The Parable of the Wheat and Tares, Parable of the Two Sons

This past Sunday in series the Parables of Jesus I shared with you about the parable of the sower. The book of Mark conveyed to us the importance of the parable of the sower. In Mark 4:13 “And He (Jesus) said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?”

The primary understanding of the parable of the sower was this. The condition of the heart matters more than anything else. In the parable the seed was the word of God or the word of the kingdom. The four soil types represented four types of heart. Three of the four produced nothing, and the fourth had varying levels of fruitfulness based on the degree of commitment in the individual to the Lord.

The great lesson of the parable of the sower is that the seed of God’s word carries with it the divine power to save your soul and produce great spiritual fruit. The measure to which it produces is entirely up to you.

As we look today at the parable of the Wheat and Tares we will see Jesus revealing the present state of the Kingdom of God. Showing the mixture of good and evil in the world that will prevail until the time of His coming in the end. At which time there will be a great separation of the wicked and the righteous, and both to their everlasting destinies which are settled forever. The determination of these everlasting destinies rest in the condition of the soil, and its ability to receive the seed of the kingdom which produces a harvest of righteousness.

Open your bibles with me to the book of Matthew 13:24-30. In this parable like the parable of the sower Jesus follows up with the disciples by clearly explaining what the parable means in Matthew 13:36-43.

We will first read the parable of the wheat and tares, and then we will look at Jesus explanation.

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Submit:

Let’s read it together.

Matthew 13:24-30, “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.” ’ ””

Just in reading this we can see the imagery that Jesus uses to explain the Kingdom of Heaven in the context of the world. Now let’s read the explanation.

Matthew 13:36-43 “Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.” He answered and said to them: “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. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

The sower is Jesus who is often in the Gospels called the Son of Man.

The field is the world.

The good seed are the sons of the kingdom.

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.

The reapers are the angels.

The tares are gathered and burned, so will it also be in the end. Those who practice lawlessness will be gathered out of the earth, and be cast into hell.

The righteous will be gathered to the kingdom of God.

This parable shows the battle of light and darkness, and the outcome of both. Jesus the Son of Man first sowed the word of the kingdom in hearts. Those that received the word became sons of the kingdom. Those who rejected the word became sons of the devil. The two will grow together until the time of His coming in the end, at which time the angels of God will gather those who are of the devil and cast them into hell. The righteous will be in the kingdom of God who is their father.

*Something interesting to note here is that in the first parable of the sower the seed is the word. In the second parable we become the seed sown into the world. Before we can sown into the world, the word of the kingdom must first be sown in us. We can’t give away what we don’t have. The wicked in the earth need Jesus. He sows us into the world to preach the good news so that if they will hear the word of the kingdom and receive it. They too can become sons of God! This is the assignment of the believer. Romans 3:23.

Romans 3:23 reminds us, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

God desires for the world to be saved. 2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

Listen to how He revealed himself to Moses. Exodus 34:6-7.

Exodus 34:6-7 “And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.””

God is good, but he is also just. He will bring into account transgression and sin at the time of the end for those who have rejected the gift of salvation.

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Application:

Now in this parable we see that an enemy came in by night and sowed tares among the wheat.

What are tares?

Although they look similar to wheat, tares are a degenerate seed that is poisonous.

Something interesting about tares is that when they are fully ripe they stand straight up while the wheat loaded with grain bows down.

This picture gives evidence of the surrendered life. Those who sit on the throne of their lives stand erect in pride, and will ultimately receive the end result of pride which is destruction. Those who are of the kingdom bow down to the king. They are filled with fruit and humility.

The tares the enemy sows are seen in Galatians 5:19-21. They are what we call the works of the flesh.

Galatians 5:19-21 “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness (unbridled lust), idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

The nature of the flesh is readily seen in the world. If we choose to set our mind on those things we will be corrupted by them. Romans 8:5-8. Ecclesiastes 12:13.

Romans 8:5-8 “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”

Ecclesiastes 12:13 tell us clearly, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all.”

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Closing:

As I close I want to finish with a short parable Jesus shared called the parable of the two sons. I think it will fittingly bring conclusion to the wheat and tares. Matthew 21:28-32.

Matthew 21:28-32 ““But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go, work today in my vineyard.’ He answered and said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he regretted it and went. Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said to Him, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him.”

The ones who do the works of the kingdom will enter it. They are the ones who are pleasing to the Lord. As believers we must choose to wage war against the flesh so that we might live righteously in the earth. Romans 6:4-14.

Romans 6:4-14 “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present yourselves as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”

The word of the kingdom leads us to life. It crucifies the flesh and its lust, so that we can live alive towards God. Presenting our ourselves, as instruments of righteousness to be sown into the world.

My prayer today is that you would allow the kingdom seed to get deep into your heart, and that the power of the Holy Spirit would cause it grow up unto maturity.