The Parable Of The Wheat And The Tares
(A Teaching About True And False Believers In Christ)
Matthew 13:24-30
“Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who 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 grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”"
"Oh what a trying parable, a picture of corruption!(A Teaching About True And False Believers In Christ)
Matthew 13:24-30
“Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who 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 grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”"
A tale of tares amongst the wheat and how they cause disruption.
Here we see an enemy, a wicked soul indeed
Who wishes to destroy the work of One who plants good seed.
The evil tares look similar and harmless for a time
And yet their wicked purpose is to ruin things divine!
They grow amid the Farmer’s crop while wearing a disguise
But time reveals their true intent, exposing all their lies.
Oh how we take encouragement for though they share the earth,
The Farmer knows the difference and keeps only that of worth.
This picture of hypocrisy can cause the heart to lurch
For so it grieves the soul to see corruption in the Church!
Though many hidden motives may take us by surprise,
Nothing fools our righteous God and naught escapes His eyes!
For those professing righteousness, yet wicked in their way
Will not survive the harvest and be cast aside one day.
Though deeds are done in darkness and for a time concealed,
We trust in Jesus’ wisdom, knowing all will be revealed!
The Day of Harvest is at hand! We’ll come before His Throne,
So may our spirit be at peace, our Father knows His own!"
Matthew 7:15-23
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn-bushes or figs from thistles?
Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”
Acts 20:28-30
“Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.”
Points For Reflection And Insight
The parable of the wheat and the tares shows us how God will divide His true people from false believers at the end of this age. While the parable itself appears between verses 24 to 30 in Matthew 13, Jesus goes on to explain the parable in verses 36 to 43. He makes it clear that He is the Man in the story, the Sower of good seed while the field is the world. The wheat are true believers in Christ while the tares are false believers and the enemy is the devil who sows counterfeit believers among the genuine.
In the days of Jesus, if two farmers weren’t getting along, it was common practice for one farmer to throw bad seed into the field of the other, in order to sabotage the crop. A field full of poisonous seed could end up bankrupting the owner and destroying the whole crop. The bad seed would likely have been the “bearded darnel” which looks a lot like wheat in colour, shape and texture but unlike wheat, the darnel is poisonous.
As the darnel seed would grow, it would look exactly like the wheat at first and it was only as the time for harvest was approaching that the difference between the two became apparent.
One interesting thing to note about wheat is that as the time for harvest approaches, the wheat begins to become heavy with the fruit of it’s growth and starts to bow down. Darnel on the other hand, doesn’t do this and so this is one noticeable difference between the good seed and the counterfeit seed.
This creates a beautiful picture of the difference between the true believer and the false believer of Jesus. The true believer has a heart that is bowed down before the Lord but the false believer, the “religious person” who trusts in their own self righteousness, remains proud and upright before God. The genuine wheat bows but the tares remain upright.
When it comes to the sad reality of how satan sows false believers among the true believers of God, it’s accurate to say that satan is a master at imitation. One of his main methods for attacking God’s work is through imitation and infiltration of the Church.
When something supernatural takes place, it isn’t necessarily a sign of God at work as satan can imitate these things to a degree. We only have to look at the magicians of Pharaoh in Exodus 7 to see how dark forces can duplicate the work of God and look impressive to a certain extent.
Although satan may be able to imitate signs and wonders, these counterfeit works however will only ever make things worse. The works of the devil may look impressive at first and masquerade as great works of God but ultimately they only cause harm and damage.
Dabbling in dark forces such as the occult for example, or being involved in something like a seance may seem like a good idea but will only lead a person further away from God and their salvation.
The works of satan can be well disguised but in the end they’re intended to ensnare a person and keep them away from the truth.
It’s a sad reality that there are false believers masquerading amid the true believers of Christ. It’s important that we are aware of this however and the parable of the wheat and the tares shows us that Jesus wants us to be awake to this fact.
What this parable also highlights is that Jesus is making it clear that it’s not our job as true believers to go uprooting false believers.
In the process of uprooting false believers, we may unintentionally uproot genuine believers too. Young Christians may have gotten caught up in something, thinking it’s a work of God but having been deceived by the enemy. What this person needs is guidance and wisdom from more mature believers, not ousting!
As long as God’s people are still in this world, there will be false believers among them but only God can truly judge a person’s heart. This is why it’s not our place as true believers to go seeking to uproot others. We may mean well but could be mistaken in trying to divide the false from the true. Our job as the Church is to be faithful in what God has given us to do and leave the separating to Him.
This doesn’t mean we don’t practice discernment of course, as we’re told to mark those who seek to cause division within the Church but it does mean our focus should be on shining the light for Christ until His return.
Just as we read in the Matthew 7, not everyone who says to Jesus, “Lord Lord” will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. False believers may have been able to fool some in life but they can’t fool God. The parable of the wheat and the tares shows us that we can rest in knowing that God sees all these things, knows the true motives of each person’s heart and will separate the false from the true in His perfect time.
Have you ever struggled with wondering why Jesus doesn’t put an instant end to something you believe to be darkness masquerading as light? Have you ever thought about it in the context of God preserving His children in that situation? Does it bring you peace to know that Jesus sees everything and will deal with all falsehood and hypocrisy in His time?
May we thank God today for His Sovereignty in this situation and set our sights on how we can share the Gospel with those around us.
