Judgement Coming • Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
By Carl M. White
Matthew 13 represents a turning point in the Gospel. At the beginning of His ministry, Jesus was teaching in the synagogues. Now He is teaching from the seashore. The door to the synagogue is practically closed to Him. Is the door to your church closed to Him?
His teaching method is fully developed and now he speaks almost exclusively in parables. Parables compel interest and cause the listener to think for themselves as to the meaning. It is as if Jesus is saying, “Here’s a relatable story, now what is the truth in it?” Sometimes a person cannot be told truth outright. They must discover it themselves. Those who are too lazy or just disinterested will miss it.
Our focus is the parable in 13:24-30, known as the wheat and the tares. It acknowledges four realities for those who have ears to hear. There is salvation, and there is damnation. There is a real enemy who would lead us to destruction, and there is a real path to eternal life.
We must accept the reality of a fallen world with people in it, often nice people, who are lost. If we do not, there will be no emphasis of evangelism in our churches, and instead of being lighthouses, they become social clubs. When a church is a lighthouse, it is because the door is open to the light of the world, and it reflects this light to all who would seek Him. If you are of the opinion that everybody is automatically saved, then your church becomes a social club. It is not the light of the word you reflect, it is the light of your preferences and prejudices, and that is no light. There are lost people, and there are saved people, and it is incumbent on the saved people to open the doors for the lost to come to Christ.
There is also an enemy. Animosity between rival tribes could cause a group to secretly sow seeds of tares among a rival’s wheat. The evidence won’t show for weeks. The owner of the field faces a dilemma. Send workers out to pull up the tares, but in the process loose much of the crop. Or wait for them both to grow and separate them at the harvest, which involves more expense.
In verses 36-39, Jesus explains the parable, identifying the meaning of the different parts. The seed is sown by the Son of Man, the field is the earth. The good seed are the ones saved by hearing the Gospel. And the weeds are the sons of the devil, who by implication, sowed the tares.
Sadly, there are “sons of the devil” in life, even in the church. What is the church to do with the tares among the wheat?
Is not Jesus saying, in this parable, to wait them out, not force them out? Let their fruit show who they are. A witch hunt can result in removing the bad, but at what expense? There is a time and a place for church discipline, and the Bible gives instruction on how to administer it. In the case of physical or emotional harm being done to children or others, action must be quick but just. Most of the time, however, the tares among the wheat do not present themselves as the devil, but as friends and neighbors. That is why the admonition of scripture is to first try and win your brother over rather than ripping them up and throwing them out (Matt. 18:15-20). Wait them out by winning them over. The Holy Spirit will weed out the impostors when a fellowship is in tune with the Spirit.
The Pharisees took particular pride in proving their righteousness by demonstrating the sinfulness of others. This should never be the case among the followers of Jesus. We should be different.
The gathering up and burning of the weeds is for the end of time, at the judgement, and it will be accomplished by the Lord with His Holy Angels (vs. 40-43). It will be just; it will be righteous. As for us, we are sinners saved only by the grace of God, not based on our ability to weed out the bad fruit among us. Our concern must first and foremost be the salvation of soul by faith in the atoning death of Jesus Christ and the power of His resurrection from the dead. There is no other hope.
White is a member of Pineview Church, Clinton.
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