What's that growing in the field?

Tares among Wheat

MATTHEW 24:

 ²⁴Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. ²⁵ But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away. ²⁶ But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. ²⁷ The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ ²⁸ And he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this!’ The slaves *said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’ ²⁹ But he *said, ‘No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. ³⁰ Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

This passage is another parable which speaks of the present and future of the kingdom of God. Jesus Himself explains the parable for us, so let's first look at the explanation. Then we can look at the application.

The Tares Explained

³⁶ Then He left the crowds and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.” ³⁷ And He said, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, ³⁸ and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one; ³⁹ and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels. ⁴⁰ So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. ⁴¹ The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, ⁴² and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ⁴³ Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

As we saw yesterday in the parable of the feast, there will be some who will be among those gathered into God's heavenly kingdom who will not enter in. Let's try to see where we are currently in this kingdom parable. First we need to make a distinction in identifying what a tare really is to understand the symbolism. A tare looks very much like wheat when it first grows. It's hard to discern the difference between the wheat and the tare until the grain developes. As it matures and begins to develope the head of grain the wheat will be taller and fuller headed. Keep in mind that among the wheat itself there will be some heads of grain that are more or less fruitful. This is not about judging the quantity of the fruit in lives. The tare as it matures will not develope any usable grain. There is no fruit. Just before the time to harvest is when it becomes the easiest to differentiate between the wheat and the tare. As the wheat becomes mature, full of grain/fruit, it begins to bow over. The tare on the other hand remains upright. This speaks to the condition we should find ourselves in as we mature in Christ. As we grow and mature, we hopefully develope fruit in our lives. The more fruit we bare the more humble we should become, recognizing that it is only through Christ, empowered by the Holy Spirit that we can do any good thing.

What though is the application for us concerning the tares we may see? First we need to keep in mind that in the early stages the difference between the wheat and tare is undiscernable. That is why we should not judge by appearances but by fruit.

In Matthew 7, Jesus had previouly taught: ¹⁵ “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. ¹⁶ You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? ¹⁷ So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ So then, you will know them by their fruits.  

So here is where we find ourselves, we need to understand that we may have and recognize some false planting among us. It is not our job or responsibility to weed it out and uproot it. That will come at the command of God at the appropriate time. He is the judge. We are though called to beware of false prophets. If we do in fact see that enemy sowing bad seed among the good we should do what we can to prevent that bad seed, false teachings, from being sown into God's harvest. Bad seed can not produce good crops.

Our response to this illustration that Jesus gives is first and foremost on a personal level for us to grow and mature, producing a full head of grain. As we do we become more and more aware of our dependence on God. We bow humbly knowing that any good within us is from Him. As the body or caretakers of God's harvest we need to rest in the fact that it is not ours to judge appearances. We protect against the bad seed to the best of our ability. Most importantly though we nurture the good seed which is growing amomg us. Through our love  encouragment and nurturing that seed which may have produced 30 fold could increase to 60 or 100 fold.        

There is an end time harvest that is coming. While we need to be aware and make preparations for that our primary focus today should be first, to grow and mature in our own lives. Then we  go out and work in the field that God has us in today.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit, thank You that You have sown the good seed of Your word into my life. Help me to grow and mature in You, producing fruit and seed for Your kingdom. Thank You that You alone are the judge of the hearts of men. That I can judge the fruit only. Help me also today, empowered by the Holy Spirit, to work in the field You have placed me in, my family, my neighborhood, my workplace or school, the place I shop, wherever You have me today may I be a nurturing influence to the seed You have sown in Your field.