The parable of the tares is next, found only in Matthew 13:24-30. Jesus explains this parable later in the chapter in verses 36-43. Its meaning can only be fully understood when examined in the context of the earlier parable of the sower. As previously mentioned, the parables given in Matthew 13 all illustrate the dangers of religious deception.
Christianity today in its many forms represented by a considerable number of denominations, institutions, groups and independent ministries is nothing more than an extension over time of the Judaism Jesus encountered and opposed during His pubic ministry. Later, in His parable of the new cloth and new wine Jesus clearly illustrates the fact that the new religious deception that will follow the Judaism of His day will be even more deceptive and destructive than the Judaism that preceded it.
Let’s look at the parable, then we’ll examine Jesus’ explanation and make the applications. This is Matthew 13:24-30. “Then Jesus presented yet another parable to them saying, The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while he was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed darnel among the wheat, and went his way. Now when the seed grew and began to form grain, the darnel was found. And the man’s servants came to him and asked, Sir, didn’t you sow only good seed in your field? How, then, does it have darnel growing in it? He replied to them, An enemy has done this. So, his servants asked him, Do you want us to go and weed it out? But he answered them, No, as I fear in rooting out the bad, you will damage the true along with it. Let them grow together until the harvest, I will tell the reapers to gather the darnel first and bind it into bundles to be burned; then they can gather the wheat into my barn.”
This is the first parable recorded in which Jesus uses the introduction “the kingdom of heaven is like”. This parable begins His illustration of a worldwide, religious conglomeration that includes both true believers and false pretenders. It is the description of a time in which false, religious activity blends together almost seamlessly with true spirituality. To the casual observer both may look the same. However, the difference is real, as illustrated in this parable and others like it. And, it is also clear; He will sort it all out in the end, separating the good from the bad, the true from the false, His sheep from the goats.
In the translation above, “darnel” (“tares” in the KJV) is zizanion, darnel or false grain. Darnel is virtually undistinguishable from other common grains when it first sprouts. It is only after the plant grows that the difference can be seen. By then its roots have become entangled with the good grain and it is impossible to uproot it without damaging the good. It was common practice for men to secretly sow darnel in the fields of their enemies. At harvest time the two could be quickly identified when compared to the other grains being grown, because the darnel produced long, black grains. However, great care had to be taken to insure that the darnel wasn’t mixed in with the good grain, as it is poisonous. The other difficulty was that in the harvesting some of the darnel would fall unnoticed onto the ground and sprout the next year, starting the cycle all over again (which, by the way, is an illustration of religious deception and doctrinal error perpetuated generation after generation in the kingdom of heaven).
Now, let’s look at Jesus’ explanation of this parable. This is what He says in verses 36-43.
“Then He left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to Him and asked, Tell us the meaning of the darnel in the field. And Jesus answered, He Who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seed means the children of the kingdom and the darnel the children of the evil one. The enemy who sowed it is the devil. The harvest is the completion of the age and the reapers are angels. And just like the darnel is gathered and burned with fire, so it will be at the close of the age. The Son of Man will send forth His angels and they will gather out of His kingdom all those by whom others have been drawn into error and all those who have rejected the truth. And they will be cast into the furnace of fire and there will be loud cries and bitter remorse. Then those who are in right standing with God will shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Listen, this is very important, so consider it carefully.”
The meaning of the different aspects of this parable are fairly obvious. The sower is Jesus, the field is the world, the good seed represents the children of the kingdom, the darnel represents the children of the evil one and the enemy who sowed the darnel is the devil. The harvest is the completion of this age, the reapers are angels, those who have been drawn into error and have rejected the truth (the darnel) are bundled to be burned in the furnace of fire (hell) and those in right standing with God (the children of the kingdom) will enjoy the eternal presence of the Father.
Jesus starts the parable with “the kingdom of heaven is like”. In other words, the all-important characteristic of this present age, regardless of how you choose to define it (the church age, the times of the Gentiles, the age of grace, etc.) is illustrated by this parable. This time began with John’s message calling for a personal, individual preparation for the entrance of the Lord and of His plan and purpose into the hearts of men, a preparation only accomplished through true repentance (Matthew 3:2-3). Jesus then took up where John left off and continued this same message (Matthew 4:17). Then Paul (and others) preached the same message (Acts 20:21). This age ends when Jesus returns with His angels to separate the sheep from the goats (Matthew 25:31-46) or, as in this parable, when He returns to separate the wheat from the darnel (the true from the false).
The point is that during this age there exists both true wheat and false darnel that look the same. They will be separated in the end because they produce different fruit. And remember from the last paper, “fruit” illustrates the inward development and outward manifestation of the character and nature of God in the life of the believer. If we don’t become like Him, we can’t be with Him. The result of this separation will be that some are bundled to be burned (eternal destruction), while others are gathered to the Master’s barn (become God’s eternal possession).
