The workers are not to go into the vineyard recklessly seeking to root out weeds. The wheat and weeds are allowed to grow side by side, and in God's time the weeds will the dealt with. This admonition is a rebuke to revolutionaries and proponents of violence in every age. The kingdom is God's work, not our own.
The kingdom is here among us. It is within each person and by extension present in the larger world. The kingdom requires our efforts of cultivation and nurturing, not our violence, in order to grow and flourish. For while the kingdom is here, it is still yet to be fully realized within our souls and within the larger world. The kingdom is God's, and the work for its growth and development is also God's. Lord, may your kingdom come within us, and within the world.
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