The parable of the tares among wheat
Have you ever wondered why you feel sleepy just when you want to read your Bible or pray?
Have you ever observed that just when you make plans to dedicate yourself more to God that the television programs become extra interesting?
Have you ever wondered why your spouse or children ‘act up’ just when you want to become serious about your ministry?
Have you ever noticed that conversations that start well can quickly degrade into sin?
Consider the following passages.
Mt 13:24-30 24 Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 "But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away. 26 "But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. 27 "The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ 28 "And he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this!’ The slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’ 29 "But he said, ‘No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 ‘Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn."‘ "
Mt 13:36-43 Then He left the crowds and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him and said, "Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field." 37 And He said, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, 38 and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one; 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels. 40 "So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. 41 "The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, 42 and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 "Then THE RIGHTEOUS WILL SHINE FORTH AS THE SUN in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.
We often don’t realize that we have an enemy in Satan. But the Bible says that we do, and that he prowls around looking for someone to devour. That is, he is not a passive enemy, but an active one.
1 Pet 5:8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
If there were a real lion – a really hungry one – prowling outside your front door what kind of emotion would that evoke in you? Would you go outside without a powerful gun?
Do you live your Christian life with that kind of emotion? How functional is your spiritual sword?
There are many Christians who are ignorant of Satan’s schemes. He comes and goes when he wants and takes from their lives what he wants when he wants. They don’t know it because they are asleep.
2 Cor 2:11 so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.
Satan operates in the home and in the church. He will try and separate husband and wife, father and son, mother and daughter, pastor and co-pastor, brother and brother, sister from sister. This is because he knows Mt 18:19.
Mt 18:19 "Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven."
Where there is resentment, bitterness, hatred, disappointment, jealously, unforgiveness, Satan or his agents are right there. He will use every means he can.
He is a thief – he will try to steal your time and your money.
When we realize that we do have a very serious enemy then we will be a little less gullible, and live a little more carefully.
I’ve come across very few ‘alert’ Christians. Most are barely awake. They walk into the lion’s den without a clue that they are about to be eaten. They eagerly follow all kinds of maps that lead them to the lion’s den without a clue that they are being led to slaughter. Further, if anyone tries to shake them awake, they mumble something like "Oh, do leave me alone" and go back to sleep.
Now you wouldn’t be one of them, would you?
Are you sure?
If you have no idea whether you are one of them, then you probably are one of them.
If you are absolutely confident that you are not one of them, then you probably are one of them.
Coming back to the parable of the wheat and the tares, the key point is that those who are in the kingdom of heaven have to contend with an enemy. We are soldiers, and we are in a war. If we don’t realize that and act as if we are at a wedding then we are thoroughly deceived.
Secondly, Jesus said that when the wheat sprouted and bore grain then the tares became evident. That is, when the Christian begins to bear fruit for the kingdom of heaven then the servants of Satan begin to show their true colors. Satan does not spend too much time on the weak or dying Christians, but he does spend time trying to thwart the strong ones – those who are actually doing damage to his kingdom. The point to understand is that you should expect resistance when you walk with God and build His kingdom.
Thirdly, the identity of those who are in the kingdom and those who are not will only be clearly evident in the end. So we have to be on guard – just because a person takes the Name of Christ it does not mean that they are for Christ. Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. There was a son of the devil even among the twelve apostles.
Finally, even though we realize that Satan is out to get us, we can be secure, and at peace, and without anxiety. We are ready to die for Christ, and Satan cannot touch us without God’s permission. We don’t have to be afraid of Satan, because Jesus defeated him on the cross. We should be secure in the fact that at the end of the age the tares will be burnt and that the righteous will shine like the sun. We can wait patiently for that time.
Now Satan is not the only enemy we have. Lots of human beings, knowingly or unknowingly, work for Satan too. There are many people, particularly religious leaders, who appear first, but who will be last, or worse still, who may not even end up in the kingdom of heaven. That sad part is that, because of their influence on others, they will end up preventing other people from entering the kingdom of heaven.
Mt 23:13 "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in."
The scribes were the people who had knowledge of the Bible – today’s equivalent would be the seminary professors.
The Pharisees were the people who were the religious leaders of the day – today’s equivalent would be the pastors and popes and bishops and reverends – people will religious titles.
Woe unto them, says Jesus! Strong judgment is reserved for them.
What can we learn from this observation? We learn that we should not accept what people say just because they have a degree in theology or just because they have a religious title. We need to critically examine what they say and see if it really matches with Scripture. To do that we ourselves must know Scripture thoroughly. Even Satan quoted verses to Jesus to make his point, but we need to know all of Scripture so that we can not only know what is written, but also know what is also written.
Have you ever wondered why the Holy Spirit testifies that the Bereans were noble minded?
Ac 17:10-11 10 The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. 11 Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.
Even though they were being taught by the great apostle Paul himself these Bereans wanted Paul to show them where in Scripture his teachings came from. That is why the Holy Spirit calls them noble-minded. And that is probably why Paul never had to write a letter to them correcting some doctrine or behavior.
Would the Holy Spirit call you noble-minded?
Many Christians have a lot of time for television, sports and socializing, but little time for studying Scripture. They should not be surprised if they find in the Day of Judgment that they have been thoroughly deceived by Satan and the religious people of their day, and end up out of the kingdom of heaven.
Further, we learn that we must be bold enough to challenge what the so-called experts say. Many Christians are too timid to challenge someone who has a reputation of being an expert. This is usually because they don’t want to look like a fool. But it is better to look like a fool than to really be a fool.
When we realize the great value of what is at stake, and the vast resources available to the enemy of our souls, then we won’t be unwilling to make sure that what we have is authentic, and then guard it with every resource we have – as if we were guarding valuable treasure. That is exactly what Paul told Timothy in his very last letter.
2 Tm 1:13-14 13 Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.
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