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The Problem Outside
Last week, we reflected on the flesh that is within us. The flesh is not just our body but it is our dark self, shadow self. We cannot get rid of it or remove it from us. It torments us and paralyzes us. Even though we don’t like it, the flesh is us. It is like our self is attacking us. So as far as the flesh is concerned, we are powerless.
Knowing that we are powerless about the flesh, Jesus gave us the Spirit and now through the power of the Spirit, the power of the flesh cannot control us any more. It is there within us but it cannot dominate our lives. Now we are in the Spirit, not in the flesh.
Today, I want to talk about another big dilemma that we are dealing with in our lives. It is not a problem of the flesh. Now the problem is not just in us but outside of us. It is within our society. It is the problem of the evil.
Jesus’ Parable
To help us deal with the problem of the evil, Jesus gave us this parable.
Let us look at the parable again.
Someone sowed the good seed in his field. But when the plants came up and bore grain, the weeds appeared as well. So the servants asked this question.
Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from? (Matthew 13:27)
The world God created was good.
God created EARTH AND SEA and he said it was good. God created PLANT AND FRUIT and he said it was good. God created THE SUN AND THE MOON and he said it was good. God created FISH AND BIRDS and he said it was good.
God created ANIMALS and he said it was good. God completed his creation by creating HUMAN BEINGS and he said it was good.
And yet, the world we live in is not always good. There is evil. There are suffering, hardships, agony, and sadness.
We ask the same question.
Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from? (Matthew 13:27)
Jesus did not look at the world with utopian eyes. Jesus did not see you and your life with utopian eyes. He was not fooled by what looked good on the surface. He saw everything as it was.
The Nature of Evil
Jesus saw the evil working in this world. Jesus saw the evil working in what looked like a holy place and holy people. He saw the power of evil.
He saw the intrinsic nature of evil. He saw that the evil is intricately connected with the good. The evil is entangled and intertwined with the good.
Money is good when it is used for a good purpose, helping out those who are in need. But at the same time, the evil is right there and it uses money to destroy relationships and even humanity. Religion is good when it helps people to live with goodness and generosity. But at the same time, the evil is right there and uses the religion to create discrimination, wars, and bigotry.
In everything, the good and the evil are intertwined.
That’s why Jesus said this.
The servant came to the owner with a solution.
Then do you want us to go and gather them? (Matthew 13:28)
In other words, do you want us to go and pluck them out?
The owner said, Oh no. Don’t do that.
No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. (Matthew 13:29)
In other words, the weeds and the wheat are so intertwined and entangled that you may even hurt the wheat by trying to take out the weeds. From the roots, they are entangled.
The Ultimate Victory
Evil in our lives or in the world is not something you can easily or naively take out.
That was what Pharisees did. They defined narrowly what was good life and what was bad. They used the law to define it. Then they separated the righteous people from the sinful people. Unfortunately, they categorized Jesus as a sinner and his work as evil. Their way of dealing with it was to get rid of him. So they crucified him. Plucking out the bad apple.
Then what do we do? Do we do nothing? Just helplessly let the evil play its game?
Jesus tells us one thing very clear. Ultimately, the evil will not prevail. The evil will not overcome the good. There will be a consequence of the evil.
This is what Jesus said.
…at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn. (Matthew 13:30)
He gives the interpretation later.
…the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen! (Matthew 13:39-43)
In the end, the evil will be punished. The good will win.
Keep that in mind. We have confidence in this ultimate victory. We persevere our hardships and difficulties because in the end, God will restore the good.
In the Midst of Evil
St. Paul said this.
I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6)
We still sow the good seed even though the evil is out there. Because God will bring it to completion.
That was what Job did. Even though he was a righteous man, many evil things happened to him. His prosperous and abundant life was taken away. His seven sons and three daughters were taken away. His flocks destroyed. His servants were slaughtered. He was all alone and now he was smitten with a skin disease. The evil things happened to him. But Job never lost his hope in God.
THE EVIL NOT ONLY BRINGS SUFFERING BUT IT CUTS YOU OFF FROM THE SOURCE OF HOPE.
John Swinton said this in his book, “Raging with Compassion: Pastoral Responses to the Problem of evil.”
The primary message of the book of Job is
Not: “How can a loving God allow this to happen to an innocent sufferer?”
But: “How can human beings continue to love God in the midst of evil?”
The evil not only makes you suffer but its ultimate purpose is to cut you off from the source of hope and love. Resisting the evil is to continuously hope and continuously love. When we are able to do that, the evil loses its power to control us.
That is what Jesus did on the cross. That is what the message of the cross is all about.
Forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.
Into your hands, I commit myself.
It is done.
Jesus kept faith, hope, and love. He even prayed for forgiveness of those who were killing him. That’s love. Even when the evil reached its climax, Jesus was able to love. The evil lost its power at the cross. Resisting the evil is not just fighting it but keeping faith, hope, and love in the midst of evil.
In the end, we know that the good will win. But meanwhile, we should resist the evil by keeping faith, hope, and love.
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