THE PARABLE OF THE TARES: OUR LORD'S EXPLANATION
(Message by Tanny Keng)
1. The Parable Of The Tares
a) One of the longer parables in Matthew 13 is the parable of the tares. It is considerably more complex than the several shorter parables in that chapter.
b) It is uncertain just what plant is referred to. The Greek word is zizania, which is used in the Bible only in the parable of the tares (Matthew 13:24-30). However the parable is clearly referring to a tare that looks very like wheat when it is young, but becomes evident when the true wheat sets a fruiting head.
c) The Parable of the Tares is mainly concerned with the fact that the kingdom of God is in the world where there is much evil, and will remain so until the end of the world when the good and the evil will be forever separated (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43).
2. Our Lord’s Explanation
Matthew 13:36-43
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.
a) Matthew 13:36 records a request from the disciples for an explanation of the parable. They were not willing to invent an interpretation of their own. They wanted guidance. They were interested only in the true meaning of the parable, the meaning intended by its teller. We might note this attitude as the proper one regarding all scripture, not only the parables.
b) Matthew 13:37 tells the Sower is the Son of Man; a description Jesus used of himself. It does not deny that he is the Son of God, but emphasizes that he is also a human being, having been born one of us in order that he might sow good seed, saving our souls.
c) Matthew 13:38 tells the Field is a small surprise, because we might have guessed that the field was the kingdom of God. In this parable however, it is the world.
d) Matthew 13:38 tells the Good Seed of wheat is another surprise, because in the parable of the sower, the seed was the word of God. In this parable, however, it represents "the sons of the kingdom", the people who obey the word of God.
e) Matthew 13:38 tells the Bad Seed of tares represents "the sons of the evil one" who are the opposite of the sons of the kingdom. From the spiritual point of view, people are divided into two groups, sons of good and sons of evil. There is no third kind. There is no one who is neither.
f) Matthew 13:39 tells the Enemy is the Devil. He is a sneak, creeping in unseen, doing his evil work of spoiling the good, and then running off to hide, making it look as though nothing has happened. Only later do we discover that he has been at work, when his deception manifests itself.
g) Matthew 13:39 tells the Harvest is the end of the world. Just as a crop grows until the harvest, so the world will go on through the ages until God declares that harvest time has come. Then the reapers will take a sickle to the field, remove the tares and gather the wheat. It is worth noting that the tares, though they tangled themselves among the wheat, did not prevent the wheat from reaching maturity and bearing fruit.
h) Matthew 13:39 tells the Reapers are the angels. No man (other than Jesus) determines who is wheat and who is weed. That is a task for angels who can be trusted to do it right.
i) Matthew 13:40-41 tells the Gathering Up is the same as the separating of the sheep from the goats in the parable recorded in a later chapter (Matthew 25:31-33). The angels will first gather the sons of evil to cast them aside for destruction. Even those who have disguised themselves as sons of light when they are not, will be gathered up with the rest.
j) Matthew 13:42-43 tells the Lord’s Warning is very clear. Be ready for that day to come. The Lord speaks of the sons of the kingdom as Michael the archangel did centuries earlier when he warned the world of the coming day when both the living and the dead will be judged (Daniel 12:1-4).
The End ...
1. The Parable Of The Taresa) One of the longer parables in Matthew 13 is the parable of the tares. It is considerably more complex than the several shorter parables in that chapter.
b) It is uncertain just what plant is referred to. The Greek word is zizania, which is used in the Bible only in the parable of the tares (Matthew 13:24-30). However the parable is clearly referring to a tare that looks very like wheat when it is young, but becomes evident when the true wheat sets a fruiting head.
c) The Parable of the Tares is mainly concerned with the fact that the kingdom of God is in the world where there is much evil, and will remain so until the end of the world when the good and the evil will be forever separated (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43).
2. Our Lord’s Explanation
Matthew 13:36-43
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.
a) Matthew 13:36 records a request from the disciples for an explanation of the parable. They were not willing to invent an interpretation of their own. They wanted guidance. They were interested only in the true meaning of the parable, the meaning intended by its teller. We might note this attitude as the proper one regarding all scripture, not only the parables.
b) Matthew 13:37 tells the Sower is the Son of Man; a description Jesus used of himself. It does not deny that he is the Son of God, but emphasizes that he is also a human being, having been born one of us in order that he might sow good seed, saving our souls.
c) Matthew 13:38 tells the Field is a small surprise, because we might have guessed that the field was the kingdom of God. In this parable however, it is the world.
d) Matthew 13:38 tells the Good Seed of wheat is another surprise, because in the parable of the sower, the seed was the word of God. In this parable, however, it represents "the sons of the kingdom", the people who obey the word of God.
e) Matthew 13:38 tells the Bad Seed of tares represents "the sons of the evil one" who are the opposite of the sons of the kingdom. From the spiritual point of view, people are divided into two groups, sons of good and sons of evil. There is no third kind. There is no one who is neither.
f) Matthew 13:39 tells the Enemy is the Devil. He is a sneak, creeping in unseen, doing his evil work of spoiling the good, and then running off to hide, making it look as though nothing has happened. Only later do we discover that he has been at work, when his deception manifests itself.
g) Matthew 13:39 tells the Harvest is the end of the world. Just as a crop grows until the harvest, so the world will go on through the ages until God declares that harvest time has come. Then the reapers will take a sickle to the field, remove the tares and gather the wheat. It is worth noting that the tares, though they tangled themselves among the wheat, did not prevent the wheat from reaching maturity and bearing fruit.
h) Matthew 13:39 tells the Reapers are the angels. No man (other than Jesus) determines who is wheat and who is weed. That is a task for angels who can be trusted to do it right.
j) Matthew 13:42-43 tells the Lord’s Warning is very clear. Be ready for that day to come. The Lord speaks of the sons of the kingdom as Michael the archangel did centuries earlier when he warned the world of the coming day when both the living and the dead will be judged (Daniel 12:1-4).
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