Tares among the Wheat

The parables in the New Testament are some of the most astounding sources of wisdom, knowledge and understanding about how the Kingdom of God operates. The parables are like a spiral staircase, as we walk up or down on it, we see a different truth being imparted from it. It is but the Holy Spirit who will impart such truths to us, however, the key to unwrap these mysteries is in our eagerness to walk up and down that staircase. You can refer to the image below for a better understanding of what is being said here.

Each parable has an understanding of how the layers of the Kingdom of God operate. And within each layer contains its own spiral staircase which again contains an abundance of information. It could also be likened to a treasure map, once you reach the location at which the treasure is said to be found, you have dug out to find some valuable items, and guess what, another treasure map!

We could confirm this understanding with a portion of scripture from Matthew 13:11-12 in response to the question from the disciples about why Jesus speaks in parables, he answers ".. The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance."

Parable of the Sower and the Weeds:

As this begins to open your heart to receive, now we shall talk about the Parable of the Sower and the Weeds, two separate Parables spoken by Jesus that are interconnected to each other. The Parable of the Sower talks about how a farmer went to sow his seeds and it fell on different terrains, each having a different outcome. The Parable of the Weeds explains how a farmer sowed good seed, but his enemy comes and sows tares (or weeds) among the wheat while everyone was sleeping, then it goes on to explain how he overcomes this situation.

Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13: 3-9)

Parable of the Weeds (Matthew 13: 24-30)

“Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

“The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ”

These parables are explained by Jesus as you continue along your journey in reading the Bible, for now, let us walk down that staircase and understand how the kingdom of darkness operates based on these parables, specifically the different ways tares are planted among the wheat in our lives by the enemy.

How Tares are Planted:

Consider that the word harvest means season of rewards, growth, restoration and renewal in your life. Let's say that before the harvest season approaches, the seed that you have planted is your act of servitude at your church. The intention of your service is to honor the word, an act of worship to God and to be more like Jesus, for it is written in Matthew 20:28 that "...just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve..".

As you were planting this seed, have you ever experienced people taking you for granted, making you do their work, promoting you to just relax and talk away your time, having you get their coffee, hyper-focused on how you are not doing things in the right way and a myriad of other things which make you question your identity, the church and the world?

That, without question, is the works of the enemy. God in all His love and splendor, wants us to prosper and grow in Him. The enemy in all his capacity wants nothing more than to see us suffer, fail and stop pursuing the path of righteousness that we are on. The tares here are these acts, attacks and misdirections, which stem from principalities and forces of evil which are working through hardened hearts, slothfulness, gossip, false authority, condemnation, judgement and so on.

Learning and Application:

You can apply this to any area of your life that you want to grow with God and the seed that you have planted in that direction. Now if you have planted your seed on good ground and it has been watered and nourished well, then the Parable of the Sower confirms multifold yield is in store for us, as written in Matthew 13:8 that ".. But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty". So do not for a moment believe that any of your good works are in vain. When harvest time comes, you will definitely reap your reward based on God's mathematics!

There is also the tares which have also grown along with the wheat, like hurt, sin, disbelief, shame, low self worth, doubt and other things we consider a pain, burden and an inconvenience to the process, which at times causes believers to give up, lose their way and to abandon God. Then we may go on to think, wouldn't it be nice if we could just pull these situations out of our walk with God and only have the good stuff? No we cannot, as the parable goes on to say in Matthew 13:29 that "..while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them."

Then the next question in the hearts of believers may be "What do I do?". Firstly, you must stay awake, not literally! Here, sleeping indicates that you are totally unaware of what is going on. The enemy is around you, active and does not rest until he sows that tare in your life. For it is written in 1 Peter 5:8 that "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour". Some of the ways of becoming aware is by keeping strong in prayer, reading the word and being sensitive to guidance of the Holy Spirit. We need to be on constant guard and keep watch of our hearts, our minds and our environment to defend ourselves from the crutches of the enemy.

Even then, the enemy managed to sow a tare, we are humans after all and we are not perfect, what then? The parable continues to encourage us to not give up, as it says in Matthew 13:30 that "..I will tell the harvesters to first tie the weeds in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn". This is a direction that before harvest season approaches, we must repent of our wrongdoings, forgive the people who hurt you (which will include actions like loving them nevertheless, praying for them, buying gifts and doing for them acts of service), continue to strengthen yourself in the Lord and to press on in the path of righteousness.

To conclude, continue to burn in the fire of the Holy Spirit. We are called to be the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, which involves putting on the armor of God, loving our enemies and praying for those who persecute us. We are also to bear with one another in love and stand up for what is true. We need to be reminded that our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the forces of darkness that work through the world. As you continue to walk in conviction, with the help of the Holy Spirit, be steadfast, and may all tares of the enemy be bundled up and burned in the fire of the Lord that surrounds you.

God Bless you!