The Parable of the wheat and the Tares
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares is one of the better known parables of Jesus. A parable is a story which something common was used to illustrate a deeper and spiritual truth. An example of this is the Parable of the Sower which was spoken on the same occasion. Jesus was not interested in this parable on giving advice on agriculture. Rather he was taking the well-known practice of sowing seed in the Ancient Near East and using it to compare to the results of sowing the seed of the gospel. The main points of that parable was to tell the disciples to broadcast the Gospel to everyone. Don’t get fancy about the presentation of the Gospel. Just broadcast it, and let God cause the increase. Not everyone would receive it for various reasons. But some would hear (obey) it and would produce fruit.
The Parable of the Wheat and Tares is also about sowing the word of God by broadcasting it to the world. So is the parable about casting the net and bringing up fish both good and bad. Broadcast, and then separate. Good and bad would be caught up into the net. Again, a net is a means of broadcast. It is not fishing with bait. We do not try to deceive people into the Kingdom. So all three of these parables are similar in this way.
What makes this parable different from the others is that it presents additional information. The new information is that their Gospel was not the only “gospel” in the world. Philosophers and Pharisees alike had different worldviews. They too sowed their seed in the attempt to gain followers. Paul talks in Galatians about the “gospel” the Judaizers brought. It looked like the Gospel. But it was poisonous like the Darnell seed planted by the enemy in the Lord’s field. As Jesus was quite hostile to the teaching of the Pharisees, which is especially prominent in the Gospel of Matthew, I would think that the Pharisees were the main target of this parable, more than Greek philosophy. Strangely enough, the Pharisees who were supposed to be opposed to the encroachment of Greek culture and philosophy actually adopted the Greek form of monotheism more than the Biblical one as Dr. Van Til observed. But what is important to note was despite outward similarities, they were diametrically opposed. The Pharisees held to the Scripture. They observed at least outwardly many of its teachings. They sat in Moses’ seat in the synagogues to teach the people. As far as what they taught was Scriptural, they were to be obeyed. But the disciple of Jesus must be different them in the inward content of the heart.
The farm workers told the owner of the field that some of the grain was actually a poisonous substitute. In other words, even though wheat and tares looked very similar to the untrained eye, the farm workers were able to discern them even before the plants came to seed. They knew they had planted good seed. The structure of the Greek question expects an affirmative response, “Surely we planted good seed!” The logical conclusion is that if there were tares among the wheat, that they had been planted by the enemy.
The owner of the field then was asked if the tares should be pulled up. He answered, “No, lest the good seed be uprooted with the good.” Roots could be intertwined, so that the wheat plants could be uprooted by the attempt. It is also true that even though the farm workers had some discernment , it was not perfect discernment. They were told to wait until harvest when the difference in the seed head would be obvious. Then the tares could be uprooted and burned. As the wheat was also ready to harvest, there would be no harm to it if the plant was damaged by harvesting the tares. They had served their purpose of producing good seed.
This parable has often been interpreted as though the field was the church. In this interpretation, the poisonous seed would by planted within the church itself. If one follows this, then Jesus’ admonition to let wheat and tares grow together to harvest would be telling the church to tolerate false teaching and teachers in the church. Let the good and the bad gospels be preached together. The discernment of which was which would occur at the Last Judgment. And even here, it would be the angels who do the reaping. One should note even here that the tares are gathered first and not the wheat. This is contrary to the teaching of the Rapture where the saints are gathered up, and the tares are left to the Great Tribulation.
But one of my wife’s elementary school students, Dr. Brendan Whittie, makes a very interesting observation when he notes that Jesus in His interpretation of the parable tells us that the field is the “world” and not the church. What difference does this detail make? By making the field the world and not the church, this means we are not to uproot people (be judgmental) in our evangelism. What it also means is that the church is to protect its boundaries. It is not to tolerate false teaching in the church. The Bible is full of admonitions to be warned of and remove such people. If the enemy penetrates the body of the church and it is allowed to fester, it would destroy the church. The church is to properly discern and discipline its members. This is something which is not being done. Our ministers are being fed all kinds of poison in many of the seminaries. They have an outward show of religion and faith, but their gospel has been altered. The seed which is planted in these seminaries produce poisonous plants which go to head and poison others in the church. It is no wonder there is so much heresy and so little power in the church today. The church is to plant the pure seed of the Gospel.
No when we interpret this parable with the other parables which Jesus taught and interpreted alongside, we get a clear picture of what we are to do. We broadcast the unadulterated Gospel. We do not add man’s wisdom to it. We do not change Darnell into wheat. Rather this is the miraculous work of God. Only He can make bad seed good. The bad seed transformed by belief in the gospel is to be received and nurtured in the church that it might produce good fruit at the time of harvest. We will cast in the net, knowing that all kinds of fish will be dragged up. The church is then to discern between the good and the bad. The bad is to be immediately thrown back. The good are to be fed. If the church mistakenly allows bad fish in, and admonition does not work, the bad fish is to be thrown out.
Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 3:6 about the proper work of the church. Paul planted. In other words, he evangelized. Many came to hear him. He started at first in the synagogues of the Jews in the Diaspora. At first they seemed to receive the word, but soon it became obvious that there was poison in them. Paul felt is necessary to separate from such poisonous people. There was some result though, some 30, some 60 and some 100-fold. They had to come out with Paul lest they ingest poison seed and die.
Paul goes on to say that Apollos watered. This means that he nurtured the congregation. Jesus in the Great Commission also brings this up. Baptism is the seal of faith. The people had to be worn to Christ before they could be taught to observe everything Jesus had taught them. It is not going to be fruitful to try to proclaim all that Jesus taught into the world. This would be casting pearls before swine. The teaching of the Sermon on the Mount is meant for the church and not the world as though presenting the teaching of Jesus would end all wars on this earth and provide social justice for all. Jesus warns us against this. Only people who have been transformed can receive the full body of Jesus’ teaching which the church it to make work within the confines of the church. In the world, the church preaches the Gospel of repentance. In the church, the Gospel of sanctification is to be added so that we might have Christ formed in us. The world needs to hear “Repent, for the Kingdom of God has come near (to you).” They need to hear that they stand condemned before God without hope. They don’t need to be told that they need to improve themselves. They must repent. Judgment is coming, and they are commanded to believe the good news that Jesus bore their judgment on the cross, that if they believed on Him, they would be saved from this judgment. They would be born again to new and everlasting life. Once they are saved, and the symbol of baptism applied, they begin the process of transformation.
We need to stop being advice dispensers to the world. It would not understand anyway. Instead we remain faithful as broadcasters. We come alongside the Holy Spirit to take those who believe to nurture the believers and protect them from the poisoners. Ultimately, it is God who gets both the increase and the glory. This should be our joyful task. We have in too many ways watered down the gospel. We get discouraged because so few come to Christ. We are tempted to lower the standards. And even fewer see the need to come. Let us go back to the old-fashioned preaching and become more like the church Jesus founded.
