The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares

2002-12-01

Introduction

The central message of the parable in Matthew 13:24-30 is that there is a reality of two kingdoms active in the world. The first is from God, and the second is from the enemy. What does this mean in the modern world and for us? I hope this brief article will answer this question.

Historical Context

The gospel of Matthew was written primarily to a Jewish audience. This parable only appears in this gospel. Considering the definition of the word for tare (also known as darnel), we know that this plant was something that was commonly known in Palestine. It would do little good to place this parable in other gospels if non-Palestinian people were unfamiliar with darnel. It looks like wheat, it acts like wheat, but you can’t tell that it is not wheat until near the harvest.

Problems of Interpretation

Who are the men that slept? And who are the slaves who asked to pluck the tares in 13:27-28? There are no parallels for such in Jesus’ explanation of the parable in 13:36-42. The believers are wheat, and the angels are reapers. These slaves are there to show that Jesus knows about who the darnel are and why they are there, showing that these things were done with His knowledge and that they temporarily need to be there until the judgment.

The Message of the Parable

This story is a parable, which is a common method that Jesus uses to explain important spiritual truths in the New Testament. In some cases, Jesus would explain what the analogy in the parable means, and he does so here with His explanation in verses 36-43. Here Jesus explains what the kingdom of heaven is like. The core message of this gospel so far, as John the Baptist and Jesus earlier presented in the gospel, was for the people to repent since the kingdom of heaven was coming. The Jewish people hearing this message came to Jesus with various pictures of what they thought the kingdom of heaven would look like. Therefore, the parables explaining the kingdom of heaven were crucial to understand so that the people, especially the disciples, were on the same page.

Jesus explains that the kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. From Jesus’ explanation in verses 37 and 38, we know that this man is Jesus Himself, the good seed are the sons of the kingdom, meaning the believers, and the field is the world. Now Jesus also says that after the man had done this, an enemy, which He tells us is the devil, sowed darnel, or tares, which are considered the sons of the wicked one, or unbelievers. More specifically, I believe that these people have committed blasphemy of the Holy Ghost, and are intentionally placed in the church or in specific positions by the devil to destroy the church.

It is extremely important to explain what a tare is to understand this passage. The term ‘tare’ refers to a type of plant called darnel. The thing about darnel is that it looks and acts like wheat until the time of the harvest is near. Though it may look like wheat, it is really a harmful plant that can destroy the wheat. One who would plant darnel in someone’s field in the ancient world was a very malicious person, because they had the potential of destroying someone’s entire livelihood. So is the devil that plants false believers in the world and sometimes in the midst of the Church. He seeks to destroy God’s work and God’s people in any way that he can.

Can we tell the difference between what is from God and what is not? We need to be aware of two kingdoms that are operating in this world. Why? Because of from whom each kingdom came. The first kingdom is from the sower of life Jesus Christ, and the second is the impostor sower Satan, who sows into the world impostors with their deadly philosophies, seeking to destroy what God has done in creation. In other words, God has planted His people in the world, to be for His glory and gracious purpose. Many societies around the world today say that truth is relative; in other words, my religious truth might be different from your religious truth, and what is true for you might not be true for me, but it is all okay. Public schools reinforce this with evolution and humanistic philosophy. You can believe in what you want to believe, and so can I, but it really does not matter. Large amounts of western people did not turn away from God overnight; it happened slowly. Notice what it says in verse 25, “But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.” Nobody knew when the tares were planted. The same thing happens with us; unless we are always alert, we too can be duped into believing very unbiblical things. We need to be aware from whom each kingdom came.

Often times followers of Christ, unless readily attentive, could miss when the devil subtly plants his destructive poison into our lives. But when those seeds grow up to be the tares, will we be able to distinguish? The men in verse 27 notice eventually that there have been tares sown among the wheat. How can we know a counterfeit from the authentic? We don’t know the hearts of men, but God does. If God left us His word, the Bible, that we might know Him, then we ought to know it. If we know His word well enough, then we can get an idea of what God says is authentic and what is unauthentic. Take for an example cults that do not believe in the deity of Jesus Christ. You have to know how to defend Jesus’ Deity if you want to have a discussion with them. It takes more than just giving them John 1:1, because some use very perverted translations of the Bible. It takes a broad knowledge of Scripture to be able to defend the faith before such. Oftentimes, such people know their version of the Scriptures better than Christians know what the Scriptures truly say. For situations likes these, we need to be prepared at all times to give an account for our faith, as it says in 1 Peter 3:15.

Take another example, the Scopes “Monkey Trial,” when William Jennings Bryan was questioned by Clarence Darrow. Bryan could not answer Darrow’s simple Biblical questions, such as where Cain’s wife came from. Even though the science teacher, who had taught evolution, John Scopes, had lost, it was a long-term victory for evolution, because of a weak defense of the Bible back in 1925. Slowly the devil’s philosophies spread throughout the United States, so that evolution is believed to be fact and creationism as myth.

It is also good to mention that only God in His sovereignty knows the heart of every man. There are going to be times that we will not know if a person is truly a believer in Jesus Christ or not. The servants ask in verse 28 whether or not they should gather the tares up. Interestingly enough, in verse 29, Jesus says to leave them, because “while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.” It is very easy for us to judge for ourselves on whether someone may be a ‘tare,’ or a false Christian, but it is only God who truly knows the source of a person, whether from Himself, or from the devil. The tares are spared because some how, some way, they are very entangled in the affairs of the church. How we do not know.

With these things in mind, we need to be able to compare one’s philosophies to God’s Word, for this is the only way we have any chance of our defending ourselves in a world overrun by the adversary. Believers need to be aware of two kingdoms operating in this world because oftentimes people don’t always appear as they truly are. This means we have to know the Word of God well to be able to confront ungodly philosophies. However, it is God’s job to separate the wheat and the tares at the end of time.

Now, as I have said it is important to know that there are two kingdoms at work in the world, one from the sower of life Jesus, and the other from the impostor sower, Satan. Secondly, they do not always appear as they ought to, just as the tares look exactly like the wheat, yet it is not our job to separate them in judgment. Lastly, Jesus tells us the fate of the two kingdoms. Jesus explains that the reapers will come at an appointed time to gather the tares for the fire and the wheat for the barn. In verses 40 and following, Jesus explains the reapers are the angels and the barn is the Kingdom of the Father. The fire, interestingly enough, is not an analogy (Revelation 20:14). The fire is real, and is the fate of anybody who does not trust Jesus Christ alone for salvation, because without the sacrifice of Jesus, we are judged for our evil works and rebellion in this life. This is something that is fundamental to the theology of the Bible. But do we actually believe this? I have mentioned that there are many of the devil’s snares in the world, and that it is not our job to separate them out. But do we have a heart for those who are lost? Look at the people around you when you are out and about. Where are they going?

Remember that it is not by what we do in this life that brings us to heaven and wins God’s favor. We must trust in Jesus, and that by His dying on the cross, He paid for our rebellion, so that in the end, we too can have eternal life, a promise He made in His resurrection. The empty tomb in Palestine shows us this love God has for us.