Subscription Lists
Word from Scotland
by Sandy Shaw
How did evil get into the world, and how do we get rid of it?
We have been reading two of the parable of Jesus in Matthew Chapter 13 and we have discovered in these verses answers to some serious questions. The Bible does have answers for the questions which many people ask us. God has provided answers for most of the questions that do bother people, and the answers are there if only people were willing to accept and embrace them.
In the parable of the sower and the seed, reference is made to the enemy, the evil one, who comes and snatches away the seed that has been sown. Now, we have to remember that is Jesus Christ speaking and teaching and explaining spiritual truths and realities to those who wanted answers to their questions.
In the parable of the Wheat and the Tares, where did these weeds come from? This is a profound and relevant issue. Everybody listening to Jesus would know what He was meaning, in the superficial sense but the disciples desire more. They want depth. They are eager to have Jesus explain the significance.
The mention tares is a reference to a weed called darnel. Darnel is a narcotic – a weedy ryegrass – the fruit is poisonous and therefore dangerous. When darnel appeared it was basically false wheat. That answers a lot. That may answer some of the problems which you are currently and presently facing.
The Word of God is here to help us and teach us and inform us, and not to baffle or confuse us.
When this was done it was a dirty trick to play on a farmer.
But this is why things are the way they are.
In verse 37, Jesus is referring to himself as the one who sows good seed. I am the man, and I own the field or the world.
The world is the field, and I am the owner, and yes, there are rebels in his world.
Evil is alien. It was never meant to be here. It does not belong here.
Evil is personal. Evil is not an it. Evil is connected to a person.
People are responsible for evil, and for entertaining evil and for acting in evil ways.
The enemy of God seeks to work subtly and secretly when nobody is looking, and the enemy seeks to counterfeit the real thing, and make it like the real thing, and like an angel of light, it can look good, and it can look all right.
You cannot get rid of evil without getting rid of people.
This is quite an insight from Jesus. Evil has a supernatural source and no natural force can remove it.
It was the wrong time to seek to separate the bad from the good and they were not the people to do it. Their eyes were fixed on the weeds rather than on the wheat. We can tend to look at the evil rather than what is good.
Jesus warns his disciples because the root system could become so entwined with the root of the wheat that we could weaken the wheat, by pulling out the weeds.
We will never eradicate and remove evil from this world.
Now, we need to teach our people this slowly and not all at the one time. Jesus took time to teach and I have discovered that timing can be as crucially important as content.
Alexander 'Sandy' Shaw is pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship in Nairn, Scotland. Nairn is 17 miles east of Inverness - on the Moray Firth Coast - not far from the Loch Ness Monster!
Gifted as a Biblical teacher, Sandy is firmly committed to making sure that his teachings are firmly grounded in the Word.
Sandy has a weekly radio talk which can be heard via the Internet on Saturday at 11:40am, New Orleans time, at wsho.com.
Receive the newest devotional each week in your inbox by joining the "Word from Scotland" subscription list. Enter your email address below, click "Go!" and we will send you a confirmation email. Follow the instructions in the email to confirm your addition to this list.