The Tares and the Wheat
Matthew 13:25-30
“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”.
The part of the New Testament where Jesus spoke of the tares and the wheat crossed my mind the other day. When it did I thought, “hmm, tares. What are tares really?” I’ve always thought it must be some kind of weed, but sometimes I challenge ‘what I’ve always thought’ and take a moment to look things up.
Going to the dictionary (online, www.dictionary.com) I looked up ‘tares’ and found the following entry:
Taresthe bearded darnel, mentioned only in Matt. 13:25-30. It is the Lolium temulentum, a species of rye-grass, the seeds of which are a strong soporific poison. It bears the closest resemblance to wheat till the ear appears, and only then the difference is discovered. It grows plentifully in Syria and Palestine.
Tares and wheat look alike as they grow together. But they are two separate plants. One is wheat, the other a type of grass. It is not until the wheat produces its seed (the fruit of the wheat) that these plants can be distinguished from each other. Then the fruit of the wheat, it’s seed, is ground into flour.
Since these verses in Matthew are a parable, we know that Jesus was really using the comparison of wheat and tares to explain the differences in people, as well as the harvest of souls. God wants us to be fruitful, in fact, He doesn’t just ‘want us to’ be fruitful…no, He commands it! “Be ye fruitful” is a command. Comparing the wheat/tare relationship to humanity, I then thought about the similarities of appearance between true born again Christians, who actually live their lives in obedience to God’s word and either the pretend or deceived followers who sometimes ‘seem’ to be Christians but are really not. Both are in the same field, both look like wheat. Sometimes the differences in claims of Christianity in people are obvious, and sometimes they are hard to distinguish. That is, until it’s ‘fruit time”. The fruit I’m referring to is more than what is found in Galatians 5:22 – “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith…” etc, but even more than that, as fruits also pertain to attitude, to what our actions (and words) are when we are angry or under the pressures of life and with not only friends but co-workers and those who might cause us stress. Christians learn to bear the right fruit; the fruit of the Spirit. When those not born of the Holy Spirit are severely tried they usually revert back to ‘what they truly are on the inside’ and it shows in their words, actions and attitudes.
The seeds of wheat produce what becomes flour; life sustaining, energy producing, nourishing food. It becomes a blessing to all who partake of it.
The tares also produce seeds, but as shown in the definition of what a tare is; the seeds are ‘soporific’. “What’s that?” I wondered. So I had to look that up as well. It is a type of poison that is used as a sedative, tending to cause sleep as in a medicine or drug. And doesn’t that description also aptly fit the effect that non-Christians have? Listening to the vain philosophies, the worldly values, and the sometimes ‘right sounding’ attitudes of the unregenerate man can have a sedative effect on those who listen to them. A believer can be lulled into spiritual sleep by getting into the mindset of those of the world.