Does it cause anyone to wonder that many of the parables found in Matthew 13, like the one we looked at in yesterday’s Catch start out with “The kingdom of heaven is like…” and then go on to explain situations that include weeds, an evil one, leaven in a loaf – all expressions of evil that shouldn’t have any business being anywhere near the kingdom of heaven?

Well, perhaps we should take a closer look at Christ’s very simple and direct explanation of the parable to his disciples.

The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. (Matthew 13:37-43)

If you take this at face value, it would appear that we are in the kingdom of heaven right now, albeit the “un-weeded” kingdom. Statements such as “they will weed out of his kingdom…” clearly indicates it is still his kingdom only he has allowed the evil one to sow bad seed into it for a season, but when that season is up, he will purge his kingdom of all sin and wickedness leaving the righteous (those he has made righteous through the death and resurrection of Jesus) to shine like he sun.

So what is the significance of this? Well I think it makes a big difference to your worldview whether you believe you are in the kingdom of God with some bad seed thrown in, or if you believe you are in the evil kingdom of this world with the kingdom of God hiding out, waiting to put an end to all this mess (what I think most evangelicals believe). If you believe the latter, there is not a lot of good you can do in the world (indeed, there isn’t much good anywhere) except to try and save as many souls as possible before the end comes. If you believe the former, you are doing God’s will in his kingdom, overcoming the evil that is around you and fixing your eyes on what is good. You are basically in heaven already.

Listen to Jesus. He said it. The kingdom of heaven is here. It’s where you live right now.