There is coming a day when everyone who has ever lived or died will meet for the first and last time. And when that day comes, everyone from the least to the greatest–and even the devil himself–will bow in acknowledgment of the truth that God has been fair and just in His dealings in the great controversy. He has never overstepped Himself. He has always given His creatures the benefit of the doubt. He has never taken advantage, even of His enemies.

The kingdoms of this world don’t operate on those kinds of values. In the worldly kingdom, any chance you have to get what you want, you take it. Literature has glorified the chivalry of the medieval knights, but we see little of it in the world today. Human beings are not known for allowing their opponents to have the advantage, if they can prevent it. But the kingdom of heaven operates on an entirely different principle.

Jesus talked about this principle in His parable about the tares and the wheat, found in Matthew 13.

“Another parable put he forth unto them 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, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst thou sow good seed in thy field? from 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 said, 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 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.” Matthew 13:24-30.

Jesus explained the meaning of this parable to His disciples in verses 36-43 of the same chapter. The separation between the righteous and the wicked is to take place at the end of the world. And until that time, both will be allowed to grow together.

In every parable of Jesus, spiritual truth was given that went deeper than just the surface. He designed His parables to be pondered and treasured, so that there would be ever new unfoldings of truth to the one who sought to understand their meaning. A parable is like an onion! How’s that for making a parable about parables? There are layers of understanding, all fitted together, but each one unique. Will you join me in “peeling the onion” in this parable of the tares?

The Field Is the World

Jesus told His disciples where to begin their search. Apparently they didn’t understand anything about what He was trying to say, for He gave several parables, one right after the other, as recorded in Matthew 13. And the disciples asked for no explanation of the last few parables in the sequence except for the one about the tares.

Jesus opened up the first “layer of the onion” to get His disciples started thinking. He was the Master Teacher and knew that students are better able to remember what they have searched out and thought out for themselves than what they are simply told.

When I was in college, my major professor used to use this technique on his students. There were many times when we’d leave his class to head for the library for further study, instead of going to the gym or the student center to relax. I remember one day a fiery young man in the front row stood up and said, “OK, professor, you’ve frustrated us long enough. Now give us the answer.” It didn’t work. He still made us puzzle it out for ourselves.

Such was the method Jesus used with the people of His day. He gave them enough on which to get started, and no more. So He said, The field is the world. In the world, there are righteous and wicked. Both will grow together until the harvest–the end of the world.

When you look at the field as the world, is there any question in your mind as to the truth but that an enemy has been at work? How truthfully we can echo the words “an enemy hath done this” when we see the pain and sorrow and sickness and death and heartache in a world gone wrong. God is not the one responsible for the sin in the world. The enemy is the one to blame.

Yet God allows this situation to continue. He is directly responsible for keeping the heart beating in the chest of the one who curses Him. He sends the rain on the just and the unjust. God does not execute final judgment until the judgment day. He lets both grow together until the harvest, when the character of each is fully manifested before all the watching universe. God even keeps the devil himself supplied with life. No wonder, in the end, every knee bows, and every tongue confesses to

God’s fairness and love; for it is only when the harvest is fully come that God will give the command for the tares in His world field to be destroyed.

The Field Is the Church

Let’s look at the parable a little more closely now and examine the field of the church. Does the parable apply there as well? Are there righteous and wicked enrolled in the church, or are the wicked only “out there”? You know the answer to that one, don’t you?

Within the church, the tares and the wheat can resemble each other very closely. God didn’t design that there should be false brethren within His church. Again we can say, “an enemy hath done this.” The devil is active in evangelism! He works to convert people to the church, while keeping them from becoming converted to Christ. The tares in the church give the enemy a tremendous advantage. They may retard the growth of the wheat. They may keep things astir, so that the truth is misrepresented. Church members who speak words that stir up strife are doing Satan’s work much more effectively than those who are openly his own subjects.

It is a well-known fact that in times of war, a spy can accomplish far more toward overcoming the stronghold of the enemy than can a soldier. Nations at war expect and are prepared for attacks from without. But they are not always prepared for attack from within and for this reason it is a most effective tool. Over and over the devil has used this tool to attempt to destroy God’s church.

We are warned by this parable against the work of trying to identify and separate the wheat from the tares in the church. Both may look alike for a time. If we trust our own understanding, we are liable to make many mistakes.

Look at the church to whom Jesus gave this parable in the first place. It had twelve members. Outwardly, there were problems. There was bickering and arguing about who was to be the greatest. There were tempers and poor judgment and proud hearts. In fact, probably the one who looked like he had the fewest problems was Judas. It’s easy for us today to see where Judas went wrong, because the “harvest” has already come for Judas. But for the disciples back then, he looked for sure like fine wheat. And some of the rest of them were a mess!

But notice again what this parable teaches about how Jesus works with tares. He doesn’t come in with His sharp sickle and start cutting. He waits. He watches. And He asks us to wait and watch until the natural outcome is manifest.

Christ knew, when He permitted Judas to connect with Him as one of the Twelve, that Judas was possessed of the demon of selfishness. He knew that this professed disciple would betray Him, and yet He did not separate him from the other disciples and send him away. He was preparing the minds of these men for His death and ascension, and He foresaw that should He dismiss Judas, Satan would use him to spread reports that would be difficult to meet and explain. The leaders of the Jewish nation were watching and searching for something that they could use to make of no effect the words of Christ.

