Seeds and Weeds

When his servants suggested they uproot the weeds, the man replied "No; lest in gathering the weeds you uproot the wheat along with them" (v29).  Instead, he told them to let both seeds and weeds grow together until the harvest when the weeds would be gathered first (v30).

Jesus' parable tells us of how the enemy got his opportunity when the servants were asleep, picturing the state of the Church when the weed of Replacement Theology was first sown, and the enemy as the devil (v39) whose aim was to spoil the harvest of the good seed being sown by the Son of Man (v37).

It also shows how the devil was aware enough of Scripture (Luke 4:10) to know he could get away with doing so until the gathering of the final harvest at the end of time (Malachi 3:3), having recognised the opportunity to continue choking the good seed until then. Which explains why Replacement Theology has been able to co-exist with the truth for so long, without being exposed or uprooted.

"As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age." (Matthew 13:40)

But the parable also infers that at least some uprooting of Replacement Theology is possible now in a way it was not before, as the nearer we get to the final harvest (v41) the easier it is to distinguish the weeds from the seeds.  Meaning that in our time, at least some of the weeds can be uprooted without damaging the good seed of the kingdom, and through which to give it more space to become fully grown.

So while it's the angels who reap the final harvest (v41), the parable encourages us to see that Replacement Theology can at least be partially uprooted today, and to act without delay to gain the benefit of doing so (John 4:35-38).