The Life of Christ in the Synoptic Gospels
THE WHEAT AND THE TARES
The Life of Christ in the Synoptic Gospels
THE WHEAT AND THE TARES
Lesson Plan:
1. The Two Sowers (vs 24, 25, 27, 37, 39)
2. The Two Kinds of Seed (vs 24, 25, 38)
3. The Field (vs 38, 39, 40)
4. The Wheat and Tares Growing Together (vs 27-30)
5. The Harvest (vs 30, 39-43)
Lesson Setting:
Time: The autumn of 28 A.D.
Place: On the shore of the Sea of Galilee; probably not far from Capernaum. The explanation was
given when Jesus was alone with the disciples, perhaps in Capernaum.
Circumstances: The second of the group of Parables by the Sea, with which Jesus began His new
method of teaching. Jesus: about 32 years old. Near the middle of His ministry.
John The Baptist: in prison in castle Machaerus, nine miles northwest of the Dead Sea.
Introduction: This is the second of two parables interpreted by Jesus, as examples of the true method of interpretation. In the parable of The Sower the hindrances to success lay in the people themselves. In this parable the obstacles came from without. It is a picture of actual life, as well as of farming. Both pictures were familiar. Jesus made the people's treatment of the difficulties in the natural world a means of helping them to solve some of the problems of their daily lives. Evil exists. It creates constant struggles, and difficulties. How are we to meet them? This parable is one of the answers.
Scripture Reading: Matthew 13:24, 25, 27, 37, 39
1. The Two Sowers
First Sower: Son of Man, Who Sowed the Good Seed – The picture presented here was familiar to all. They had often seen the sower go forth. They knew the wheat fields; they had watched the growing wheat. They had seen the tares among the wheat; had learned too much about the difficulty of separating the wheat from the tares. They had eaten the bread made of wheat from which the tares had not been entirely removed. The sower of the good seed was the Son of God. From the earliest ages He has been sowing good seed among men. The Bible from beginning to end records the work of this Sower. His whole life was one of sowing good seed by His teaching, His example, His death; by the Holy Spirit He has sent. Every influence, providence, message from Him has been good and only good.
Second Sower: The Enemy, The Devil – "But while men slept," i.e., at night, in secret. It was not when the sower slept, for "he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep," (v 25), but the enemy does much of the sowing of evil while men are morally asleep, unconscious of the danger. Many are so busy with their work, their pleasure, the cares of this world that they do not realize that they are becoming selfish, forgetful of God, and of righteousness. Great wrongs creep into business, great evils gradually prevail in society, crimes against the people in government, intemperance, neglect of children, abuse of children, the 'slave-labor' type work practices by so many large industries, bribery, dishonesty and a multitude of evils grow up among us, while we are ignorant of what is going on. It is while men sleep that such seed is sown broad-cast. How often the beginnings of evil have been scarcely discernible; how often has that which bore the worst fruit in the end, appeared at first like a higher form of good! It is the same with individuals. Vice enters the soul, habits of drinking, selfishness, lust, meanness, dishonesty, are sown in the young when they are only half-awake to their danger.
v 25 ... "His enemy came and sowed tares." Jesus declares that the ...
v 39 ... "enemy that sowed them is the devil." He was the original source of evil among men. He seeks to implant and cultivate his character in them, in order to make them as bad as himself, and thus destroy the kingdom of God, to which he is opposed. These are those that imagine that Jesus in speaking of Satan merely conformed to the prevailing opinion of the time. But it is pure imagination. Jesus knew the powers of evil better than anyone else. It is as certain that there are bad angels as good angels, bad men as good men. There is great hope for man in the fact that all the evil in the world is not entirely the outgrowth of man's heart, but is from seed sown from without. It is not uncommon to hear judges dealing with teens express hope for those they are trying to save, because there is much good in most teens. Though it should never be an excuse for evil, still it is true that much evil is inspired from without.
Scripture Reading: Matthew 13:24, 25, 38
2. The Two Kinds of Seed
First: The Good Seed – "The good seed are the children of the kingdom." (v 38). They are the embodiment of the influences for good. They are alive with the principles and qualities which make the kingdom of heaven what it is. "Every good man, wherever found, is a child of God, born from above by the Spirit, and made alive with the life of God." Does this old saying have any merit? God's children are seed, not mere grains of sand; for they are living, i.e., the means of increasing disciples. Through them the whole world is to be filled with the fruits of the Spirit, and the children of the kingdom. A dead church does not grow; and this is fortunate, for neither God nor man desires an increase of that kind of Christian or church. They are imperfect, as a living grain of wheat may be imperfect in shape, or defaced in color, but yet contain the living principle of the good seed which only God can give.