The Saviour knew that Judas, if dismissed, could so misconstrue and mystify His statements that the Jews would accept a false version of His words, using this version to bring terrible harm to the disciples and to leave on the minds of Christ’s enemies the impression that the Jews were justified in taking the attitude that they did toward Jesus and His disciples.

Christ did not, therefore, banish Judas from His presence, but kept him by His side, where He could counteract his influence against His work. Jesus not only accepts those whom the devil brings into His church to harm it, but He does everything He can do to win those very ones to Himself! That’s how the kingdom of God operates.

The story is told of someone questioning Abraham Lincoln on his practice of making peace with his enemies, even giving them positions of trust in his cabinet. “Why,” he was asked, “don’t you destroy your enemies?”

He replied, “Have I not destroyed my enemies when I make them my friends?”

Jesus almost won Judas! And only eternity will reveal how many of the “spies” the enemy has brought into the church have been reached with the gospel, because of their close association with the spiritual things!

The Field Is Your Heart

Are you willing to try for one more layer of understanding? There are some who will have a hard time listening to this next application of the parable of the tares. But ponder it, and see if you recognize truth.

In the field of your heart, there may be tares along with the wheat. Have you ever been aware of them? Have you ever decided that it was your work to uproot them? This parable of the tares teaches that the work of uprooting tares is to be God’s work, directed by Him.

We would surely agree that when we become aware of the tares in our own hearts (even after the gospel seed has found lodgment there), that it is the work of an enemy. God is not responsible for the tares. But is it possible that God sometimes deals with the tares in our hearts in the same way He deals with tares in the church and in the world? Could it be possible that even on this level, He allows a process of time and growth and development, in order that the nature of the plants may be fully recognized.

We would not go so far as some who think that the harvest at the end of the world takes care of all of the imperfections in our characters. No, the harvest represents the maturing of the fruits of the Spirit in the life, the development of the character. However, doesn’t it sometimes take time before we can distinguish between that which is fault and that which is virtue? So, even in the field of the heart, had we not better leave the work of weeding with the Gardener?

As we consider this possibility, let us look at the experience of Peter. Peter had accepted Jesus and followed Him. He spent time with Him day by day. Fellowship with Christ was his highest joy. Peter had been converted. At this point someone is sure to remember the words of Jesus when He said, “When you are converted….” But since conversion is a daily matter, it was a reconversion referred to in that passage, not the initial experience of conversion.

Peter had been sent forth with the twelve, and again with the seventy. He had healed the sick and cleansed the lepers and cast out demons and raised the dead. Jesus had told him his name was in the book of life. See Luke 10:20. And we know that unless the new birth has taken place, no one can even see the kingdom of heaven. See John 3. So the evidence is that Peter had been converted.

But Peter had a problem. He had several problems, in fact, but the basis of them all was that he was self-sufficient. He didn’t realized his own condition. He knew he sinned on occasion. He was with the disciples who lagged behind Jesus on the road to Capernaum so they could bicker and argue more comfortably. But Peter thought he could handle things himself. The night on the lake, when he almost drowned, should have alerted him to his danger, but he didn’t heed the warning. There were tares in Peter’s heart, but he thought he could handle them himself. And the worst tares of all, he didn’t even recognize.

Peter was so sure of himself that he told Jesus that even if the rest of the disciples forsook Him, he would not. His self-assurance was the worst of his problems, and he didn’t even identify it as being a problem.

What did Jesus do? He dealt with Peter as He deals with the tares in the church. He allowed time for his harvest to grow. He gave him time to see for himself the difference between the tares and the wheat, so that when the tares were uprooted, Peter would not misunderstand and think Christ was making a mistake.

One time I was talking to another pastor about a particular church member, who was a “good liver”! This person wouldn’t think of doing anything wrong. But he was not interested in spiritual things. He was satisfied with going through the form and keeping God at arm’s length, while he lived out his spotless life apart from Christ.

And the other pastor said, “I think before that person can be truly converted, he will have to commit some terrible sin.”

What a thing to say! Haven’t we been promised not to be tempted above what we’re able to bear? Surely God wouldn’t permit someone to sin in order to save him. That doesn’t make sense!

Then I remembered Peter! Peter was a better man after his fall. He learned a lesson that apparently he could learn only through failure. And the Lord permitted him to fall, all the while promising him forgiveness when he turned again and repented of his sin.

Those who recognize their weakness are more likely to trust in a Power higher then themselves. And while they look to God, Satan has no power over them. But those who trust in themselves are easily defeated. The self-sufficient one, who like Peter, acts as if he knew more than his Lord, is allowed to go on in his supposed strength. And sometimes the shock of failure leads to the realization of the weakness of self which could not be realized in any other way.

We long for victory and power in the Christian life, and we often see failures that let us know we are not yet perfect. But God works patiently from cause to effect. The tares that we see may be the result of a deeper problem. And so God takes the time to allow things to develop, in order for us to understand our need. In the end, He brings us to the point of recognizing the tares for what they really are and of allowing Him to remove them from our lives. But there is a process involved, even in the field of the heart.

Our part is to continue to seek Him, to behold Him, to fellowship with Him, so that the process of growth can be completed in our lives. Then we can join Peter in realizing our helplessness and our total dependence upon Him. So long as we continue to seek His control of our lives, He will not leave us, even when He permits us to fall. His goal for us is to bring us to the inside of the celestial city, to kneel with the ransomed from all ages, and join with them in proclaiming,

“Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who shall not fear thee, O lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.” Revelation 15:3, 4.