The servants’ suggestion is like the solution that many propose for the removal of evil from the world: let God judge the world immediately. But what then would happen to the elect who have not yet been born, some of whom will be descended from wicked ancestors? Viewing the world in its totality from one end of history to the other (which is what the parable does), how can the wicked be removed without also removing some of the righteous? Even among those living at the same time in history, there is a closeness of interaction that means that the lives of the wicked and the righteous are intertwined in this world. Some who live wicked lives now will be converted to Christ later in their lives and will finally turn out to be wheat though they seemed to be tares at first. Furthermore God’s plan for the salvation of his people includes the effect that the wicked have on the righteous: the Lord uses trials, some of which come from the wicked, to perfect his people. The world cannot be purified without a far more radical solution, and that must wait until the end of time. Those who think that God should clean up the world in its present form, invariably underestimate the depth of evil. They imagine that evil can be removed from the world and they be left undisturbed and unaffected by this. But man comes into the world with a fallen nature, and sin is in all of us. Even after conversion sin remains in the heart of the believer. It is no longer dominant, but it is still there, and it expresses itself in the world. A completely cleaned up world would remove us also. But the farmer has a wiser plan, which reflects what God is doing in the world.