Second: The Tares – Coming direct from the nature of the evil one. He sows himself, his character, his wicked heart, and his deeds of evil. "Sowed tares among the wheat" (v 25). The Greek word means that he over-sowed, sowed the tares where the wheat had already been sown. Such malice as this was well understood by His hearers.
Illustration: An old story tells of a young man who loved a young lady. However, her father would not allow them to see each other. To get even the young man sowed Johnson grass seeds in the father's fields, which seeded themselves. The young man one day married the young lady and spent his life fighting Johnson grass in those fields.
Note: The special peculiarity of tares as per this parable is that in their early stages they can scarcely be distinguished from wheat. The Palestinian farmer, as the time for the heading out of the wheat approaches, watches anxiously for the disguised enemy which perhaps has been growing all along in the midst of the wheat, unperceived because of a close resemblance to it while in the blade. By the fruit of the tares, he soon knows. There can be no mistake regarding this truth. As one farmer said, "The ears which God has blessed bow their heads, but accursed tares stick theirs above the whole field." Tares carry a tall light head of small dark grains, contrasting in every respect with the weighty golden ear of good seed.
Application: "The tares are the children of the wicked one" (v 38), or 'of the evil,' the 'one' being in italics. They are those who are filled with the spirit of evil, who love sin, and who have chosen it, belonging to the kingdom of Satan. Tares are also the influences and powers of evil in this world, so far as they abide in any person or cause. As in Ephesians 2:2 and 3 "children of disobedience," "children of wrath," so all evils, wrongs, and crimes are children of the Wicked one.
Scripture Reading: Matthew 13:38, 39, 40
3. The Field
v 38 ... "The field is the world." There are two Greek words translated world in the Authorized Version (KJV). One is Cosmos, the 'earth with its inhabitants,' 'the inhabitants of the earth, men, the human race.' This is the meaning here.
vs 39, 40 ... "the end of the world." For world in vs 39, 40, another word is used, Aion, the world in the sense of 'age' or 'completed period.' The Field is the world and all its inhabitants, not merely the church, though that is a part of the field. The whole world belongs to God and Christ His Son. "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof." Everything belongs to Him, i.e., mountains, valleys, continents, beasts, birds, flowers, fruits, and men of all kindreds and tribes and nations. Satan has no right to the world. He is a trespasser. An old teacher of God's Word once said, "The devil is a squatter, one who settles on land he has no right to, and works it for his own advantage."
Scripture Reading: Matthew 13:27-30
4. The Wheat and Tares Growing Together
v 27 ... "The servants of the householder," not good men, who were good seed, but ...
v 39 ... "angels (who are) the reapers." The perfect beings who are God's servants, having the privilege of being busy serving God. These seeing the evil which was being wrought by the enemy were sad at the sight of the good field being ruined by the tares of the wicked one, and asked their Lord ...
v 27 ... "Whence then hath it tares?" The answer was that God did not sow that kind of seed, it was none of His doings ...
v 28 ... "but an enemy hath done this." The angels wanted to save the field from being ruined and proposed their plan ...
v 29 ... "Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?" But that was not the best plan, there was a much better, and "he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them." Their plan was forbidden because to root out the tares would ruin the crop, and defeat the purpose for which the good seed was sown. For: (a) In the early growth no one could tell which were wheat and which were tares. (b) The roots of the two kinds were intertwined closely together so that one could not pull up the tares without uprooting the wheat with them. (c) Because in making the attempt in a thickly sown field, the wheat would be trodden down by any one going through it for the purpose. Browning said in The Ring and the Book: "You stamped on wheat, Intending all the time to trample tares."
v 30 ... "Let both grow together until the harvest."
First: Good and evil are so mingled in this world that it is impossible to completely separate them in this life without ruining the good as well as the evil, making a desert instead of a somewhat weedy garden. An elderly, wise preacher once said to a Christian brother, "You seem to have a wing on one shoulder and a chip on the other." No doubt that could be said about many of us. There is always a vice near each virtue. It is no easy thing for one indignant at wrong, to have the gentleness of love; for one who is calm, patient, and peace-loving to be full of energy against wrong.
