Parable of Wheat and Tares

The sower. Jesus Himself tells us who the farmer is: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man” (13:37). Son of Man was the name Jesus liked to use for Himself. Only good seed. The farmer “sowed good seed in his field” (13:24). Everything God makes and plants is good. God never plants evil. An enemy. The servants asked, “Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?” (13:27). The answer was, “An enemy has done this” (13:28). Later Jesus said, “The enemy who sowed them is the devil” (13:39). At night. The enemy came “while men slept” (13:25). The devil works in sneaky ways. He likes darkness, lies and hiding. Look-alikes. The tares were most likely a weed that looks very much like wheat while it is young. The tares showed only when the grain began to form (13:26). Evil often looks harmless at first. Why the world has evil. Sin, cruelty and sadness are real. They do not come from God. They come from the enemy and from people who follow him. What we learn. Jesus is stronger than the enemy. “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). Stay close to Jesus, and ask Him to keep your heart full of His good seed.

Another seed story (13:24). Jesus “put forth” a second parable about seed. This time the trouble is not only the soil. An enemy is at work in the field. The Son of Man (13:37). Jesus names Himself as the sower. Son of Man was His favorite title for Himself. It comes from Daniel's vision of “One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven!” who receives a kingdom “which shall not be destroyed” (Daniel 7:13-14). Zizania (13:25). The Greek word for tares is zizania (say: zih-ZAH-nee-ah). It was most likely darnel, a weed that looks almost exactly like wheat until the heads form. That is why the tares “appeared” only when the grain “produced a crop” (13:26). “An enemy has done this” (13:28). The owner did not blame his servants or his seed. The evil in God's world comes from outside God. “The enemy who sowed them is the devil” (13:39). While men slept (13:25). The enemy worked in the dark and then “went his way.” The devil hides, copies and deceives. In 13:19 Jesus called him “the wicked one” who “snatches away what was sown.” Why is there evil? The servants' question is still asked today. Jesus' answer begins here: God sowed good seed, and evil is an invader. The Son of God came “that He might destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). For us. Be alert, not afraid. Peter warns, “your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). The answer is nearness to God: “Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).

In this story, Jesus is the farmer. Jesus planted only good seed. Everything God does is good. So where did the weeds come from? The farmer said, “An enemy planted weeds.” Jesus said the enemy is the devil. The devil hates what is good. He came at night while people were asleep. The devil likes to work in sneaky ways. That is why there is sin and sadness in the world. Bad things do not come from God. But Jesus is much stronger than the enemy. The Bible says Jesus came to destroy the devil's work. You can stay close to Jesus. He keeps His people safe.

The farmer planted only good seed. The weeds came from an enemy. God only does good. Bad things do not come from Him.

The servants' idea. “Do you want us then to go and gather them up?” (13:28). It sounded like a good plan: get rid of the bad and keep the good. The owner's answer. “No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them” (13:29). The roots of the wheat and the weeds were most likely tangled together. Pulling one would tear up the other. Let both grow. “Let both grow together until the harvest” (13:30). For now, people who love God and people who do evil live side by side in the same world. God is patient. Why does God not stop all evil today? One reason is His patience. “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise… but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). Longsuffering means patient for a long time. The harvest is coming. God's patience does not mean He has forgotten. There will be a time of harvest (13:30). On that day the owner, not the servants, will do the sorting. What we learn. It is not our job to decide who is wheat and who is a weed. Our job is to grow, to love people and to tell them about Jesus while there is time.

The servants' zeal (13:28). “Do you want us then to go and gather them up?” Their goal was right: a clean field. Their timing and their method were wrong. Tangled roots (13:29). Darnel grows close beside wheat, and the roots of the two most likely wound together. Pulling the weeds early would uproot good grain. The owner protects his wheat: “lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them.” Not yet (13:30). “Let both grow together until the harvest.” Jesus is describing the time we live in now. The Son of Man has sown His kingdom in the world, but the final sorting has not happened yet. Longsuffering. Peter answers people who mock the delay: the Lord “is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). What looks like slowness is mercy. Who sorts? The servants do not bind the bundles. The reapers do, at the owner's word (13:30, 39). Believers are not told to root out the wicked by force. Judgment belongs to God: “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord (Romans 12:19). Living side by side. Until the harvest, believers live and work among people who do not follow Jesus. That is not a reason for fear or pride. It is the field where God's people are planted to grow. Why it matters. This parable explains our calling between now and the harvest: not to uproot, but to grow, to pray and to invite, while the Lord in His patience holds the door open.

The servants wanted to pull up the weeds right away. But the farmer said no. He did not want to hurt the wheat. So he let them grow together until the harvest. This shows us that God is patient. God does not stop all evil right now. He is giving people time to turn to Him. God loves the people who do not know Him yet. The Bible says God wants everyone to turn from sin. But the harvest is still coming. God will make everything right on that day. Our job is not to pull weeds. Instead, we grow close to Jesus. We can also tell others about Him.

The farmer did not pull the weeds yet. He waited. God is patient. He gives people time to come to Him.

