Parable of the Wheat and Tares
Notes
Transcript
CHRIST THE JUDGE
CHRIST THE JUDGE
Whether you have been walking with Jesus for a long time, or your curious about Jesus Christ, We have all heard it and many of us have said it: “If God is real and good, why is there so much brokenness in this world?” “Why doesn't God do something?” This is a great question, one we can not ignore. So many people have turned from their faith or decided there must not be a God or that God is mean because of this question.
The problem here is that a response like that is an emotional response rather than a biblical response. Here is the thing, God has done something. He sent Jesus Christ. He gave us His Living Word, the indwelling of Holy Spirit.
God very clearly tells us how we should treat one another. When a person steps outside of God’s will or a nation steps outside of God’s will, we do not get to point our finger at God.
Jesus tells us time and again throughout the New Testament why bad things happen, why suffering exists. We are going to look at the parable of the wheat and the tares this morning. This parable speaks to the church globally, the local church, and at the same time is applicable to each of our lives individually.
Before we get started, at the sake of sounding ignorant, I had no idea what tares were. Do you all know what tares are? The NLT and NIV call them weeds. I was like “how can you not tell a weed from wheat?” So, I dug a little deeper. Tares are not like the weeds growing out of the concrete in my driveway, tares look like wheat early on, almost indistinguishable from wheat, except the seeds are poisonous.
24 Here is another story Jesus told: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field.
Jesus is talking about the final judgement in these verses. Yet, Jesus being Jesus, makes this parable applicable to our lives today. Jesus Christ is the farmer, and He plants good seeds and it is His field.
If Jesus planted you in His field (this is His field) this morning, you have a purpose in His church and in His Kingdom! This is a picture of Kingdom living in a broken world. Christ’s church today, in the purest form, the righteous, the children of the Kingdom of Glory.
25 But that night as the workers slept, his enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat, then slipped away.
Now, did you notice the farmers enemy came and planted tares among the wheat, while the workers were resting? That is what the enemy does. Uses the cover of night, secretly bringing misery. It is when we are at our most vulnerable moments that he eases on in there, plants his weeds that may look like good wheat, and then slips away, often unnoticed.
If you are sold out to Christ, the enemy, the devil, his minions, diabolos, the deceiver, the slanderer, the Truth hater, will do everything possible to tear you away from Christ and the family of Christ. To make you believe the grass is greener on the other side while filling you with condemnation, worthlessness, self-loathing, depression, loneliness, or a sense of failure.
If you can hear my voice and you do not believe that the devil is real, start working for Jesus Christ and you will experience those fiery darts.
Satan may be the prince of the power of the air right now, but the world belongs to God! Jesus is King! We are involved in a Kingdom movement that He started two thousand years ago. When this movement is over, we will witness the restoration of God’s rule.
26 When the crop began to grow and produce grain, the weeds also grew.
True believers represent the grain being produced, growing in the light of Jesus Christ, maturing in our walk.
The tares represent three groups that grow away from Christ: scripture refers to one group as the children of the devil, the second group are those who have not yet been grafted into the family of God. The third group are those who pretend to be believers but whose motives are to cause strife, chaos, and pain within the church body.
Evil Questioned
Evil Questioned
27 “The farmer’s workers went to him and said, ‘Sir, the field where you planted that good seed is full of weeds! Where did they come from?’
Verse 27 reveals the difficulty that people have recognizing the difference between the wheat and the tares at times, between good and evil. It was not until time had passed, and there was growth in both the wheat and the tares that the servants started seeing something was wrong.
Some people grow up with Christ in their lives, others do not. Some people choose to follow God while others choose the worlds path. Others will chose to live out evil lives. At some point, it is all about our choices.
In this world, the bad is going to exist among the good. The weeds become entangled in our lives at times. Where does it come from? Most of us in our walk have asked ourselves “How did I let that happen!” You may not want to hear this, but sometimes we are the ones cultivating the tares that have cropped up in our lives and then get upset when we are not harvesting wheat.
