At the time of this writing, one suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing is dead, with the other one on the run. Another stark reminder of the tragedy that happened so recently.<\/p>\n
The bigger question many ask is this, \u201cIf God was such a good God, why would he allow bad things to happen to good people?<\/strong>\u201d It\u2019s easy to see the brokenness of the world around us and be overwhelmed. That inner sense of right and wrong given to us by our Creator screams for justice. It\u2019s natural for us to wonder why God doesn\u2019t put a stop to it. Is he cruel? Does he care? Is he powerless? Does he care?<\/p>\n Jesus gives us a clue to answer in a story about weeds. It\u2019s a long passage, but well worth the read:<\/p>\n 24\u00a0Jesus told them another parable: \u201cThe kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25\u00a0But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26\u00a0When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.<\/em><\/p>\n 27\u00a0\u201cThe owner\u2019s servants came to him and said, \u2018Sir, didn\u2019t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n 28\u00a0\u201c\u2018An enemy did this,\u2019 he replied.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThe servants asked him, \u2018Do you want us to go and pull them up?\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n 29\u00a0\u201c\u2018No,\u2019 he answered, \u2018because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them.<\/strong> 30\u00a0Let 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.\u2019\u201d<\/em> Matthew 13:24-30<\/p>\n Jesus goes on to explain the illustration to his disciples, and in the explanation we discover why God allows evil to fester in the world:<\/p>\n 37\u00a0He answered, \u201cThe one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. 38\u00a0The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, 39\u00a0and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.<\/em><\/p>\n 40\u00a0\u201cAs the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. 41\u00a0The 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<\/strong>.<\/em> Matthew 13:37-41<\/p>\n Here\u2019s the truth: the weeds represent everything that causes sin and all who do evil (verse 41). So, why would a good God allow evil to flourish? Look back at verse 29. Because the weeds (sin) and the wheat (humanity) are so intermixed, that to destroy one, he\u2019d have to destroy the other.<\/p>\n The mistake we make is to think that evil is something separate from us, something easily wiped away if God would only do it. The reality is something darker. When sin entered the world, it infected all of creation, including humanity. We\u2019re now fused together. So, here\u2019s why evil exists:\u00a0God allows evil to exist because to destroy evil He would have to destroy humanity.<\/b><\/p>\n Does God hate sin? Yes. Does God love humanity? Yes. So, he allows humanity to exist a little while longer, even with the scourge of sin, out of love, to give us a chance to repent. There will be a day when sin is destroyed, when God comes to judge the world. Until then, evil will exist.<\/p>\n QUESTION: Does this interpretation help your understanding of the problem of evil?<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" At the time of this writing, one suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing is dead, with the other one on the run. Another stark reminder of the tragedy that happened so recently. The bigger question many ask is this, \u201cIf God was such a good God, why would he allow bad things to happen to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2490,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[141,170,181,466,529,577,583,1306,1557],"class_list":["post-969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-biblical-truth","tag-bombing","tag-boston-marathon","tag-evil","tag-food-for-thought","tag-god","tag-good","tag-sin","tag-what-im-teaching"],"yoast_head":"\n