darnel can cause great sickness and even death<\/a>.<\/p>\nWhen Jesus explains this parable to His disciples, He begins by identifying the various characters in the story. He says that the sower is the Son of Man (Matthew 13:37), which is one of Jesus\u2019s favorite titles for Himself. The field which the sower plants is the world, and so the good seeds which go out into the world are the sons of the kingdom (Matthew 13:38). The tares are therefore the opposite of the sons of the kingdom; Jesus calls them the sons of the wicked one. The enemy is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels (Matthew 13:38).<\/p>\n
Now each of these characters need to be more carefully explained, but first, it is critical to notice that there is one set of characters Jesus does not identify. This missing identification is the key to the parable. Who is it that Jesus does not identify? It is the servants. Jesus does not explain who the servants represent. I have heard some say that the servants are the reapers, but when the owner is speaking to the servants, he clearly identifies the reapers as a different group (cf. Matthew 13:30).<\/p>\n
The solution to this problem is to return to the image of the field as the world. The Son of Man sowed seeds in the field, and the servants went out and worked in the field. Since the field is the world, and Jesus is the one who sowed the seeds in the world, then the servants are the ones who tend, cultivate, and work in the fields. Who are they? They are the followers of Jesus. They are disciples. The servants in the story are the Christians. Christians, or followers of Jesus, are those who work in the world to grow and expand the kingdom of God which Jesus planted and initiated.<\/p>\n
But if the servants are Christians, then who are the \u201csons of the kingdom\u201d? Jesus says the seed is the sons of the kingdom. But if the servants are Christians, then the sons of the kingdom (the seed) cannot also be Christians. To put it another way, since the servants are the followers of Jesus, then this means that the sons of the kingdom must be someone else. And when we understand the identity of the sons of the kingdom, we will also understand the identity of the sons of the evil one (which might be better translated as \u201csons of wickedness\u201d; Matthew 13:38).<\/p>\n
To understand the identity of both, it is first necessary to understand how the word \u201cson\u201d is used in Scripture. Typically, a \u201cson\u201d is understood to be a child of someone else. But the word \u201cson\u201d can also be used metaphorically. When the word \u201cson\u201d is used in connection to a concept or idea, instead of to a person or family, it refers to the characteristics or inner attributes of someone, rather than to the person themselves. So \u201csons of this world\u201d are contrasted with \u201csons of light\u201d in Luke 16:8\u00a0(cf. John 12:36; 1 Thess 5:5). A student or disciple of the Pharisees could be called a \u201cson of the Pharisees\u201d (Matt 12:27; Acts 23:6). Scripture can also speak of \u201csons of the resurrection\u201d (Luke 20:36), \u201csons of this age\u201d (Luke 16:8; 20:34), \u201csons of disobedience\u201d (Eph 2:2; 5:6), \u201csons of the devil\u201d (Acts 13:10) and numerous other similar terms. Such descriptions are not literal (a son of the devil is not literally <\/em>the biological offspring of the devil), but are instead figurative and symbolic ways of referring to someone\u2019s character and behavior.<\/p>\nSo who are the sons of the kingdom and the sons of wickedness, and how can we tell? <\/strong><\/p>\nOne more contextual key is needed before an answer is discovered. In the context before these seven parables of Matthew 13, the Jewish religious leaders accused Jesus of operating according to the power of Beelzebub (Matthew 12:24). Jesus responds with a teaching full of symbolism and imagery (Matthew 12:25-37) that shows up again in the parables of Matthew 13. He speaks of kingdoms (Matthew 12:25, 28), sons of the Pharisees (Matthew 12:27), gathering and scattering (Matthew 12:30), this age and the age to come (Matthew 12:32), and the fruitfulness (or lack thereof) of various trees (Matthew 12:33-37). All the parables of Matthew 13 must be read in light of this confrontation between Jesus and the Pharisees. While they were accusing Him of doing the devil\u2019s work, He responded by saying that it was not Him, but they, who were committing blasphemy and speaking evil from their hearts (Matthew 12:35).<\/p>\n
But how could the onlookers, the disciples, tell who was right? They had grown up being taught to love, respect, and listen to the religious Pharisees. But now they loved, respected, and listened to Jesus. Yet the Pharisees were saying that the teachings of Jesus were from the devil, and now Jesus was saying the same thing about the teachings of the Pharisees. So what were the disciples to do? How could they know who was right and who was wrong? If you have ever had two Bible teachers, both of whom you greatly respect, disagree with each other, then you understand the dilemma of the disciples. How were they to choose between Jesus and the Pharisees?<\/p>\n
The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares is the answer to their question. In this parable, Jesus, the Son of Man, tells His servants, the disciples, that two types of seeds have been sown which result in two types of sons of two types of kingdoms. But which was which and how could they know? Jesus tells His disciples to wait until the harvest \u201cat the end of this age\u201d (Matthew 13:40). But this is not helpful for them if the end of the age is thousands of years in the future when the new heavens and new earth are created.<\/p>\n