In this parable Jesus explains that there are both children of the kingdom and children of
the evil one in the kingdom of heaven. And how does this happen? Remember the parable of the sower? In His explanation of that parable Jesus uses the verb harpazo (to snatch away or rob) to explain that the program of the devil is to go to those who have not carefully considered truth and immediately get them involved in religion. Religion then systematically robs them of truth by replacing it with rituals, traditions, doctrines based on half-truths and false promises that appeal to the flesh (remember the comparison earlier of present day Christianity being an extension in time of the Judaism of the Pharisees). Jesus had already used that word (harpazo) in Matthew 11:12 to explain this same evil plan when He said, “And since the time John the Baptist began preaching, the kingdom of heaven has endured violent assault and unscrupulous men (influenced by evil) have stolen it away.” Here, “stolen” is from harpazo.
There have always been those who are willingly enticed by the devil and driven by their own lustful desires, more than willing to cooperate with this evil plan to corrupt the truth and steal the kingdom away from the careless and the unsuspecting. They are the wolves in sheep’s clothing Jesus warns of in Matthew 7:15, a description used again when He sent out the twelve (Matthew 10:16), again when He sent out the seventy (Luke 10:3) and again by Paul in his farewell to the Ephesian elders (Acts 20:28-30).
From its very beginning the devil has infiltrated the kingdom of heaven for the express purpose of stealing the reality of it away by deception — a far more effective plan than open opposition and persecution. Paul spent over twenty years battling these “false brethren” who infiltrated the assemblies of true believers (Galatians 2:4). The kingdom of heaven suffers its most disastrous effect not from without, but from within.
And notice in Jesus’ explanation of this parable in verse 41 the statement, “The Son of Man will send forth His angels and they will gather out of His kingdom all those by whom others have been drawn into error and all those who have rejected the truth.” Here He identifies two different manifestations of the “darnel”. The first are those who have cooperated with the devil’s evil plan and have been instrumental in actively leading others astray by promoting their false religious systems and institutions. The others are those who had full access to the Truth, but were too lazy or lacked the determination required to consider and understand Truth and follow it, so they fell victim to religious deception.
And remember what I said at the beginning of this paper about sincerity? I do not doubt the sincerity of most people who participate in institutional, denominational religion. But again, sincerity and truth are two different things. I really believe that Jesus is alluding to this sincerity in verse 42 when He describes (not only here, but in Matthew 8:12, 13:50 and Luke 13:28 as well) those who are denied entrance into His eternal presence and cast into eternal torment instead. This is where we see the familiar phrase “there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth” (or some variation of it, sometimes the translation reads “weeping and grinding of teeth”), both are idioms for intense regret or bitter remorse.
The time will come when the sincerely religious will be confronted with the reality of their failure to understand and follow the truth. That reality will cause the reaction Jesus describes above. However, by this point in time it will be too late. All the sincerity in the world will not change the result. The door of opportunity will have been closed (Luke 13:23-30). And this is precisely why Jesus ends the explanation of this parable in verse 43 with the statement “listen to this, it’s really important, so consider it carefully.” The Lord’s judgment will never be based on the amount of sincerity you possess; it will be based on your obedience to His Truth.
There’s one more issue to discuss from this parable, then I’ll close this out. In the parable itself Jesus gives this account of the conversation between the owner of the field and his servants. When the servants discover darnel in the field they ask the master if he wants them to uproot it and take it out. The master’s reply is, “No, as I fear that in rooting out the bad, you will damage the true along with it. Let them grow together until the harvest…”
It can be a tricky business trying to determine the bad from the true. Only the Lord has ability to know the hearts of all men at any given time (I Chronicles 28:9, Jeremiah 17:10, John 2:24, 25 and Revelation 2:23). We tend to be overly zealous, arrogant and can easily make mistakes. If we take it upon ourselves to try to uproot the darnel, we take the risk of causing an immature believer to stumble — a serious offense Jesus warns against (Matthew18:6). The Lord’s instruction is to let them grow together, and then in the end He will sort it all out. All responsibility for judgment has been given to the Son (John 5:22), and for that we can be eternally grateful.
Now, there are some who disagree with the idea that Christianity is, in reality, the Kingdom of Heaven and is made up of both true believers and false pretenders as these parables of Jesus portray. They like to point out that this “opinion” is definitely in the minority and that most “experts” they know would disagree with it. And I’ve been around religion long enough to know that disagreement is real. I’m glad to be in the minority as that is the very thing Jesus illustrates with His statement regarding the “few” on the narrow road that leads to life, as opposed to the “many” on the broad road that leads to destruction (Matthew 7:13, 14). And if there’s anything the Scriptures clearly teach it’s that the majority is always wrong, because the majority is always dominated by their flesh. World philosophy says the majority is always right (a principle that finds its source in the devil).
This is a principle everyone must learn sooner or later if they’re ever going to know truth and pursue God with any degree of success. Reject the majority opinion. Reject the popular religious institutions, programs or movements that people get so excited about. Real truth is only found through a determined personal, individual, long and difficult quest, where the flesh is put down, rejection by the majority is accepted with grace, possible persecution and insecurity drives you not into the things of the world, but deeper into a dependence on God. And those who persist in it eventually find not the temporary emotional highs and disappointments of false, religious promises unfulfilled, but the limitless love of God and an undying expectation of future promises fulfilled by the One Who cannot lie.