Wheat and Tares - Matt 13:24-30

The parable of the wheat and the tares. The Bible Dictionary defines “tares” as “the word (tares) denotes darnel grass, a poisonous weed, which, until it comes into ear, is similar in appearance to wheat.” Jesus tells the parable 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, the 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? Form 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 say, 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 the 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 Lord gives an interpretation of this parable saying that the householder is Jesus, the field is the world, the good seeds are the “children of the kingdom,” and the tares are “the children of the wicked one,” the field is the earth, the enemy sower is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the world. Jesus continues, “As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.”  I think it’s interesting that by removing the bad plants from the field, the good plants would have been killed in the process. Or in other words, removing the wicked people around us would have caused many of the righteous to perish. Interesting, how is that possible? Looking at it from the eternal perspective, growing a strong, healthy wehat stalk requires a lot of time. I am reminded of a phrase I heard recently that said something to the effect of, “a tree needs wind to push against it so that it can grow it’s roots deep and strong. If there were no wind then the tree would collapse under it’s own weight. This is similar, with no resistance then everything would be easy, but shallow, there would be no reason to grow deep because there would be no need to. Lehi tells us that there must be opposition in all things, and this is an illustration of that.

I personally love all the “tares” in my life, well maybe not all of them, but most of the people I know who are not members are amazing and I am so much richer for having them in my life. Maybe that’s not who they mean when they say “children of the wicked one,” maybe they genuinely mean evil people, nasty and awful. Interestingly, I’ll have to think about that. JTC explains “one cardinal lesson from the parable, apart from the representation of actual conditions, present and future, is that of patience, long-suffering, and toleration- each an attribute of Deity and a trait all men should cultivate.” That’s what difficulty and adversity can do to a person, they can become stronger, kinder, and more patient, if we allow it. But the literal nature of the parable is so important that the Lord referenced it in D&C 87:1-7, which the IM summarizes, saying that Jesus “gave further explanation in Doctrine and Covenants 86:1-7, clarifying how the parable applies to the Apostasy, the Restoration, and the end of the world. The Lord also stated that the gathering of the wheat is taking place in this dispensation, and the burning of the tares will occur at his triumphal return.”