Wheat and Weeds – Matthew 13:24-30 [explained in 13:36-43]

Jesus had just told the Parable of the Sower, then privately explained it to His apostles.    He followed that parable with another, the Parable of the Wheat and Weeds(or Tares, depending in your translation).  This parable will be similar, as there is a sower who is sowing seed, but it’s not the same seed, as we will see.

The Facts

This parable beings with, “The kingdom of heaven is like . . . .”  In this parable, the kingdom is like a man who sows good seed in his field.  However, while the man was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares(i.e. weeds) in his field.  When the plants grew, there was both wheat and weeds.  Servants of the man who had spread the seed verified with the man that he had sown good seed, then asked how the weeds got there.  He responded that his enemy had planted the weeds.  The servants asked if he wanted them to go into the field and pull up the weeds.   He said no, as in pulling up the weeds, they might also pull up some of the wheat.  Instead, he told them to wait until the time of harvest.  Then they would pull up the weeds and burn them, while they would also harvest the wheat and put it in his barn.

What Does It Mean?

Jesus explains this parable as well(Matt. 13:36-43), just like the Parable of the Sower.  The person who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man, this is Jesus referring to Himself.  In verse 38, Jesus says the field represents the world, but later in verse 41, He further clarifies that the field is the kingdom, as in the kingdom of heaven, which is how He started the parable.  The good seed are the sons of the kingdom, meaning they are those that are faithful to Jesus.  These are His disciples.  The weeds are the sons of Satan, the wicked one, and he is the one who sowed the weeds in the field(i.e. he put people who do not follow Jesus into the kingdom – this refers to how they appear to be a part of the kingdom, at least while the kingdom is on earth).  The time of harvest is when this world will end(i.e. when Jesus returns to bring the faithful home to live with God for all eternity in heaven).  The reapers are angels.  At the time of judgment, the angels would separate the followers of Jesus from those who claim to be, or even appear to be followers of Jesus.  It isn’t just Jesus who can tell the difference; His angels can distinguish between the two, as well.  Jesus will send His angels into the kingdom to gather the offensive and the lawless who appear to be in the kingdom.  Those(offensive and lawless) will be sent to a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Takeaways

Sometimes different parables use similar symbols, like sowing and seed, but that does not mean that what the seed represented in one parable is the same as what seed represented in another parable.  It could be the same, but we cannot assume that it is.  We need to figure out from the parable, and possibly the context of the parable, just what lesson Jesus is trying to convey.

Here are some basic things that we can learn from this parable.

Jesus sows good seed . . . and only good seed.  This might seem obvious, but it is worth mentioning.

The good seed that Jesus planted grew into the wheat that He wanted to grow.  When someone follows Jesus(i.e. becomes His disciple), that person grows in the kingdom.  They are not stagnant and they do not just fade away.

Satan plants bad seed, not good seed.

Jesus can distinguish between the good seed He planted and the bad seed that Satan planted.  People may not be able to distinguish between the good and bad seed, but Jesus can.

The people following Jesus(i.e. the good seed) and the people who only appear to be following Jesus(i.e. the bad seed) are allowed to continue living together and worshiping together.   Jesus does not separate them until the time of judgment(this separation will be seen in other parables as well).

There will be a time when Jesus will separate the faithful from the unfaithful.  The unfaithful might think that they can trick others into believing that they are faithful to Jesus, and in truth, they can fool people . . . but they will not fool Jesus.

Those Jesus refers to as offensive and lawless(other translations refer to those who do sin and cause evil) are people that were not following Jesus.  Jesus stated that if you love Him, you will keep His commandments(John 14:15).  If you do not keep His commandments(this is sin), then you do not love Him.  Not keeping His commandments IS lawlessness(or sin).

At the time of judgment, the unfaithful will be sent away to a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth.  This is one of the ways Jesus describes hell(Matt. 8:12; 13:42; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30).

The faithful are going to be with God; in this parable it is referred to as the man’s barn.  In His explanation, Jesus says that they will shine like the sun.  This is in direct contrast to those who would be weeping and gnashing their teeth.

It is important to remember what Jesus refers to as the kingdom(of heaven) and what many New Testament writers, as well as people today, call the church are very similar.  The kingdom would consist of every person who ever lived who was faithful to God.  Whereas the church typically just refers to people who are currently alive in this world.  So, a faithful child of God would be considered a member of the church and a part of the kingdom of heaven.  But after that person died, we would not usually refer to that person as still being a part of the church.  We could, but that is not usually how we refer to people.  That person would still be a part of the kingdom of heaven.

The Wrap

The main thrust of this parable is that Jesus knows His people, meaning He knows those that are faithful to Him, AND He knows those who are offensive and lawless(i.e. people who are not faithful to Him, even though they might profess or appear to be faithful).  And they will be separated . . . eternally.  So let’s make sure we are being faithful to Jesus.  And in order to be able to do that, we have to learn more about Him.  Then we have to put that into practice.