The Parable Of The Wheat And The Tares. Series

Tares among the wheat

The Parable of the wheat and the tares or Satan in the Kingdom.”

Matt. 13:24-30; 36-43.

Christ gave this parable immediately following the parable of the sower. Notice what He said:

“Another parable He put forth to them, saying: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared.

“‘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?” 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?”

“‘But he said, “No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. 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)

The parable of the tares and the wheat add some other very important points. And first of all, I think we could say that we learn from the parable of the tares and the wheat that the present age is not only an age of the sowing of the word of God, it is an age of the sowing of the seed of Satan. So that, concurrent with the preaching of the word of God, throughout this age is the message of Satan. He has his seed, and he has his children, just as the Son of Man has his seed and his sons or children

This parable stresses in even greater detail that the conclusion of the age is a separating judgment, and that the end of the age the Son of Man shall send forth his angels and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend. And there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth, but the righteous shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their father.

There are other truths that appear also in this parable of the tares and wheat, such as the nature and reality of everlasting punishment, which seems to be very plainly taught here. There is the truth of the coming glory of the saints and the necessity of good and evil in the world until the ultimate time of the new heavens and the new earth..

Let’s turn now to the exposition of the parable itself. Jesus says, the kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man who sowed good seed in his field . Now that parable opens very simply, and we quickly see the similarity between the parable of the tares among the wheat, and the parable of the soils, for in both of these parables, there is a sower, there is a field, there is seed, and there are harvests.

But there are some differences, too. While in the first, we have four classes of soil, in this second parable we read, simply, “The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man who sowed good seed into his field.” It’s almost as if, the Lord having told us the parable of the four types of soil, in which we have three which represent unbelievers and one that represents believers, he now turns his attention to that which represents believers, eliminating the unbelieving for the moment.

A tare is a plant that commonly grows in fields of grain. And although it looks similar to an edible grain, it isn’t suitable for food. In fact, many feel the specific tare, or weed, referred to in this parable is the darnel, a poisonous weed that is very similar in appearance to wheat.

While growing next to the stalk of wheat, darnel cannot be distinguished from the real wheat. It is not until near the time of harvest, when the wheat comes into ear or sprouts its fruit, that you can discern which of the two is the real item. While growing next to wheat, tares cannot be distinguished from the real wheat. It is not until near the time of harvest that you can discern which of the two is the real item.

Notice how Jesus explained this parable:

“He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age.