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36Then 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.” 37He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. 39The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. 40Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. 41The 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, 42and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 43Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

 

Jesus spoke to the disciples for the remainder of the discourse on the present kingdom (13:36-58), and this marks a transition in His audience. He sent the crowd away because what He had to say from this point pertained only to believers.

Jesus now turned to interpret the parable of the tares (13:36-43).

13:36

Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house.

Jesus turned from the crowd to speak to His disciples inside a house.

And His disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.”

The disciples spoke for believing Israel about knowing what would happen to the interim present kingdom.

13:37

He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.

Jesus identified Himself as the sower.

13:38

The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom,

The “seeds” are believers in Jesus’ Messiahship. These are people that He sowed in the world. These “seeds” are those who turned positive in volition towards the seed-Word (Lu 8:1). The field is the world, not the church.

but the tares are the sons of the wicked one.

Tares are unbelievers sown in the world (field) by the devil as a rival sower. These are people who profess faith but do not possess it.

13:39

The enemy who sowed them is the devil,

The sower of unbelievers in the world is the devil. The devil places unbelievers in the world to introduce false doctrine into Jesus’ interim present kingdom.

the harvest is the end of the age,

The “end of the age” is the end of the interim present kingdom. This kingdom will end upon the Second Coming at the close of the Tribulation. This is not the end of the economy of the church.

and the reapers are the angels.

Since there is no separation between wheat (believers) and tares (unbelievers), God allows them to exist together. Angels will separate true believers from the devil’s crowd at the end of the age (2 Th 1:7-10).

13:40

Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age.

Good angels will gather the tares (unbelievers) to burn in fire after the Second Coming of Christ.

13:41

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,

It is Jesus who will send out good angels for final judgment on unbelievers.

13:42

and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing [sorrow] and gnashing of teeth [pain].

The furnace of fire here is hell, where great anguish of soul and physical pain will take place.

13:43

Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.

When believers will enter the future kingdom, they will reflect the resplendent glory of God in their inheritance. Believers will leave the interim present kingdom to inhabit the final kingdom with all its grand glory. Jesus’ point is that believers need patience because God will ultimately deliver His kingdom in full.

He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

Jesus admonished His current hearers with a cryptic challenge to go positive in volition towards His message.

PRINCIPLE:

There will come a day when God will separate truth from error, believer from unbeliever.

APPLICATION:

God allows unbelief to continue throughout the present kingdom. The present kingdom exists from the official rejection of His Messiahship to the Second Coming at the end of the Tribulation. This period includes the time of the church economy. Throughout this period both truth and error coexist. There will come a day when God will make a separation between truth and error, believer and unbeliever. In the meantime, some churches will be faithful to God’s Word and others will not.

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