That Harvest

Introduction

Late fall has us preparing for winter and celebrating the harvest. Even though this is more of a cultural celebration of harvest than an actual one, it is still a season we gravitate toward. Not sure that is the case? Try asking New Englanders about their favorite pumkin spice coffee flavoring.

Looking for themes of harvest in the Bible is fruitful (pun intended). We run across a couple places where Jesus speaks about a harvest. His references fall into two categories:

This Harvest, and

That Harvest

Last week, we looked at This Harvest, the harvest that occurs in real-time as we reflect God to the people around us. Specifically, we looked at Luke 10 and noted that the harvest is:

A global harvest with a local beginning

A great harvest with a small beginning

A gracious harvest with a resisted beginning

Participation in This Harvest is not presented as optional, neither is it unimportant. This Harvest prepares us for That Harvest: a harvest which draws inexorably closer by the day.

Transition

That Harvest is related to us in a parable and explanation that Jesus gave in Matthew 13.

Illumination

A Reminder

A parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.

This specific parable, often called the parable of the wheat and the tares, is one of the most important of Jesus’ parable because He provided a detailed explanation that is key to understanding all of His parables.

The Parable, Matthew 13:24-30

Matthew 13:24–30 NKJV

24 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. 26 But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. 27 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?’ 28 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?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. 30 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.” ’ ”

We will make some observations about the parable, but before we do, let’s also hear Jesus’ explanation.

The Explanation, Matthew 13:37-43

Finding the Key, Matthew 13:37-39

Matthew 13:37–39 NKJV

37 He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. 39 The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.

The key to understanding this parable—and most parables—is to understand what is represented in the key elements of the parable itself.

Highlighting the Key

The Sower = Jesus

The field = the world

The good seed = sons of the kingdom

People who are citizens of God’s kingdom because they recognize and follow God as their King

The tares = sons of the wicked one

tares are essentially weeds, but there is a little more to them than that. “Unger says that the most common tare found in grainfields in the Holy Land is bearded darnel, ‘a poisonous grass, almost indistinguishable from wheat while the two are growing into blade. But when they come into ear, they can be separated without difficulty.’ ”1

tares are people who do not recognize and follow God as their King and by default follow the Devil in his rejection of God’s authority.

The enemy = the Devil

The harvest = the end of the age

the end of the current age

He does not go into detail about when this is, so we will not either (This would redirect and lengthen the point)

The reapers = the angels

Utilizing the Key, Matthew 13:40-43

Once we understand what all of the parts mean, we can put them together. Jesus demonstrated this as well.

Matthew 13:40–43 NKJV

40 Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. 41 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, 42 and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

Some Observations

The field is the world, not the church

The wheat and tares are very similar, until their fruit appears

The wheat and the tares are intertwined and not readily separated

“In nature the roots of the grain and darnel are so intertwined that it is virtually impossible to pull up one without the other.”2

What disrupts the life of one disrupts the life of both.

The tares can become wheat

This is not readily seen here but is true nevertheless

Every analogy has some limitations, and this is one

The choice to recognize and follow God as King is always available in this life

The tares will be reaped and burned

They will be burned (verse 30) in the furnace of fire (verse 42) where there will be “wailing and gnashing of teeth”

This is a reference to the eternal destruction awaiting all who reject God’s authority.

Before we judge God harshly, His judgment is based on their (our) choice. And the alternative would be forcing them to spend eternity with Him even though they hate Him.

We can see this element fulfilled in prophetically fulfilled in Revelation 14.

The wheat will be gathered into God’s presence

we will shine as testaments of God’s grace and mercy extended to all who believe and receive Him as their King.

That Harvest is inevitable

Conclusion

That Harvest is inevitable and final. It will be carried out at God’s command by His agents. The time for choosing will have already come and gone. That Harvest is what makes This Harvest so important.

The imperative for bringing “many sons to glory” began with Jesus, was handed to the Apostles, and eventually handed to you and I. What we do with this time of harvest has direct bearing on that time of harvest.

Application

The Apostle Paul summed up the situation in which we find ourselves as he wrote to the church at Rome.

Romans 10:14–17 NKJV

14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” 17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

We must share the word of God that we have believed with others so they are better equipped to make their own choice.

Addenda

Questions

What are the two types of harvest referenced in the sermon?

What key elements in the parable of the wheat and the tares are explained and what do they represent?

Why does the sermon emphasize the importance of the choice to recognize and follow God as King?

What does the sermon say about the interconnectedness of wheat and tares?

How can sharing the gospel impact the outcome of 'That Harvest'?

End Notes

MacDonald, W. (1995). Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments (A. Farstad, Ed.; p. 1256). Thomas Nelson.

MacDonald, W. (1995). Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments (A. Farstad, Ed.; p. 1256). Thomas Nelson.