Illustration: In Bulwer's Pilgrims of the Rhine there is a story or apologue called, the "Tour of the Virtues." Getting tired of living forever with the Bishop of Norwich, The Virtues resolved to make an excursion from Westminster Bridge to Richmond. On the way, the Virtues began to argue over practical matters that came up, Courage with Prudence; Charity with Justice; Hospitality with Temperance; Ambition with Modesty; Generosity with Economy. Each one tells her own experience: Doubtless the Virtues by this journey were made broader and found that under the wide canopy of Love there was a place for each; and thereafter they dwelt in Peace. It is hard for us to really understand the motives, and circumstances of others so as to judge them fairly. In every movement for progress, in every reform, there are imperfect men, untrue principles, and wrong measures. In most reforms as in most men, the tares of bad passions, of selfishness, of false ideas, of wrong thoughts, are mingled with the wheat of noble principles, earnest piety, worship of God, devotion to a good cause.
Second: The real life-question, the real test of men or measures is which are gaining the victory, wheat or tares. In Stevenson's well known story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, in which the two opposite characters in the same man, present a picture more or less true of all of us, and of most institutions. The life and death question for each of us is this: which shall overcome and expel the other.
Third: By means of the good and the bad growing together, good grows strong and is perfected. The good grows by overcoming evil. The war against wrong makes mighty men, increasing courage, patience, loyalty, endurance, love of good and hatred of evil. In Revelation 2 and 3, all the great spiritual blessings, i.e., the tree of life, the hidden manna, the new name, power over the nations, the morning star, the name in the Book of Life, a place near the throne of God, all are given "to him that overcometh." The evil has come, and is near us and all around us, in order that we may overcome, and have part in the kingdom of God.
Fourth: The wheat and tares are permitted to grow together because the wheat is made better by the efforts to change the tares into wheat, and there is also more wheat for the heavenly garner by means of this change. Christians would not be nearly so good if shut off in a community by themselves. Tares would still come in. If the wheat does not seek to change the tares into wheat, the wheat will degenerate into tares. This is always true when good people fence themselves in from all contact with the world, whether by monasteries, convents, exclusiveness, or neglect of missionary work, and service to others.
Fifth: The tares, so far as they represent persons with evil in them, can be changed into wheat. To do this was Christ's mission, and the mission of His disciples. Tares, as evil actions, evil principles, are always tares. Bad is bad in whomsoever it exists. But bad people can be changed into good people, bad countries into good countries, and bad nations into good nations. Otherwise it would contradict the purpose of Him who willeth not the death of a sinner, but rather that he should be converted and live; and this gracious purpose shines through the command "Let both grow together until the harvest" (v 30).
Sixth: The method is that of overcoming evil with good. We would be wise to accept the simple thought of the Syrian peasants, who to this day believe that tares can best be kept down by nourishing to the utmost the life of the good seed. The permitting of the wheat and tares to grow together does not mean that we are to do nothing to destroy the evils around us. There are many evils besides tares, and it is our business to destroy them in God's name, working closely with God. Murder, robbery, oppression of the poor, graft, intemperance, bad men in government office, bad leaders in the church, and many other evils which are seeking to destroy our country, our fellow man, are not to left alone. We will probably be misled unless we keep in mind that tares represent those persons, who, however bad, cannot easily be distinguished from the imperfect good. These we must not persecute, we must not excommunicate. There will exist teachers who teach what seems to us false. There will be imperfect good people with glaring faults. We are to be, not indifferent, but tolerant. We are to overcome the evils by truer teaching, and holier examples, by bearing better fruit. Cultivate the good and the true with all your might.
Scripture Reading: Matthew 13:30, 39-43
5. The Harvest
v 30 ... "The harvest is the end of the world," the age, or period of development, as the old dispensation which ended at the cross, or as the end of the Gospel dispensation, or the end of man's period of preparation.
v 41 ... "Gather out of his kingdom all things that offend" against the good, every kind of evil, and "them which do iniquity," who refuse every effort and influence that would make them better; the utterly incorrigible, so joined to evil that there is no way to destroy the evil except by destroying those filled with the evil.
v 42 ... "Cast them into a furnace of fire," to utterly destroy evil out of the world and the universe. The last chapters of Revelation are the best interpretation of this verse.
v 43 ... "Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun." The Greek word means bursting forth into light as from behind a cloud. This is the symbol of gladness, of truth, of glory, of life in themselves, and of giving light, and life, and cheer to all around (Read Rev. 21, 22).
