While Everybody Was Asleep

Jesus sows a field full of good seed, and then comes the line that does the damage: while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. The sabotage happens in the dark, off-camera, by someone who does not stick around to watch it grow. Nobody catches it in the act. That is part of the point. The trouble was planted quietly and is only discovered later, when it is too tangled to do anything fast about. Because here is the catch: the weeds do not announce themselves at sowing time. The plants come up, they bear grain, and only then do the weeds appear as well. Good and bad come up looking similar for a long while. You cannot sort the field by glancing at it in week one. So the slaves come to the householder genuinely confused. Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? It is the question everyone asks when they survey a mess. If this was supposed to be good, why does it look like this? Notice they assume the seed must have been bad. Jesus says no. The seed was good. An enemy did this. There is a difference between a field that was never planted well and a good field that has been interfered with. Most of us, looking at our own tangled rows, jump straight to the harsh verdict. The parable asks for patience instead, and a longer view than dawn.