Evil Answered
Evil Answered
28 “ ‘An enemy has done this!’ the farmer exclaimed. “ ‘Should we pull out the weeds?’ they asked.
People may not like the answer, but Jesus plainly gives the answer right here. Jesus answers the question of evil right here: “An enemy has done this.” He does not blame the workers, He blames the enemy.
God does not bring the suffering or pain. God prepares us, God equips us, Jesus walks right through the fire with us. The devil, mans evil desires, bad decisions throughout the generations (Ezekiel talks about this), that is where evil and suffering come from.
It’s easy to blame God, that means that we, as humans, do not have to be responsible for anything. Think about this for a moment: The person who claims that God must not exist or is bad, evil, mean, powerless because there is suffering has indirectly recognized that a moral law giver, God, would make the difference. So, the statement could be re-framed like this: “evil exists because people are evil without God.”
Look at what the workers ask: “Do you want us to pull out the weeds?” This sets us up for the next few verses.
Salvation Questioned
Salvation Questioned
We want to fix things. We have a desire to make things right. Sometimes, we become overzealous in our judgement of others, especially within the body of Christ.
The question of salvation is not ours to answer. Christ is the judge and provides the final judgement.
I want you to think for a moment. Get in your time machine, and remember when you were at your worst. When maybe you were tares in a field of wheat. I know I spent a long time as tares. Now that is the moment that decides your eternal fate. That is mans standard, not God’s. Look what Jesus says:
29 “ ‘No,’ he replied, ‘you’ll uproot the wheat if you do.
When asked if we should pull the weeds, Jesus said “No.”
Evil exists at the hand of humans and the devil. We must be careful in thinking we know peoples hearts, their story, or their lives. When we judge someones salvation, we may very well be tearing the wheat out of the field. Had I been judged at my lowest point, I would be a permanent resident in Hell.
Only God knows a person completely, accurately, and perfectly. You and I do not. A person could be judged righteous, and fall into sin in the next moment. Lord knows that I have fallen into sin more times than I can count.
30 Let both grow together until the harvest. Then I will tell the harvesters to sort out the weeds, tie them into bundles, and burn them, and to put the wheat in the barn.’ ”
There will be a harvest, a final judgement. Until then, our job is simple. We live in this world right now, be Jesus to the world. Jesus never hated anybody into the kingdom, and he did not argue anybody into the kingdom.
Evil and suffering are going to continue until His return. Jesus Christ is giving every person the opportunity to come to Him. We speak of His mercy and grace in our lives, but in our nearsightedness, at times, we forget that he continues in that mercy and grace for all people.
Not because He is evil, mean, doesn't have the power, or non-existent, but so that everybody has the opportunity to know Him. If you are not a believer this morning, He is giving you that opportunity today. He loves all people and desires to have all people in the Kingdom. That is the biblical response to evil and suffering.
Worship Team to Stage
Brothers and sisters, we must be careful about our own fields as well. Let us not knowingly plant tares or cultivate the tares among our wheat. We must continue to allow Him to burn away those things not of Him in our lives. Allow Him to remove the weeds from our lives.
There are times when you are going to feel like you do not belong. That is because we are standing as wheat in a field of tares sometimes.
God is moving brothers and sisters. We choose if we are going to be part of it or not.
Alter Call Prayer/Team to Front?
The alter is always open in this church. If you need prayer this morning, come and receive prayer. There is no shame nor condemnation in seeking after the Father and asking someone to intercede and pray with you and for you. Come and receive that blessing, bless us by allowing us to pray with you. If you are unable to make it up here, simply raise your hand and someone will come to you.
If you do not know Jesus Christ as your Savior this morning, please make today the day. Say this prayer, mean it from your heart.
Dear Heavenly Father,
I know that I’m a sinner, and I ask you for your forgiveness.
I believe Jesus Christ died for my sins and overcame the sting of death for my sake.
I turn from my sins.
I repent of my sins.
I invite you Jesus to come into my heart and into my life.
I trust you and follow you as my Lord and Savior.
In the mighty, unmatched name of Jesus the Christ, Amen.