The Parable of The Wheat and The Tares
Matthew 13. 24-30, 36-43
May I speak in the name and to the glory of God, who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen
Jesus is in a boat, teaching the crowds on the beach many things in parables. This is the scene at the beginning of Matthew 13, in which Jesus begins with the parable of the sower and proceeds to tell parable after parable about the Kingdom of Heaven. It is like a mustard seed, yeast, treasure hidden in a field, a merchant searching for fine pearls and a net. These images are perhaps so familiar to us that we face the danger of no longer probing the startling and unsettling truth which lies within them and how to make sense of them in our everyday lives. And yet, Jesus’s parables invite us again and again into an imaginary world, rooted in the reality of the world of the Bible, and pointing us to a world not yet realised and the truth that lies beyond us. And as I re-read them, I find these simple but also complex stories, raise profound questions without always providing answers. They leave me puzzling their meaning as I search for God’s role and character in the midst of them and I’m led to ponder the hidden reality of God’s Kingdom in the present and what it might be in the future.
So, to the parable of the wheat and the tares. It centres on the everyday problem of weeds growing amongst a crop of wheat. This particular weed is especially difficult to deal with because in its early stages, it is indistinguishable from the wheat and if uprooted too early, there is the chance that some wheat would be mistakably uprooted with the weeds. But if the weeds are left longer when the wheat and tares can be more easily distinguished there is the danger of damaging the wheat when the weeds are pulled out because of their extensive root system. Now, in the parable, the farmer chooses another option, he lets the wheat and tares grow together right through to harvest when the two can be cleanly separated and the tares then burned.
So, what might Jesus be teaching us about the Kingdom of Heaven and the ways of God in this everyday parable?
Let’s look at the parable in more detail. The parable begins with the statement that the Kingdom of Heaven may be compared with someone who sowed good seed in his field. This is a good farmer, with good seed preparing for a good harvest. Then comes the enemy in the night and wickedly sows weeds among the wheat. Evil has entered the field. But the response of the farmer is very significant, as I have already mentioned, he doesn’t choose to eradicate the weeds immediately but rather allows the weeds to grow alongside the wheat until the harvest. This undoubtedly shows us the reality of perplexing truth that in our world, where God is creator and Lord of all, evil continues to exist and touches our lives whether we are followers of Jesus or not. Bad things happen to seemingly good people. We face this truth each day in the news stories flooding the media or in our personal experiences of cruelty, abuse, hurt and pain. But in this parable Jesus extends our horizon beyond the present time of suffering and evil, and he explains the parable by describing the end times, and the time of divine justice. We live in the present, but the present is that in between time before the not yet and the coming of the kingdom. This is the time of the groaning of creation which Paul so eloquently refers to in Romans 8. You see, the parable does not try to explain the mystery of suffering and evil in God’s world, but instead Jesus is leading us to contemplate how all of this might be resolved in the time to come. So, this is not a parable about why the evil weeds entered the field, but rather it is a parable which assures us of God’s final response to evil when the Son of Man will send His angels and they will collect out of His Kingdom all the causes of sin and evil doers. And furthermore, it also challenges us to trust the good farmer, who in allowing the tares to grow alongside the wheat is making a carefully judged decision in which his overarching concern is the fruitfulness of his wheat and ensuring a good harvest.
God in His wisdom does not ignore the evil in this world, it always remains in God’s view, but He ensures that evil will not destroy the glorious harvest to come. Evil will be duly dealt with, but not at the risk or expense of those who seek the truth and salvation by faith in Christ Jesus.
This rich parable also contains for us a warning not to be impetus and make hasty judgements to tackle the weeds ourselves, as the slaves urged in the parable. It is not for us to intervene and judge who is righteous or unworthy and pre-empt God’s work of judgement and justice, but we should wait and leave that to God alone, in God’s time and not risk pulling out any good wheat with the tares.
Paul in Romans 8 emphasises the importance of waiting, hoping and trusting in God. Waiting for the glory about to be revealed to us, and for creation to be set free from its bondage to decay. The Kingdom and the salvation we hope for is entirely God’s hands. Waiting on God ultimately rests on our confidence in His promises and all He has shown us in the cross and resurrection of Jesus. It is this, that takes us to see beyond this broken, sinful world, where the weeds threaten to choke the wheat and leads us to embrace the eternal vision of the consummation of all things in Christ, where evil is no more and every tear will be made dry. So, we wait faithfully, in hope, for the day when the tares will be separated out and God’s kingdom will finally come. Amen.