The Parable of:
“The Tares Among the Wheat”
( The Joining of the Churches )
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The Parable of:
“The Tares Among the Wheat”
(Matthew 13:24-30)
Matthew 13:24-30
24 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field.
25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? From whence then hath it tares?
28 He said unto them, an enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?
29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.
30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.
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Explanation of the Parable by Jesus
(Matt. 13:36-43)
Matthew 13:36-43
36 Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.
37 He answered and said unto them, he that soweth the good seed is the Son of Man;
38 The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one.
39 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.
40 As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of the world.
41 The Son of Man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;
42 And shall cast them into a furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
43 Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
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Comments:
Since the meanings of the real objects used in the parable have been explained by Jesus, it makes paraphrasing the parable much easier. This parable, like the parable of the Pearl, has two meanings. The first meaning, using the “field” to represent the entire world, shows that at the end of time, the entire world will be divided into two groups. The second meaning, using the expression “His field” and “His kingdom” to represent the Church, shows that at the end of time the Church will be divided into two groups.
Parable (meaning 1)
Jesus (Son of Man) came into the world (field) and taught the truth to people (seed). Some people (good seed) listened and obeyed Him, and some people (tares) listened to the Devil (enemy) and obeyed him.
At first the prophets and teachers (servants) of Jesus (householder) wanted to separate (gather out) those who were disobedient (do iniquity) from those who were obedient (righteous), but Jesus (householder) said no (nay) because they would remove some of the righteous (wheat) while they were removing those that did iniquity (tares). At the end of the world (harvest), the angels (reapers) will be sent by Jesus (Son of Man) and they will gather out of His kingdom all those that have disobeyed Him (do iniquity) and they will be burned with fire. Then, the angels will gather all those who have obeyed Him (righteous, wheat) together to enjoy the kingdom of their Father.
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Doctrinal Truth (Taught by Jesus in the Parable of
(meaning 1) “The Tares Among The Wheat”)
Everyone will have an opportunity to hear the truth that Jesus taught.
Those that listen and obey Him are called the righteous.
Those that listen but refuse to obey Him are called doers of iniquity.
At the present time, both the righteous and the doers of iniquity are together as one.
At the end of the world a separation will be made by Jesus and His angels.
The doers of iniquity will be gathered together first.
Then, the righteous will be gathered together.
The doers of iniquity will be burned by fire.
The righteous will enjoy the kingdom of their Father.
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Parable (meaning 2)
This parable makes it plain that at the end of the world there will be two groups of people (wheat or tares). At the present time there is only one group (wheat and tares). Jesus said that the “wheat” represents the righteous and that the “tares” represents those that do iniquity (verse 40-43)
Before the “gathering out” (verses 40, 41) of these two groups, the “tares” are mixed in with the “wheat” (verse 25).
Thus, in the church (among the “wheat”) are those that do iniquity (“tares”). This then, is a parable that tells us how the Lord is going to purify His Church by removing the “tares” from it!
Once the “gathering out” of the “tares” from the church has been done, then the “righteous shall shine forth as the sun” (verses 41-43). To “shine” means to “reflect light”.
Since the Bible calls Jesus Christ the “Sun of Righteousness” (Mal. 4:2), then the parable is saying that “the righteous will reflect the light (shine) of Christ’s righteousness (sun)”. In other words, the righteous will resemble Christ in character. They will have on the “robe of Christ’s righteousness” and they will not be willfully sinning! Since to “shine” means to “reflect light” and “light” spiritually represents truth, the parable is also saying that the righteous will “teach the truth” (shine) about Christ’s righteousness (as the sun).
Thus, once the Church has been purified by having those that do iniquity (tares) “gathered out”, then the Church can do it’s work of teaching all the Truth to those in the world who have not heard the Truth!
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The “tares” (doers of iniquity) look like the “wheat” who represent the righteous. This means that the “tares” do not represent the “wicked” of the world, who do not “look like” the righteous but rather the “tares” represent the “wicked” (doers of iniquity) in the Church!
The “doers of iniquity” were described in the parable of the “Broad and Narrow Ways” as those “casting out devils”, and doing many wonderful works in the Lord’s name.
Thus, they are clearly professing “Christians”. The parable says that the Lord will “gather out of His kingdom” the “tares” or those that offend. Here again it is plainly describing the Church as being purified.
