The harvest is the end of the age.

Matthew 13:24-46  Tares among Wheat

²⁴ Jesus 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.”...

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.

Hidden Treasure

⁴⁴ “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

A Costly Pearl

⁴⁵ “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, ⁴⁶ and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

In today's text from Matthew 13, Jesus again teaches kingdom principles through the use of parables. The first parable, tares among wheat brings an important teaching both to individuals and to the church as a whole. Jesus explains the parable saying, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man(Jesus),  and the field is the world; We should note that in the original telling of the parable Jesus says,  “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. "In his field",  So Jesus, the Son of Man, is both the sower and the owner of the field, the world. Jesus came to bring the message of the kingdom to the world. He is the owner of the world  so  the harvest that is to be reaped is His harvest. Jesus acknowledges that the devil has sown seeds of deceit along side of  the truth of God's word in the world. From the beginning when the devil first deceived Adam and Eve until the end of the age there was and will be this coexistance of good and evil, truth and lies in the world.

The church needs to understand that Jesus is the owner of the field and so the owner of the harvest. God's desire is that none should be lost. 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. The price that He paid on the cross is far to high of a price to risk losing any of the precious harvest to be reaped from the good seed He has sown. Jesus, the owner, is not concerned that there are some tares among the wheat in His field. The church should focus more on following Jesus instruction to nurture and care for the wheat than it does worrying about the tares. This is not to say that we should tolerate false teachers or false teaching. To the extent that we can we should try to protect the field from the sowing of false teaching. The most important thing though is to protect the precious seeds that are growing from the good seed of truth.

In the early stages it can be very difficult to distinguish between the tares and the wheat. The devils lies will often include some elements of the truth of God's word. The devil will either leave out some part of the truth or add to the truth to change it. This is the  reason it can be very difficult to distinguish which seed is growing initially. At maturity though there are several easily recognizable differences between the fruit of good and evil. The closer it gets to maturity the more full of good grain the wheat becomes. The tares on the other hand never produce fruit of any value, they are basically unfruitful and actually noxious. This difference causes an easily recognizable difference in the appearance and character of the tares and the wheat. As the wheat matures and becomes fruitful the weight of the new seed it holds causes it to bend or bow over. As true followers of Christ mature there is a tendency to become more humble to bow and offer their fruit to the owner of the harvest. Tares on the other hand exist for themselves. They remain upright and proud, not willing to bow to the Lord. Jesus, will know the difference at the harvest time. We are not to focus on evil but on good.

Verse 39 of our text says:  the harvest is the end of the age. The end of the age will be the coming to maturity of everything that has been sown in the world, both good and evil. Jesus saw such value in the harvest that He gave everything for it. We are called to have this same attitude and heart. Philippians 2:5-11 says:

 ⁵ Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷ but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. ⁸ Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. ⁹ For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, ¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

That's the message of the parable of the "hidden treasure" and the "costly pearl". We should, like Christ, give up everything we have to obtain the kingdom.  In Jesus commission to the disciples and us in Matthew 28:18-20 Jesus calls us to labor in the field of His harvest, the whole world.

“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” 

Amen, so be it.