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24 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. 26 But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. 27 So the servants of the owner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?' 28 He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' The servants said to him, 'Do you want us then to go and gather them up?' 29 But he said, 'No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn." ~ Matthew 13:24-30
Today, we return to our study of Matthew 13 where the Lord Jesus utilized parables in His teaching to get the people to think more deeply about what is really really and worth their investment. Earlier, the Lord Jesus taught them, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done." His will is always better than ours, we just lack the ability to see transcendently. In today's chapter the Lord Jesus taught the people by using seven parables which were used to reveal to truth to those honest with the truth and to conceal the truth from those who were not honest with the truth.
The reason the Lord Jesus shared this parable was to prepare His listeners for the inevitable conflict that comes from having believers and non-believers among one another. He prepared us for such disruptions so that we would not be apprehensive due to the fact that the story is not yet over for even the unbeliever. This was part of the reason the Lord Jesus instructed His servants not to pull the tares from among the wheat because people have been known to come to faith in Him late in life.
In v.24-28 of today's passage we read, "24 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. 26 But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. 27 So the servants of the owner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?' 28 He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' The servants said to him, 'Do you want us then to go and gather them up?'"
This parable of the wheat and the tares is another parable about sowing but the sowing is different from that in the parable of the sower. There, the seed was the Word of God. In this parable the seed is not the Word of God; it is the people of God. The wheat are those who put their trust in the God of the Bible who has put us all in the place where He wants us. Wherever we find ourselves, as children of God, we have been put there by the Lord Jesus. It is so important to understand that He has sown us and put us where we are. And the field, well, it is the world where we have influence.
Into that same field there came an enemy. He came while people were unaware of what was happening. The enemy sowed a crop of his own which was a poisonous weed which looks very much like wheat. In fact, when it first begins to grow even an expert cannot distinguish it from wheat. But as it grows it begins to change, and by the harvest time, it becomes obvious to all that is not wheat. The tares or poisoned weeds are people who are deceived by the evil one. When the servants of the owner of the field asked if they should pull up the tares, the response of the Lord was surprising.
In v.29-30 of today's passage we read, "29 But he said, 'No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn."
The Lord Jesus instructed His servants to leave the tares among the wheat. The wheat, of course, are those who had placed their faith in the Lord Jesus as their Savior. The tares are those who appear to be true but are not believers in the Lord Jesus. There are those who are looking for the perfect church. Well, I am so sorry to inform you but there is no such thing. I am always leery of any group who claim to have a corner on God's truth. They say they have the truth and no one else does. But there will always be evil even in the hearts of believers. This does not mean that we are not to expose the false and meet it positively with the truth. Nor should we allow those who teach falsely to become predominant within the church. Our efforts to identify the "false" among us always results in an atmosphere of constant scrutiny, and will create a culture of judgment. Often, we will misjudge a true believer to be a false believer, and destroy the faith of the true believer thinking they were false.
In Revelation 14:14-16 we read, "14 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle. 15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, 'Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the time has come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.' 16 So He who sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped."
At this time in the narrative the seven seals in the book of the Revelation have been opened along with the blowing of the seven trumpets. The abomination of desolations by the antichrist in the temple of Jerusalem has taken place. The persecution of Israel has escalated to highest level. The execution and martyrdom of Christians all over the world will be happening. The earth and the sky will have been devastated by divine judgment. Satan will be ruling the earth with the iron fist of the antichrist, aided by the false prophet. The remaining world will have been deceived into worshiping the antichrist as if he were God. The time for the final harvest will be at hand.
The One who will sit on the cloud will cast forth His sickle as a means of conveying to His angels that the time of the harvest has come. The reaping of the harvest will signify preparation for the kingdom age or the millennium. The good grain will be reaped and gathered in. At the same time, those who will be tares will be separated and burned up. This will be the harvest of grain, both the wheat and the tares. The believers and the unbelievers will be separated at that time.
All of this underscores a dire warning to confirm whether we are wheat or tares. The worst experience is to think that we are real but we are not. The worst message that anyone will hear on that day will come from the Lord Jesus who will say, "Depart from me for I never knew you." The wheat are those who are honest about their condition as sinners. They are honest about the truth and honest about their need for the Savior. The wheat are those thirsty for the Gospel which is God's declaration that man has been undone by sin and he needs the salvation only the Lord Jesus can deliver. The gospel declares the broken are made right before the God of the Bible by receiving the free gift of forgiveness through the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.
