24Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. 26But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. 27So 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?’ 28He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ 29But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. 30Let 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.” ’ ”
The second parable is about wheat and tares (13:24-30). Matthew compares genuine believers and fakers in the kingdom by this analogy. I will develop this parable further in the section where Jesus interpreted the parable (13:36-43)
13:24
Another [of the same kind] parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field;
A farmer (Jesus, v. 37) sowed seed (believers, v. 38) in the field (world, v. 38).
13:25
but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.
An enemy (the Devil, v. 39) came and sowed weeds (unbelievers, v. 38) among the wheat at night while men were ignorant of the truth. This is unadulterated malice towards truth.
13:26
But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared.
Wheat and weeds grew together as believers and unbelievers exist together in the kingdom. It is difficult to distinguish between them.
13:27
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?’
In the analogy, believers puzzle over weeds (unbelievers) in God’s kingdom.
13:28
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?’
The workers wanted to separate the wheat and tares immediately, but the owner delayed that process because the roots of the grain and tares were intertwined. If you pull one, you will pull up the other. The owner immediately recognized that the tares were the work of an “enemy.”
13:29
But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them.
The farmer ordered them to wait until the harvest to separate wheat from the tares.
13:30
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.” ’ ”
God allows believers and unbelievers to coexist in the kingdom until the harvest. The “harvest” is judgment at the end of the age (vv. 38, 39).
PRINCIPLE:
Jesus serves a warning about heresy in the present kingdom.
APPLICATION:
God allows believers and unbelievers to coexist in the present kingdom. Those who respond to the message of Jesus’ present kingdom are the wheat but those with negative volition are the tares.
Satan operates by imitation. By false counter-sowing he sets up his own kingdom alongside God’s kingdom by introducing his own doctrine. God must ultimately separate believer from unbeliever to separate His kingdom from Satan’s. God will be able to distinguish believer from unbeliever at the Great White Throne Judgment for unbelievers.
But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 4For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it! 2 Co 11:3-4