So what if \u201cthis age\u201d was the age in which Jesus and His disciples were living, and the age to come was the age that followed (cf. Matthew 12:32)? Indeed, Scripture indicates in numerous ways and places that a new age did indeed come into existence with the death and resurrection of Jesus and the birth of the church. The death and resurrection of Jesus gave birth to a new age, the age of the kingdom of God, the church age. There were birth pains and many travails as the old age died and the new age began (as Jesus discusses in Matthew 24\u201325), but the resurrection of Jesus and the birth of the church was the sign that the new age had begun.<\/p>\n
Jesus tells His disciples that while it is difficult for them to decide between the wheat and the tares right now, it will become clear to them at the harvest. Though they had trouble deciding between the way of Jesus and the way of the Pharisees, the end of the age would make it clear when the messengers of God arrived and took away the tares. Here we have the religiously subversive nature of the parable. The disciples of Jesus are faced with a choice: they can either follow the way of Jesus or the way of the Pharisees. Jesus tells them that they don\u2019t need to figure it out. In fact, it would be dangerous for them to try to do so, for they will not be able to properly and perfectly tell the difference between the good teaching and bad. Instead, they should just wait for the harvest and let the reaping angels separate the wheat from the chaff.<\/p>\n
And this is indeed what happened in 70 AD. The way of the Pharisees was destroyed when Jerusalem and the temple were burned with fire. This does not mean that the Pharisees and all who followed their teachings were unregenerate sinners who will spend eternity burning in hell. Everlasting torture in hell is not anywhere in view with this parable. To the contrary, the \u201cfurnace of fire\u201d imagery is drawn from Daniel 3:19-25\u00a0where Daniel\u2019s friends are thrown into a furnace of fire, but only their bonds are burned as they walk around in the flame with one shining like the Son of God. (As a side note, the \u201cSon of Man\u201d imagery is drawn from Daniel 7:13-14, and the imagery of the righteous shining like the sun in Matthew 13:43\u00a0is drawn from Daniel 12:3). It can be assumed that when Jerusalem was destroyed by the Roman army, many Christians were also consumed by the flames. But Christianity survived, as it was not (and is not) dependent upon a city, a temple, or a priesthood. Yet the Jewish Pharisaical religion was <\/em>dependent upon such things, and so it died out when Jerusalem fell.<\/p>\nAnd so we see that the burning of the chaff in the furnace of fire is not about God sending people to hell where they will burn forever and ever. Instead, it is about the disciples of Jesus allowing God to be the one to judge between right and wrong, good and evil, especially when it comes to deciding between the teachings of Jesus and the teachings of the Pharisees. As a result of the events in Genesis 3\u00a0when Adam and Eve tried to gain for themselves what should be left up to God, we humans have always done a poor job of judging between good and evil. So God invites us to leave all such judgment up to Him. And this is what Jesus tells His disciples to do as well.<\/p>\n
The same truth applies to us today. Humans make bad judgments, and when we do, we stumble and get burned. But this does not mean we go to hell; it means we face the consequences of our poor decisions. While such consequences are painful, we need not worry too much about them, for they do not say anything about our eternal destinies, and indeed, only serve to purify us so that we shine like the sun in the kingdom of the Father (Matthew 13:43).<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The principle of this parable still applies to us today. It is sometimes very difficult to tell the difference between good teaching and bad teaching. Or even between good and bad politics. When this occurs, the advice of Jesus is that we withhold judgment and wait for the harvest to come, when the choice will be obvious. The harvest occurs when the natural results or logical outcomes of the various teachings begin to bear fruit. When a teaching results in the fruit of the kingdom of heaven (which Paul calls the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23), then we can know that such teachings are good and godly. But when a teaching bears fruit that is worldly and of the devil (the works of the flesh in Galatians 5:19-21), such teachings can be safely rejected.<\/p>\n
We cannot look to a person\u2019s works to see whether or not they have eternal life, but we can (and should) look to a person\u2019s works to see whether or not their teachings can be followed. As we do this, we can see whether or not the kingdom of heaven is truly taking root in their life, and therefore in ours as well if we follow their teachings and example.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In this podcast episode, we look at what to expect from a Biden\/Harris administration, how to know you have not committed the unforgivable sin, and a parable from Jesus that speaks to both issues (The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares in Matthew 13:24-30).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":53229,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2297,2230,2231,2296],"tags":[3215,3214,3060,3058,2219,3216,1208],"class_list":{"0":"post-53220","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-redeeming-god","8":"category-redeeming-scripture","9":"category-redeeming-theology","10":"category-z","11":"tag-biden-administration","12":"tag-matthew-1324-30","13":"tag-matthew-1324-40","14":"tag-parable-of-the-wheat-and-the-tares","15":"tag-podcast","16":"tag-president-trump","17":"tag-unforgivable-sin","18":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\n
The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares (Matthew 13:24-30)<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n