Wheat and Tares

I love the translation of certain passages of Scripture in the King James Version (KJV). Some words are just cooler to me in 17^th century English. One of those words is tares. A tare is a weed and if you were a farmer in the first or 17^th or 21^st century, this word is bad news. Jesus tells us about tares in a parable in Matthew 13. It is the second agricultural parable He tells in the chapter.

Matthew 13:24-30 - Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which 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 blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

This passage is full of great points, but I’ll focus on verses 29-30. The owner of the field must have been pretty ticked off to discover that his planting had been sabotaged by his enemy. Fortunately, instead of responding out of frustration, hate, or anger, he chose to do what was wise. He knew that attempting to get rid of the tares could result in the destruction of his whole crop. Instead, he decided to wait until the weeds could easily be distinguished from the wheat before eliminating them.

Today, many are asking why God is allowing evil to flourish and why He doesn’t just intervene and pour out His wrath on those who don’t serve Him. Like the farmer in this parable, God will not destroy the wicked at a time when it could ruin His people. His desire is for a full harvest.

Jesus explains the parable in full in verses 36-43.