THE WHEAT AND THE TARES

We talked last week about these parables in Matthew 13 and we are going to continue along that line today. If you remember all of these parables were given on the same day in the same area as part of one teaching session by Jesus. All of these parables are related and as we look at them together we get a lot more out of each of them. Today we talk about the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares.

Matthew 13:24–30 NASB95

Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. “But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away. “But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. “The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ “And he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this!’ The slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’ “But he said, ‘No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. ‘Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ”

Just like the parable of the Sower Jesus again explained this parable. You may have noticed a slight change. In the parable of the sower Jesus apparently only explained the parable to the disciples but he was still outside with the crowd. Perhaps they spoke low so that only their small circle could hear, however it was done it seems that he then spoke the parable of the wheat and the tares, as well as a couple of other parables, in front of everyone and then went into the house and left the crowds before explaining the parable to his disciples. Once inside away from the crowds Jesus explained this parable again at the request of his disciples.

Matthew 13:36–43 NASB95

Then He left the crowds and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.” And He said, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one; and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels. “So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. “The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. “Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

In this parable the sower is explained as Jesus Christ, the field is the world and there are two kinds of plants in the field. The sons of the kingdom, the wheat, and the sons of the evil one, satan who are the lost of the world.

At the end of the age there will be a harvest and a separation of the wheat and the tares, the sons of the kingdom and the sons of the evil one. By the way, did you notice who did the separating? It was not the church or the people but the angels.

In the parable the servants asked if they should remove the tares but Jesus said no don’t remove them lest you also destroy the good seed, in the end it is not our job to police the world and separate the good from the bad. That is one of the jobs of the angels in heaven.

In my house right now are 6 children. They are my niece-in-laws children. I have noticed something about these children that is common with other children the whole world over. They love to tattle and they love to boss each other around. All day long I hear Aunt Tina said for you not to do that, or Daddy said you can’t have it, or Mommy said for you not to touch that and sometimes I hear be quiet and go to sleep or uncle Pat will come in here again.

Often right after I hear someone say something like this another thing happens. I hear the pitter-patter of little feet, or sometimes not so little feet, and then one of the kids comes into the room and tells us everything that the other kid is doing wrong. Usually they are followed by the one being told on who is offering the reasons why it is not their fault.

Now before you laugh too hard at the kids know this, I have seen this same behaviour from adults in church on multiple occasions. They tell their friends or the pastor about what someone else in the church is doing wrong and all about what that person should be doing. So and so uses the wrong bible version, or did you see what so and so was wearing last Sunday? Do you know who such and such is dating or where our deacons were last Saturday night. If you are really really spiritual you might even phrase it this way, we need to pray for the John Boy, did you hear the language he used the other day, or Sue Ellen needs to be on the prayer list because anyone who would wear that much makeup needs all the prayer they can get.

Now Paul does tell us that we should lovingly correct a brother or sister who is sinning but it should be done in private and out of respect and love for that person and for God and not out of a desire to feel superior or in order to get a chance to gossip with our friends. It is not our job to remove all sin and sinful people from the world or even from the church, it is our job to grow where we are planted and produced as much fruit as we can produce.

If we get caught up in policing everyone else and righting everyone else’s wrongs we will lose sight of ourselves and what we are supposed to be doing. Does that mean that we never correct anyone or ignore those around us, of course not. Just like with the kids in my house I sometimes have to intervene but that is not the way I want it to be, it is not the way it should be. In a perfect world they would not fight and argue and in a perfect world we would not sin and so there would be no need of any kind of correction at all. The next best thing would be if when the kids do something wrong they realize it and then correct it themselves without me having to make them, or that when we sin we realize it and repent, admit our sins to God, agree with His assessment of the situation and turn completely around and do the right thing so that the problem is resolved.

Of course sometimes the kids need an adult to step in and make the course correction for them because they are just not mature enough to do it for themselves. Sometimes we need God to step in correct us because we are just not mature enough in our Christianity to repent and correct the problem ourselves. Just like with kids sometimes a gentle reminder is enough and sometimes it takes something a little more severe, God has given me a few gentle reminders and a few times, in fact several times more than I would have liked, He has had to do something that would really get my attention.

