WHEAT AND TARES
In Matthew 13, Jesus began teaching about the kingdom of heaven and as His custom was, He spoke parables. We first see the parable of the sower and in verses 24–30, we read the parable of the wheat and tares.
Things that stand out in the parable include
1. ‘The wheat’ is regarded as ‘good seeds’.
2. The tares are considered as ‘bad’ or ‘false’ seeds. The Greek word translated as ‘tares’ is a seed that looks like wheat but with black grains.
3. The good man sows the good seed but the enemy comes along and sows a counterfeit. The idea many have is that the tares are another kind of grain that is distinct in appearance from the good seed. But that is not so true. The only difference between wheat and tares is color. Jesus chose these similar seeds to pass an important message about how similar falsehood can appear to truth, evil to good, left to good, darkness and light, and so on.
4. It is alarming that the incursion wasn’t noticed until the grains sprouted. For reasons which may be differences in the phenotypical representations of the seeds.
5. Notice that the servants noticed it and came and report it to the owner of the field. And the owner instructed them on what to do.
6. At the time of harvest, the phenotype of the tares will give them away and their covet operation would be judged.
The conversation with the Owner of the field gave us an important clue into an eternal principle. God does ‘good’ and the enemy comes to pervert the ‘good’ by introducing a counterfeit. God’s response to this incursion is such that in preventing the good work to remain, He would permit the fake to enjoy until the time for separation comes.
In the Old Testament, we find phrases like this; “the iniquity is not complete”, “the cup of iniquity is full”, “visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children”, etc. These phrases communicate an idea that God doesn’t judge sin immediately, instead while beckoning on the sinner to repent, He uses a scale of justice to determine when mercy ceases and judgment steps in. But why this, you may ask? This is because for the Judge of the earth to be just in judgment, He must give ‘evil’, a fair shot at judgment.
Relax and don’t be confused…lol.
Imagine in a courtroom, the Judge didn’t allow an ex-convict to defend himself. He is a known killer but the State must still provide a council for him to defend him if he can’t afford one. In some places, he is even permitted to defend himself, a history of violence nonetheless. In so doing, evil would continue perpetuating and spreading. Hence, God expects that the wheat (good seed) which He had sown would grow to engulf the evil and ensure it doesn’t spread (Romans 8:19–21).
Moreover, herein is God’s wisdom; at the point of the harvest of the wheat, the tares would have also grown to full-term, hence qualifying it for judgment. To put it more clearly, at the point where the reward of being good is given, the reward of being evil (falsehood, deceit, and all shades of evil) is also given out.
Intrinsically, light (good, truth, right) can overcome darkness (evil or wrong or falsehood) even when its magnitude is but little. Light is light and whatever the degree is, it will shine through darkness irrespective of the degree of light. Therefore, as long as we stay in truth, irrespective of our level of truth, we will trump falsehood. To put it in another way, you will overcome the wrong done to a hundred people or a person as long as you wield your capacity to be good towards them or the individual (John 1:5).
In conclusion, do not wait until you can save a hundred people before you throw in the life jacket. Save that one person with the one jacket you’ve got. God has planted goodness in your heart, express it. For your reward is closer than you know it. A house is built to provide shelter and can be a house whether it is a hut, a bungalow, a duplex, or an estate. You are God’s wisdom to hold back evil in your community (Isaiah 60:1–3).
Adesoji Fasanya
Eden House, Team Lead.
