My wife and IMat 13:24-30 (NKJV) 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.” ‘ ”
After Jesus finishes his teaching to the crowds, he and the disciples go inside the house where Jesus explains the parable to them privately. This is an interesting parable many have thought this to be about the church, and to some extent it is about those who profess Jesus and those who claim to be followers of Jesus but are not. We are however, talking about the world not the church per se.
The good seeds are the ones who are truly of the kingdom, those who believe that Jesus is Lord of all, that he is God, and King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We believe that Jesus will return to bring his people to the kingdom and to redeem those in Israel who are willing to come to him as the truth messiah of prophecy.
We have been sown as seeds in the world to bring the gospel message to people that they too might come to know Jesus as the Christ, God in the flesh, come as savior and redeemer. The tares or weeds in the field are those who are the minions of Satan they are the counterfeit that Satan has sent or, sown in the field to cause disruption and to give a false message of God. Jesus tells the disciples that these are to be in the world alongside those who are truly bringing the message of the gospel. They will be the false prophets, the false witnesses and are intertwined with the truth. In a wheat field, where tares are also sown the roots are actually intertwined and so if you pull the weeds you may also pull the wheat.
Jesus then says that the farmer (God) says to allow the weeds and the wheat to grow together until the time of the harvest, then the reapers will be instructed to harvest the tares (weeds) and throw them into the fire, then bring in the wheat to the barn.
Let us not read into this what is not there. Jesus is not referring to the church, it is not yet formed and will not be for another few years, so to refer to it now would not be productive.
The reapers are those found in Revelation 14:14-20, they will be the ones who harvest the weeds and the wheat at the end of the age. It will be when the Lord returns and the tribulation period begins that people will be raised to heaven and others to hell. Those of us who know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, will enter the Kingdom of our Father in Heaven (God). Those who have not become members of the Kingdom, by confessing their sin, recognizing Jesus as Lord, and asking forgiveness and bowing the knee to Jesus as Lord will end in the fires of Hell.
The parable also does not justify having ungodly people as members of the church, remember this parable speaks of the world not the church. If you read Matthew 18 you will see that the church is to discipline those who are members and yet living in sin. Also 1 Corinthians 5:9-13 says the church is to put out of the fellowship all those who are guilty of certain forms of wickedness.
What this parable teaches is that there is genuine and counterfeit in the world, and this will be so until the end of the age. It behooves those who are truly followers of Jesus to teach that which we have learned from our Lord, that some may be saved. Not all will acknowledge the Kingship of Christ, and they will find themselves in the fires of hell, but those who do know Christ as Lord, have a job to do. We are the witnesses who must tell the truth of the gospel. Sin gets you a one way ticket to the lake of fire, where as Jesus says there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Personally, I wish all would be saved, all would come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, and work toward their day in the kingdom along with the rest of us. Know this, if you know someone who needs to be introduced to Jesus, and you are a believer in the Lordship of Jesus Christ, your job is to introduce them to Jesus. What they do with that introduction is up to them. God says through the prophet Jeremiah, that we are watchmen on the wall.
If we do not warn those who need to be warned, their blood is on us, but if we warn them and they ignore it, it is their own problem. So brothers and sisters speak up. There are going to be difficult times coming but know that Christ has said that he is with us always, in all situations. He knows what it is to be rejected and to suffer for the truth, he gave his all for us can we do less for him? It is difficult, but not impossible, if you know Jesus as your brother, your savior and your Lord, speak up, that others may know him as well.
Remember, Jesus himself was ridiculed and despised, finally crucified and yet he suffered that punishment just for you and me so that we would be saved from sin and death. He has commanded us to go into all the world, preaching and teaching and making disciples and teaching them all that he has commanded us, that all might have the opportunity for salvation.
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