Parables Part 9 - Wheat and Tares
Matthew 13:24-30 & 36-43, “Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. 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?’ 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?’ But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. 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… And His disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.” He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. 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, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
The message of this parable is simple for us to understand, because Jesus explains it to us. Jesus, as God’s Son sows the good seed, the Word of God into the world. The enemy, the devil, sows wicked seed (lies) into the world. These two grow up, side by side, the children of God, and the followers of the devil (those who believe the lies). At the end of the age when Jesus sends out His angels to gather the harvest, which in my view would be the rapture, if you have a different view of end times that’s ok because we will all appear before God for judgement at the end of the age with or without the rapture. The followers of Jesus will be judged for reward and those who rejected Him will be judged for condemnation. In any case, when we are gathered, those who follow Jesus will shine forth as we are clothed in the righteousness of Christ, those who practice lawlessness, literally those who have rejected Jesus and live life however they want to, following after satanic lies, will be cast into the furnace of fire.
The message is simple, and so is the application of it to us. Which camp do you fall into? Are you a follower of Jesus Christ, have you received His Word and believed Him for salvation, repenting of your sins and living your life for His honor and glory as the Spirit enables you? Or, have you rejected God’s Word, rejected His Son and His offer of salvation? If you are the first, a follower of Jesus Christ, then when we are gathered (or we simply come to the end of our lives here on Earth) then we will be in God’s presence for all eternity shining like the children of God that we are. If you are in the second camp, you have rejected Jesus and His Word, then eternal condemnation awaits you because of your sin.
What do you do about it? If you do not know Jesus it’s quite simple. First, you must recognize you are a sinner (Romans 3:23) and acknowledge that what we get for our sin is death (Romans 6:23). Then you must believe in Jesus Christ as Savior for whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved (Romans 10:9-10). What does it mean to call on Jesus for salvation? It means to believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that He died on the cross for your sin, that He rose the third day proving that He is God and has the power to conquer sin and death. It means turning away from your sin through repentance, which literally means to turn the other way, and turning to God through Jesus Christ. If you need help with this or have questions, please do not hesitate to contact us and we will gladly help you! If you can’t wait, click on Do You Need Jesus? at the top of this page or the Know God tab in the menu. God bless you!
Image Borrowed from Stbartston.org