No one will deny that there are more wicked people or “tares” in the world than there are “wheat” or righteous people. The text said that the “tares” were among the “wheat”, which clearly means that the “wheat” were the majority and the “tares” were the minority. The only place in the world that the “wheat” or righteous are in the majority is in the Church. Therefore, to “gather out the tares from among the wheat” has to represent removing those who are “doers of iniquity” from the Church.
In the Parable the servants were instructed “not” to gather up the tares lest they root up also the wheat (verses 28, 29). This shows that the “wheat” and “tares” looked alike.
Thus, within the Church are those who on the outside appear to be “Christians” (look like wheat) but who are really “doers of iniquity” (tares). Men cannot tell the difference, but the Lord and the angels (reapers) can, and they will “gather” them out of the Church (verses 30, 40, 41). When this happens, there will be two groups of “Church members”-- those left in a True Church group and those professing to be “Christians” in a False Church group.
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During the “time of the harvest” or at the end of the world,
the “tares” were to be “gathered out” first and bound
together (verse 30). Then, the “wheat” was to be “gathered into the barn”. This means that the first group of professing “Christians” to be united or “bound together” will represent the False Church group which will ultimately be “burned up” (verse 30). This group will be a very large group of professing “Christians”. This parable calls them “doers of iniquity”, and we know from our study of the parable of the “Broad and Narrow Ways” that the many were “workers of iniquity” and that they were professing “Christians” doing many things in the Lord’s name (casting out devils, etc.).
Since the “Church” represents all Christian denominations, then we would expect there to be a “gathering out” and a “binding together” of all Christian denominations except for those who represent the True Church, who consist of those who are really Christians and who the Lord calls the “righteous”.
After the “binding together” or uniting of the many False “Christians“, then the”wheat” or True Christians who are in every denomination will be “gathered together” or united together into the Lord’s “barn” or True Church (verse 30).
Those who have united together in the first False Church group will be burned up (verses 30, 40-42)! Those who have not united together with the first False Church group will be “gathered together” into God’s True Church and will “enjoy the kingdom of their Father” (verses 30, 43)!
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Doctrinal Truth (Taught by Jesus in the Parable of
“The Tares Among The Wheat”)
1. According to Jesus “wheat” represents the “children of the kingdom” or the righteous.
2. According to Jesus “tares” represent the “children of the wicked one” or doers of iniquity.
3. The “tares” represent the “doers of iniquity” within the Christian Church. They appear to be “Christians” but are really “doers of iniquity”.
4. The “tares” or “doers of iniquity” will be gathered out of the Church by the Lord and the angels at the end of the world.
5. At the present time there is only one group of people that make up the Church; a mixture of “wheat” and “tares” or a mixture of righteous and doers of iniquity.
6. At the end of the world there will be two groups of people;either “wheat” or “tares” or a separation between the righteous and the doers of iniquity.
7. When the “doers of iniquity” (tares) have been separated from the “righteous” (wheat), the Church will have been purified.
8.When it has been purified, then the Church will “shine forth as the sun”, which means that those left will “reflect the light (shine) of Christ’s righteousness (of the sun)”. They will resemble Christ in character. (They will not be willfully sinning.) They will teach the truth (shine) about Christ’s righteousness (as the sun) to all the world.
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9. At the “time of harvest” or at the end of the world, the “tares” or “doers of iniquity”, will be gathered out first and be “bound together”.
10. This First group of “doers of iniquity” will be a very
large group of professing “Christians” who will Unite or be “bound together”. They represent the False Church or the “many” on the “Broad Way” who “cast out devils”, etc. in the Lord’s name but who will receive the reward of destruction or being burned up.
11. After the Uniting of this First large group of professing “Christians” who comprise the False Church, there will be a Second group consisting of True Christians who will be “gathered together” by the Lord.
12. This Second group will be “few” in number compared to the “many” in the First group, but the “few” in the Second group represent the True Church and the Lord calls them the “righteous”. They will receive the reward of Eternal Life and enjoy the “kingdom of their Father”.
13. The “rewards” given, are not given until the
“end of the world”. This means that no one is burning in hell now! The wicked will be burned up at the end of the world! The righteous receive Eternal Life at the end of the world.
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