24 Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.

27 “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’

28 “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.

“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’

29 “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”

In this episode, Jesus tells another agricultural parable, but this one shifts the focus. The parable of the wheat and the weeds addresses a pressing question: If God’s kingdom is present, why does evil continue to grow alongside it?

Jesus describes a man who sows good seed in his field. The beginning is intentional and good. But while everyone is sleeping, an enemy sows weeds among the wheat. As the plants grow, the servants notice the mixture and want to remove the weeds immediately.

The landowner refuses.

In the ancient world, a weed called darnel closely resembled wheat in its early stages. Only at maturity could the difference be seen clearly. That detail shapes the parable’s force. The problem is not obvious corruption but imitation. Premature removal risks damaging what is genuine.

Jesus’ point is not that evil is harmless or insignificant. It is that judgment has a proper time. The kingdom advances in a field that is not yet fully purified. Growth happens in tension. The presence of weeds does not mean the sower failed.

At harvest, separation will come. Accountability is not erased; it is deferred. But the responsibility for judgment belongs to the owner of the field, not the servants.

The parable calls for patience. It invites trust in God’s timing rather than anxious attempts to purify the field prematurely. Faithfulness, not force, defines life in the meantime.

• The kingdom grows in a mixed field

• Imitation can resemble authenticity for a time

• Premature judgment can damage what God is cultivating

• The presence of evil does not mean the absence of God’s work

• Judgment belongs to God, not to human impatience

Scripture & Translations

Matthew 13:24–30 (NIV, CSB, NRSV, ESV)

Psalm 37

Isaiah 55:8–11

Standard Study Resources

HarperCollins Study Bible

CSB Study Bible

R. T. France, The Gospel of Matthew

W. D. Davies and Dale C. Allison Jr., A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Matthew

Ulrich Luz, Matthew 8–20

Craig S. Keener, The Gospel of Matthew: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary

Jewish & Historical Context

Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler, The Jewish Annotated New Testament

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