Matthew 13:36-43 Jesus explains the Tares
Today we will be reading Matthew 13: 36- 43 where Jesus explains the parable of “The wheat and the Tares”
36Then He left the crowds and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.” 37And He said, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, 38and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one; 39and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels. 40So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. 41The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, 42and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.
There is generally two ways that today’s passage is taught…
Some people believe that this parable teaches that unbelievers will exist alongside believers in the visible covenant community until the return of Christ.
While others teach that the parable is concerned mainly with the church and the authenticity of the faith of its professing members.
Now, Scripture, undeniably, teaches that we will often be unable to distinguish those who profess faith falsely from the true believers in the organized church until Judgment Day.
Yet this point is probably not the emphasis of the parable of the wheat and the tares.
Christ says in verse 38 the field represents the “world,” not the “kingdom” or the “church”.
Most likely, Jesus is focusing on the work of the Son of Man and Satan within the world in general, not the church particularly.
So, that leaves us with the question, “What then is the parable’s purpose?”
Since, today’s passage follows the parables of the mustard seed and the leaven, Jesus seems to be dealing with the apparent delay of the kingdom’s consummation.
Let’s try to look at things from the disciples’ viewpoint.
This Nazarene is doing messianic miracles and is claiming absolute authority.
Yet, the kingdom He inaugurates is not crushing its human opposition (vs. 22–24). As I previously said, the disciples want to know how the kingdom could allow its enemies to go unchecked.
Even though, Jesus does not give a full answer in our scripture passage today.
He does say the apparent delay of final judgment does not mean it has been cancelled.
As Christ plants the Gospel in the hearts of His people, the Devil works against Him.
Satan is ever present, striving to put out the Light of Jesus from shining in the world.
The Adversary craftily disguises his plans as good things, much like the tare (the weed) look like wheat in the earliest stages of growth.
Pulling up the tares cannot be done without pulling up the wheat, and the wheat cannot be harvested until it has all matured. Until then, the Son of Man allows wheat and tares to grow together lest the kingdom’s harvest come before all of His grain is ready.
But now we come to where the rubber meets the road so to speak…
You and I are to be used by God to reach that tares near us… So, look for opportunities.
Like Jesus we are not to condemn the world, we’re not to blast the world, or judge the world.
That’s God’s business. But we are to love them while standing up for truth.
We don’t condemn the person we condemn the sin.
Life Happens… and I’ll leave you with a couple of questions…
If you are wheat… are you influencing the world for good and for God?
Is your attitude one of love, rather than one of condemnation?
It’s so easy to sit back and condemn sinners and speak evil of them due to their sin. But sometimes in the process we begin to want to call down damnation on them.
Maybe we need to ask God to give us greater grace toward them— after all He extended His grace to us.
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