Parables of Jesus
The Tares
Eschatology
Read: Matthew 13:24-30
SeeThe Parable of the Weeds (or Tares) relates how servants eager to pull up weeds were warned that in so doing they would root out the wheat as well, and so, were told to let both grow together until the harvest. Later in Matthew, the weeds are identified with "the children of the evil one", the wheat with "the children of the Kingdom."
The word translated "tares" in the King James Version is thought to mean darnel, a ryegrass that looks much like wheat in its early stages of growth. Roman law prohibited sowing darnel among the wheat of an enemy, suggesting that the scenario presented here is realistic.
Jesus himself supplies an interpretation of the parable when his disciples ask. "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, the field is the world; and the good seed, these are the children of the Kingdom; and the darnel weeds are the children of the evil one." Although Jesus distinguished between people who are part of the Kingdom of Heaven and those who are not, this difference may not always be readily apparent. However, the final judgment ends the period during which the secret growth of God's kingdom continues alongside the activity of the evil one.
St. Augustine said, "O you Christians, whose lives are good, you sigh and groan as being few among many, few among very many. The winter will pass away, the summer will come; lo! The harvest will soon be here. The angels will come who can make the separation, and who cannot make mistakes."
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"The Tares"
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