Tares and Wheat

Mark Dunagan
01/01/11 - N/A

Tares and Wheat

In Matthew chapter 13 Jesus blesses us with a number of amazingly enlightening parables.  We are first given the marvelous parable of the sower (13:1-9), along with its explanation(13:18-23).  Next, the helpful parable of the tares growing among the wheat (13:24-30), followed by the parable of the mustard seed (13:31-32), parable of the leaven (13:33-35), and near the end of the chapter we are graced with three more wonderful parables:  The hidden treasure (13:44), the pearl of great price (13:45-46) and the dragnet (13:47-52).  It's interesting to note that Jesus explains the parable of the sower without being asked, perhaps showing us how to interpret parables.  The only parable that the disciples request an interpretation for—is the parable of the tares.

The Importance of Asking

“Then He left the multitudes, and went into the house.  And His disciples came to Him, saying, ‘Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field’” (13:36).  How sad and astonishing that "multitudes" of people heard this parable, yet only the disciples made the effort to understand it. No wonder that also in this chapter, Jesus talked about having “ears that hear” (13:9,16).  It is important to recognize that having ears that hear does not mean that you understand everything perfectly the first time you hear it.  Neither does it mean that learning is always easy for you and that you never have to do any homework.  Rather, having ears that hear means:

• We make the concerted effort to truly understand.
• We ask questions when we don't quite get it.
• We are even willing to listen during the hard parts or the parts that truly require us to change. 
• We ponder what was taught rather than getting easily distracted (13:19).
• We count the cost while we are listening, until we understand the price (13:20-21).
• As we listen to truth, we are simultaneously removing erroneous ideas from our minds that prevent spiritual growth (13:22).
• We wrestle with the application and are willing to endure the inconvenience of changing our lives to acquire the blessings to be gained therein. We are willing to put God's instruction into practice (13:23 “Bears fruit”).

This is likewise a good example of how understanding the Bible is often not a big mystery, but rather can be as simple as asking some good questions.  A couple of simple questions, when asked, can immediately open the door to a thorough understanding of a passage.  Never be afraid to ask any questions about a Biblical text.  People become wise and stay wise by being willing to listen (Proverbs 9:8-9).

 

“Explain to Us”

• Rather than the nebulous idea that we get to decide for ourselves whatever interpretation we enjoy the most, the disciples understood that the parable did have one specific explanation.
• The parable itself is concise in that it contains a mere seven verses (13:24-30, followed by a seven verse explanation.  Jesus does not have to spend hours explaining what He just said.  How efficient.  And how wise a God that ensures that His words contained in the Bible are not overly complicated, but instead are crystal clear.  Unlike the writings of men, Jesus spares us any needless or useless information that one needs to sort through to get to the true meaning:  The good farmer is Jesus (13:37).   The field is the world, the good seed are God’s people, the enemy is Satan, the tares are people who follow Satan, the harvest is the end of the world, the reapers are angels, the barn is the eternal fate of the righteous and the fire is hell (13:38-43).
• I really don’t find the interpretation being a surprise, like, “Oh, I would have never guessed in a million years that the good seed represented good people”.  Once you hear even the beginning of the interpretation all its other elements fall into place.  Whether with this parable, or the parable of the sower, which Jesus also explains (13:18-23), everything is nice and tidy in that all the major elements are there for a reason. What a gift from God that both the parables and their interpretations are within the understanding of the average person!

 

The Choice We all Have

“But when the wheat sprang up and bore grain, then the tares became evident also” (Matthew 13:26).

In the previous parable, there was one sower, who was sowing the gospel message (13:19).  In this parable Jesus reminds us that there is another sower, Satan, with his own message.  Other passages would tell us that no one is born destined to be wheat or tares.  How merciful! God wants all men to be saved (2 Peter 3:9; 1 Timothy 2:4,6). How just the reality that all of us have the choice of which we will become as we grow up.  The way a person becomes “wheat”, that is good and productive and useful, is to listen to what Jesus says (12:37).  We become wheat by listening to the good seed and applying it to our lives. Equally, we can become tares, something harmful and useless, by listening to Satan’s message.

 

“Allow Them to Grow Together Until the Harvest”

Some people have read this verse and concluded that one application would be that churches should never remove any members because of ongoing sin in their lives, and that we should leave all judgments to God.  I don’t know how such a view ever started in light of the fact that only five chapters away from this chapter Jesus gives a very clear section with regard to what we are to do when a member of the church refuses to repent (Matthew 18:15-17), including the judgment (conclusion) that the given behavior is spiritually damning, persuasive confrontation, and, if necessary, removal of the stubbornly unrepentant.  In fact, we have an example of a congregation that is rebuked for not removing a member who refuses to repent (1 Corinthians 5:1ff). Furthermore, Paul specifically exposes the man and his sin, states God's judgment on the behavior, and then issues a very clear and critical mandate: “remove the wicked man from among yourselves” (5:13).

Before absolving churches from the obligation to carry out Christ's instructions in this matter, think about the implications of such a conclusion: To be consistent, someone who would argue that Matthew 13:30 prevents any kind of church discipline would uniformly have to argue that the same verse forbids the government from arresting and punishing any evildoers (Romans 13:4), and parents from correcting their children. Now THERE'S a society for you. Better to be honest and do the difficult work of the church.

Furthermore, this erroneous analysis is a good example of how such interpretations are completely unnecessary:

• Nothing in the text suggests such, remember, the reapers are angels, not men. 
• The verse is talking about divine intervention, and not our intervention. 
• As stated above, a couple of chapters later we have a clear section on church discipline.  Therefore, this is an example of how a personal preference or an agenda, such as, “I don’t like the practice of church discipline” can twist a passage.

 

“Allow Both to Grow Together”

 

The verse means that for we who live on the earth, evil will never be removed from the planet until the end, and yet at the same time, evil will never overcome good.  If you live long enough, you will eventually live to see the truths of this parable: People falling away, kids from good families that reject the faith, churches that become unsound, societies that move farther away from God, accusations and mockery against God and the Bible, selfishness among mankind, people going from bad to worse, and evil men prospering and being popular. Yet you will most likely also see people who fall away eventually come back to God, kids from good families that stay faithful, people from incredibly ungodly backgrounds obey the gospel, flourishing new churches started, unsound churches becoming sound, arrogant people becoming humble, people that you talked to years ago who seemed to pay no attention, coming back and thanking you for what you said to them. Evil men coming to ruin and being forgotten.

 

“Do Not Root Up the Wheat”: 13:29

Keep this verse in mind the next time you are discouraged when seeing all the evil in the world and are feel like blurting out something like, “Why doesn’t God do something about this?”  First, God is patient, God wants even very evil men to have the chance to change (2 Peter 3:9).  Remember, God's intervening would end many things for us as well.  God wants us to be with Him in heaven, yet He likewise wants us to enjoy the blessings of this life.  Now is the time to enjoy your marriage, family life, parenting, children, spreading the gospel, growing spiritually and the wonders of this creation.  So let’s make the most of this time to shine while we are growing as wheat among the tares.

Mark Dunagan/Beaverton Church of Christ/503-644-9017

mdunagan@frontier.com/beavertonchurchofchrist.net