This parable of the Wheat and Tares speaks for itself, the field in the paragraph is the world, and the wheat are true believers in Jesus, whilst the tares are his opponents. You can read the full version below and I would like to add the following reflections.
Jesus teaches patience. The pace of life in the 21st century just gets faster and faster. We often want many things that are new and shiny, and we want them now. But Jesus is saying here, slow down, watch and wait. This is an important lesson for us today as we rush around with our busy schedules, let us take time to slow down and smell the roses of life along the way.
He teaches non-judgement of others. Jesus often spoke about us being judgemental of others, take the beam out of your eye before you observe the speck of sawdust in one else’s comes to mind. Likewise, the servants weren’t to judge what was a weed and what was genuine wheat, because it could cause damage. So too we must cease to make judgements on others because none of us can truly understand what goes on in someone else’s mind and we all bear the wounds of being born into an imperfect world
A day of judgement will eventually come for us all. A time will come when we will be judged but that will be by Jesus, who can see the true heart and reasons we have developed as we have. It sounds harsh, but those who are true followers of Jesus, the wheat, will be judged as righteous and will have a place in heaven. Those who are judged to have no love for Jesus, the unrighteous weeds, will be destroyed.
Pause for Thought;
- How can you slow down your pace of life today?
- Can you observe the differences in others, without condemning them with judgement?
- Is the life you are living today one of the Wheat, or the Weeds?
The Parable of Weeds among the Wheat Matthew 13:24-43
24 He put before them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. 26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. 27 And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, “Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?” 28 He answered, “An enemy has done this.” The slaves said to him, “Then do you want us to go and gather them?” 29 But he replied, “No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. 30 Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’