A good question. After the crowd left, the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field” (13:36). Jesus did not send them away. He explained every part. The key. Jesus gave the meaning of each piece (13:37-39). The sower is the Son of Man. The field is the world. The good seeds are the sons of the kingdom. The tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age. The reapers are the angels. The field is the world. The story is about the whole world, not one town or one country. Everyone on earth is in this field. Two families. Jesus said some people are “the sons of the kingdom” and some are “the sons of the wicked one” (13:38). Every person belongs to one family or the other. A new family. In a real field, a weed can never become wheat. But Jesus can make a person new. “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12). What we learn. Bring your questions to Jesus, the way the disciples did. Read His Word and pray. And make sure you belong to His family by trusting Him.

In the house (13:36). Jesus “sent the multitude away and went into the house.” Then the disciples asked, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.” The ones who wanted to understand came close and asked. Every piece explained (13:37-39). Jesus names each part: sower, field, good seed, tares, enemy, harvest and reapers. When Jesus explains His own parable, His explanation is the meaning. The world (13:38). “The field is the world.” The Son of Man sows across the whole earth. His kingdom is not limited to one nation; it reaches people from every nation. Sons of the kingdom. In the speech of the Bible, to be a son of something is to share its nature. “The sons of the kingdom” belong to God's rule and carry His likeness. But “the sons of the wicked one” share the enemy's nature. A change of family. Plants cannot change their kind, but God changes people. Paul says God “has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love” (Colossians 1:13). Those who were not His become His children through faith (John 1:12). His angels. “The reapers are the angels” (13:39), and in 13:41 they are “His angels.” The angels of God serve the Son of Man. No ordinary teacher could say that about himself. For us. Understanding came to those who asked. Bring Jesus your questions about hard things, the way the disciples did, and let His answers shape what you believe.

Jesus' followers did not understand the story. So they went to Jesus and asked Him. Jesus was glad to explain it. You can bring your questions to Jesus too. You can ask Him when you pray and read the Bible. Jesus said the field is the world. The good seed are God's children. The weeds are people who belong to the Evil One. How can someone become God's child? A weed can never turn into wheat. But Jesus can make a person new! Everyone who trusts Jesus becomes a child of God.

Jesus' friends asked Him what the story meant. Jesus explained it. You can ask Jesus your questions too!

The end of the age. “The harvest is the end of the age” (13:39). History is not going around in circles. It is moving toward a day when Jesus will set everything right. The Judge. “The Son of Man will send out His angels” (13:41). The same Jesus who sowed the good seed will be the Judge at the harvest. Evil removed. The angels “will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness” (13:41). Lawlessness means living as if God's rules do not matter. Nothing evil will be left in God's kingdom. A real warning. Jesus said the angels “will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth” (13:42). Jesus spoke plainly because He loves people. A warning is a kindness when the danger is real. No one knows the day. Jesus taught that no one knows the day or the hour of His return except the Father (Matthew 24:36). Our part is not to guess the date but to be ready. The righteous will shine. “Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (13:43). The righteous are people God has made right with Himself through Jesus. What we learn. “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” (13:43). Jesus is inviting you to listen and come to Him today. Everyone who trusts Him will shine in His Father's kingdom.

The end of the age (13:39-40). “So it will be at the end of this age.” The Greek word for end is synteleia (say: soon-teh-LAY-ah), the finishing or completion of something. God is bringing history to its finish line. The Son of Man judges (13:41). The angels are His angels, and the kingdom is His kingdom. The One who sowed the field is also its King and its Judge. Anomia (13:41). Those removed are “those who practice lawlessness.” The Greek anomia (say: ah-no-MEE-ah) means living without God's law, as if He had no right to rule. At its root, sin is refusing God's rule. The furnace and the weeping (13:42). Jesus used the plainest words He could: “the furnace of fire” and “wailing and gnashing of teeth.” He did not say this to scare people for fun. He warned them because judgment is real and He wants none to perish. No date-setting. Jesus said no one knows the day or the hour except the Father (Matthew 24:36). Christians are called to be ready, not to set dates. Who are the righteous? (13:43) Not people who never sinned, for no such people exist. They are sinners whom God has declared right through faith in Jesus. In the parable they are “the sons of the kingdom” (13:38), sown by the Son of Man Himself. He who has ears (13:43). Jesus ends with a call: “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” The parable is meant to be answered now, while the field is still growing.

Jesus said the harvest is the end of the age. On that day, Jesus will judge the world. He will take away everyone who chose evil. Jesus said it will be a sad day for them. God is fair, and sin is serious to Him. Then God's people will shine like the sun. Who are God's people? They are not people who were good enough. Nobody is good enough on their own. God's people are those who trust Jesus. Jesus takes away their sin and makes them right with God. Nobody knows the day the harvest will come. So Jesus says, “Let those with ears use them and listen!” You can listen to Jesus and trust Him today.

One day Jesus will take away all that is bad. His people will shine like the sun! Jesus wants you to be His.