THE PARABLE OF THE TARES [Mt. 13:24-30, 36-43]
Jesus' 2nd parable in this septuplet of stories by the Sea of Galilee is thematically born out of the first one.
In the Parable Of The Sower, the Lord intimated that righteousness (the good soil) will have to flourish in a world where many reject the kingdom (hard soil) and others will receive the gospel seed in a shallow and unfruitful way (rocky & thorny grounds). In the Parable Of The Tares, Jesus seems to pick up where He left off, stating what He suggested earlier. The kingdom of God will have to grow and make its way into the hearts of men in a world where evil not only exists, but where it seems to have the "high road" and where it will be around until the end.
Conventional wisdom would have God blasting away all unrighteousness so that His kingdom would have unfettered access to all humanity. After all, is He not the all-powerful God? Accepting this scenario is dangerous, for it is exactly what our premillenial friends teach God's coming kingdom to be...when all enemies have been obliterated (the "Rapture"). Not so. The parable does not point toward some futuristic utopia, but refers to the kingdom NOW. God is allowing us time to grow and bear fruit despite the best efforts of Satan.
What the parable does teach is that God has an enemy - Satan (v. 39). He not only is not content with those who already serve him...he is busy trying to ruin God's crop (v. 38). His efforts are so successful that at times one can hardly differentiate between the "wheat" and the "tares" (false wheat). Is he not "more crafty" than any other being (Gen. 3:1)?
The parable also strongly points to our role in God's scheme of things. We are not the land owner, crop planner, nor harvesters (vv. 37, 39). We are the good seed, and our job is to bear fruit (cp. Mt. 13:23). God alone possesses the wisdom as to when it is time to "rip up the tares." Why not gather them up upon first notice? Because doing so before the wheat has time to bear its fruit will only damage God's crop. God says, "Wait until harvest" (vv. 29-30). He will always act in His time (2 Pet. 3:3-11).
