No, the master is not powerless. In his time of harvest (Matthew 13:30), the enemy’s stain is removed and the master reaps his good crop. While the field was marred, the barn is filled.
The parable’s hearers expected the ending where good and evil are separated, and heaven opened to the righteous, but Jesus also reveals the middle of the story: his preaching meeting opposition, but him tolerating it. The kingdom is not derailed when Pharisees and scribes sow their slanderous seed, turning people against Jesus. His gentleness is not weakness, but intentional love: enduring opposition for the sake of the still growing seed. The story is told to make the people reflect, and so to understand the appearance of Jesus.
No, we should not derive from this that the master is powerless against the weeds. His time will come (Matthew 13:30). At the harvest, the enemy’s stain is removed and the master triumphs with his good crop. Though he has suffered under the enemy and the field has been marred, the barn will not remain empty.1
The parable’s story is entirely plausible in real life, although in reality it would be a tale of frustration. If the kingdom of heaven resembles such sowing and a beleaguered master, does this not suggest impotence? No—for here a deliberate plan is at work. To the hearers, this must have seemed strange. They expected an ending where good and evil would be separated, and heaven opened to the righteous. Yet what they encounter is the middle of the story: Jesus’ preaching meets opposition, and yet he tolerates it. What seemed irreconcilable to them is held together in the parable. The kingdom of heaven is not derailed when Pharisees and scribes sow their slanderous seed and turn people against Jesus. His gentleness is not weakness but love. He suffers and endures opposition for the sake of the seed that must still grow. The people are given a story meant to make them reflect—and through it, to understand the appearance of Jesus.2
30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’”