The central message of this parable answers a question I think we all ask from time to time. Why does God let them, emphasis on someone who is not me or part of my group, get away with something like that, in other words I would never do that and I see it as worse than my own sin so why doesn’t God punish them.

There are, after all, people in this world who deserve punishment. More often than not I am one of them. I don’t ever want to get what I deserve from God, I would rather throw myself on the mercy of the court. From God’s perspective you are either a sinner or you are not. Either you are perfect or you are flawed.

This leaves you and me with a serious problem. I have sinned, in fact I still sin, and you are no different. So in God’s eyes we are all sinners and have fallen short of the glory of God. If God collected up all of the sinners, all of the tares, all of the children of the devil no one would be left. The only reason there is any wheat at all is because Jesus Christ gave his life to cover our sins with His blood. I am not a wheat plant, a child of God because I deserve it or because I earned it but because Jesus gave me the gift of eternal life by sacrificing His own life for my sins.

Even after Jesus did all that for me it took me 25 years to get around to accepting it. I was a 25 year old weed in God’s garden. If He had waited 24 years of my life for me to straighten up before he removed the weeds, the children of Satan from the garden of the world I would never have made it, I would be lost forever. If God had acted too soon it would have been too late for me.

What if God had acted in the first century, or in the 1800’s, we all would have missed out. I don’t claim to know when the harvest is coming or what God’s timing is, but I am glad He waited long enough for me. Part of me wants the rapture to happen right now, I want God to harvest his children because it would be so much better to be in heaven with Him than stuck down here in this mess on earth.

Another part of me desperately want’s God to wait. I have a son who is not yet saved, I am hoping and praying that he sees the light, that he comes to God. I know that he has heard the Gospel and I know that he has everything he needs to get saved, sometimes I plead with God not to harvest until my son becomes His son as well.

God has told us in this parable that if He pulls up all of the tares, if he removes the sin and the weeds from the world some of the wheat will be lost as well, I don’t want to lose my son, I don’t want anyone who will come to Jesus to miss out, to be too late. I want Heaven to be full but even as much as I want that I don’t want it nearly as much as Jesus does, and so He waits for the harvest.

Trusting in the wisdom of God and the timing of God I also wait for the harvest. I don’t try to remove all of the tares lest I also pull up some of the wheat, not one child of God shall be lost no matter how long it takes. I can’t say that I am always patient or that I don’t struggle with the shape this old world is in, the amount of sin and godlessness I see growing year after year or with the weeds that are in my particular part of the garden. But I trust God to do the right thing in the right time and while I am waiting I grow. It want to be tallest and biggest stalk of wheat I can be, If God gives me the chance to grow fruit I want to grow as much as I possibly can. I want to one day hear Him say well done my good and faithful servant, don’t you want that too.

Ask God to help you grow and be everything He made you to be. Don’t worry about the weeds next door, wait on God’s timing and pray that every possible kernel of wheat is harvested. Allow God to work in your life and in the lives of others. Grow fruit and grow it well. Be everything God intended you to be.

You can start that process right now, the only way it can start. If you have never accepted Jesus as your saviour then it is time to stop being a tare and start being a wheat stalk. One day there will be a harvest and it will be too late. Many will never make it. Many will be gathered up by the angels and cast into the fire. If you have never accepted Jesus do it right now, come talk to me or to a deacon or even to the one who brought you here today and make the change. Your new life can begin right here today, right now by trusting that life to Jesus, accepting Him as lord of the harvest and lord of your life, believe in your heart that He died for your sins and confess with your mouth that he is Lord and you will be saved.

Some will accept Christ and never grow very much. If you have accepted Jesus but don’t have much fruit now is the time to change. I once heard a man say that he was a 1 year christian with 20 years of experience. In other words he never grew much after his first year of salvation. He never lived the abundant life, he never experienced all that Jesus had for him. Don’t do that, ask God to help you grow, come forward and join God’s church, pray, by yourself and with others, there is strength in numbers. Study the bible, come study it with us and we will all grow together, find out how God has uniquely gifted you and use it every chance you get. Be fruitful, your life will never be the same.