Of Wheat and Tares: A Meditation on Matthew 13

Another parable put he put forth unto them, saying,

The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which 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 blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.

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?

He said unto them, An enemy hath done this.

The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?

But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.

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…

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.

He answered and said unto them,

He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;

The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom;

but the tares are the children of the wicked one;

The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world;

and the reapers are the angels.

As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire;

so shall it be in the end of this world.

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;

And shall cast them into a furnace of fire:

there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun

in the kingdom of their Father.

Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

All the vignettes of Matthew 13 pertaining to the Kingdom of God are worthy of meditation, and each add to our understanding of who we are relative to that Kingdom.  As Jesus noted when He gave these parables to His disciples, they were making known truth which had been kept secret from the foundation of the world.  It is worth spending time to hear what He has to say, and consider what meaning it has for our lives.

What we see in the parable of the Wheat and the Tares helps us appreciate the suffering we find ourselves in.  God is not the author of evil, nor does He teach men to be evil.  The world He created is good, and by His Word, we know His intentions for the world and everyone in it.  The devil, on the other hand, as an enemy of God and man, plants his seeds of deception, destruction, division, theft, murder, and insurrection in the world, and teaches men to follow in his footsteps.  In the parable, the Holy Angels look upon this mess and ask the Lord if they should tear it all up immediately, so that evil may no more dwell upon the good creation of God.  But God, in His mercy, allows the evil one to persist in his weeds and tempt others toward evil, so that the people of God are allowed to live, and grow, and find their future with Him in the fullness of time.

From the perspective of the wheat, this life among weeds is a constant struggle, with an enemy who is unceasingly working to choke them out.  Not only would the devil corrupt the world by infesting it with his own works of malice and evil, but he would turn every person he could into a noxious reflection of himself.  Every person, tempted as we are by our own fallen nature and the smooth seductions of the evil one, is susceptible to this fate.  And while the Weeds are growing, they seem at times to be winning the war against the Wheat; like the kudzu of the south or the blackberry vines of the northwest, weeds can seem to have the upper hand against cultivated crops, and the temptation of every generation is to simply give in and join them.

However, Jesus is clear that while God allows the suffering of a corrupted world to continue for the sake His people’s continued life, it is not a forbearance without end.  The fullness of time comes, both in an individual sense and as a whole creation.  Each stalk of Wheat, or every child of God who lives by grace through faith in Christ alone, will find an end to their suffering and strife against the evil one and all his minions at the fullness of their time in this world.  It is then that the Holy Angels come to harvest that soul, that it may shine with undimmed glory in the presence our unconquerable King forever.  As individual servants of the Living God, no matter the struggles and strife brought upon us by the servants of the wicked one, our destiny is sealed in the loving promise of our Father in heaven, where we shall live in blessed communion with all the saints forever.  Likewise, the fate of those who embrace the evil one is also sealed regardless of their apparent temporal successes in this world, and those same Holy Angels who come to take the saints to heaven, will gather the wicked to be cast into their hellish prison, a furnace of fire, for all eternity.

And yet, beyond the individual fullness of time we each experience as either Wheat or Tares, disciples of God or disciples of the devil, there is a fullness of time for the world, as well.  Eventually time will run out for the devil and his scheming horde, and the great harvest at the end of the age will come.  There will be a unique event for all who still abide on the earth in those days, where they will see their individual fullness of time coincide with the fullness of time in creation.  For that generation, they will see the return of Jesus to the earth, together with all the saints of every age and the hosts of Holy Angels, who will descend in glory to judge the living and the dead.  In that day, all evil will be removed from the earth, the resurrection of all flesh will be accomplished, and the saints will shine forth in the victory of Jesus in a new heaven and a new earth.

Of this time, we do not know.  Jesus did not reveal it to His disciples, but He did command them to watch.  So while we cannot know the fullness of time for all creation anymore than we can know the fullness of time for our own lives, we watch and we pray, living out our faith in love for God and neighbor, striving to do our duty according to the calling we have received from our Lord.  This life of faith lives in grace, knowing that He who holds all the fullness of time in His omnipotent hands, has promised to work all things out for good to those who love Him.  Our blessing and our duty is to live in faith and repentance, assured of the promise of God’s Word, that He will guide all things—including us—into eternity.  In this promise we find our hope, our rest, our confidence, and our inspiration, as the Eternal Word of the Father gives us a victory no conglomeration of evil men or demons can overcome.  All glory be to our saving God, now and forever!  Amen.