The Parable of the
Wheat and the Tares

What is the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares?

Matthew 13.24-30

Here is another story Jesus told: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. 25 But that night as the workers slept, his enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat, then slipped away. 26 When the crop began to grow and produce grain, the weeds also grew.

27 “The farmer’s workers went to him and said, ‘Sir, the field where you planted that good seed is full of weeds! Where did they come from?’

28 “‘An enemy has done this!’ the farmer exclaimed.

“‘Should we pull out the weeds?’ they asked.

29 “‘No,’ he replied, ‘you’ll uproot the wheat if you do. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. Then I will tell the harvesters to sort out the weeds, tie them into bundles, and burn them, and to put the wheat in the barn.’

Mathew 13.36-43

"Then, leaving the crowds outside, Jesus went into the house. His disciples said, “Please explain to us the story of the weeds in the field.”

37 Jesus replied, “The Son of Man is the farmer who plants the good seed. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed represents the people of the Kingdom. The weeds are the people who belong to the evil one. 39 The enemy who planted the weeds among the wheat is the devil. The harvest is the end of the world, and the harvesters are the angels.

40 “Just as the weeds are sorted out and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the world. 41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will remove from his Kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil.

42 And the angels will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.   [see also Parable of the Dragnet]

43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s Kingdom. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!

The Parable reveals: GOD's word in our thoughts and thought-life are constantly challenged by the enemy sowing evil seeds of doubt into our "spiritual heart" - into the "movie theater" of our mind... We are to understand that our job is to "bring every thought into captivity, into the obedience of Jesus Christ We see the evil of the corrupt information  that keeps coming out of the "serpent-occupied" tree of the knowledge of good and evil. At the harvest it will be dealt with - for good

The "imagination" is a whole world inside the mind...

Parables are powerful "word-pictures" that are meant to be engrafted into our thinking...as mental pictures do control our thought-life. That's where the "imagination" gets involved. The imagination allows mental exploration of the past, present, future. It is the ability to see pictures and images in the "movie theater" of the mind. The imagination is the "workshop" of the human mind. It is the only thing in the world we have complete control over. That's why GOD takes great interest of what goes on there, and judges what we allow to grow there - Genesis 6.5

The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares

Relationships develop in our lives that we recognize as evil. Our temptation would be to go and pull those weeds and tares out of the ground We are tempted to jump in and separate - GOD says "no". The parable reveals that evil temptations and relations are so closely near the good wheat that they cannot be removed unto the angels come and do the work of separating We do not have the authority or the right to get rid of the tares. If we try we shall be accountable for damaging that which is wheat...

We would love to remove "temptation" and the false information and accusations we face from the enemy

• Tares are false wheat sown under the cover of darkness
• It is right to discern the presence of evil works, but the removal must be from GOD - His way, in His time.
• The tares and the wheat grow close to each other - one is poisonous to eat
• GOD knows who sows the false wheat among the good wheat - "an enemy hath done this" - so the real wheat is not to blame for the proximity of evil
• There is a separation between the false wheat and the good wheat - man may not be able to discern it - but GOD, and the Holy Spirit can.
• Some who see the tares come to the false conclusion that the whole field is a failure. That the good wheat is also damaged and without value. Not so!

1 Corinthians 4.5

"So don’t make judgments about anyone ahead of time - before the Lord returns. For he will bring our darkest secrets to light and will reveal our private motives. Then God will give to each one whatever praise is due."

• You may only see the tares growing. GOD sees both the tares and the wheat.
• GOD clearly says that He is not the author of the tares - "an enemy hath done this"

However, the presence of "tares" in the field keeps the real "wheat" on its toes. Not to intermingle ourselves with that which is evil... to be inwardly pure and faithful to GOD and His word.

We have to constantly fight against our reaction to get rid of everything bad - even if it destroys the good wheat...

But, hold it! David committed a lot of sins which we would have jumped on him about, and cast him out of our presence. Yet, later on, GOD turned this guy around and David became "a man after GOD's heart".  Let's be very careful. Let GOD do the separating.

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