WHEAT AND TARES

February 7 Matthew 11-13

Matthew 13:24-30 records Jesus’ Parable of the Wheat and Tares. In this parable, Jesus pulls back the veil on the nature of the kingdom of heaven during this present age. It is one of the most crucial kingdom parables because it explains why the world contains a mixture of true believers and false believers, righteousness and wickedness, truth and deception. This is also true in the local church. Jesus teaches that until He returns, the kingdom will grow in the midst of opposition, contamination, and spiritual conflict.

Jesus begins, “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field.” The sower here is Christ Himself. The field is the world. The good seed represents “the sons of the kingdom” which are true believers - people transformed by the gospel and bearing the life of Christ within them.

The work of Christ is always good and fruitful. There is no defect in His seed. There is no flaw in His Word. There is no mistake in His planting. Wherever Christ plants, He plants life, truth, righteousness, and fruitfulness. His people are planted with purpose in the soil of this world. We are saved and strategically placed to grow, shine, and bear fruit.

The tares represent “the sons of the wicked one.” These are not merely unbelievers, but people shaped by Satan’s influence. They are counterfeits, false disciples, religious hypocrites, and those who outwardly resemble wheat but inwardly lack divine life.

Tares look almost identical to wheat in early stages but ultimately produce poison. Jesus is describing deception that is subtle, strategic, and malicious. When the servants ask, “Sir, did you not sow good seed? How then does it have tares?” the master replies simply: “An enemy has done this.” This one statement answers a thousand theological questions: • Why is there evil in the world? • Why is there corruption in the visible church? • Why do false believers exist? • Why is truth opposed?

Jesus wants His disciples to understand: Evil is not a flaw in the kingdom of God. It is the attack of the enemy against the kingdom of God.

The servants, seeing the tares, ask, “Do you want us to go and gather them up?” This is the impulse of the human heart: “Let’s fix it now. Let’s purify it now. Let’s remove the false now!” But the master refuses. “No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them.” Human judgment is limited. If God allowed us to separate the true from the false now, we would damage His people. Zeal without knowledge always wounds the wheat. This is why Jesus prohibits His servants from acting as the final judges of who is “true” or “false.” We can preach truth, exercise discipline according to Scripture, and warn against error, but we cannot execute final judgment. Judgment belongs to God alone.

God allows both to grow together until the harvest—not because He tolerates evil, but because He protects the good. The presence of tares makes growth harder, but not impossible. The wheat will still mature because the life of God is within it.

Jesus says, “Let both grow together until the harvest.” The harvest represents the final judgment at His return. The wheat and tares will not grow together forever. A day of separation is coming. Jesus describes two destinies: 1. The tares are gathered and burned—a symbol of final judgment and eternal separation from God. 2. The wheat is gathered into the barn—a picture of eternal safety, reward, and glory.

The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares remind us that the kingdom of God grows in the midst of conflict, counterfeit, and spiritual opposition. Yet Christ remains the sovereign Sower. Satan cannot stop the harvest. Evil cannot prevent righteousness from flourishing. The Judge of the earth will separate the true from the false, the genuine from the counterfeit, the wheat from the tares. Until that day, let us watch, trust, grow, and keep our eyes on the coming harvest. For the wheat will be gathered into His barn.