PT-5 "The Interpretation of the Parable of the Wheat and Tares" (Matt. 13:34-43)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/21/2022 10:12 AM

 

My Worship Time      Focus:  PT-5 “The Interpretation of the Parable of the Wheat and Tares”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matt. 13:34-43

 

            Message of the verses: ““34 All these things Jesus spoke to the multitudes in parables, and He did not speak to them without a parable, 35 so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, "I WILL OPEN MY MOUTH IN PARABLES; I WILL UTTER THINGS HIDDEN SINCE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD." 36 Then He left the multitudes, and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field." 37 And He answered and said, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, 38 and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one; 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels. 40 “Therefore just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. 41 "The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, 42 and will cast them into the furnace of fire; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 "Then THERIGHTEOUS WILL SHINE FORTH AS THE SUN in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.”

 

            We have been discussing why it would have been wrong for the slaves of the landowner to try and remove the tares before they could all properly be identified, and as we move on with this subject I want to begin with a quotation from John MacArthur’s commentary on this subject.  “In addition to the fact that the church age is for evangelism and not judgment, Christians are not qualified to infallibly distinguish between true and false believers.  Every time the church has presumed to do that, it has produced an ungodly bloodbath.  When the fourth-century Roman emperor Constantine required every person to make a profession f faith in Christ on pain of death, he succeeded in killing many true believers who refused to submit to his spurious brand of Christianity.  During the Crusades of the Middle Ages, unbelievable brutality was committed against non-Christians, especially Muslims and Jews, in the name of the Prince of Peace.  During the inquisitions in reaction to the Protestant Reformation, countless thousands of Christians who did not submit to the dogma and authority of Roman Catholicism were imprisoned, tortured, and executed.”

 

            The church age is not the age of God’s judgment, and certainly not of judgment and execution by the church.  While on earth, we saw the Lord Himself not lift a finger against His enemies, and I suppose for the most part they were all Jewish, as the Jews used the Roman Empire to have Christ killed. As we look at the events of the Last Supper we see that although Jesus knew that Judas was going to betray Him, He offered the first sop as a gesture of love and a final appeal for belief as seen in John 13:26.  While on the cross Jesus offered forgiveness for those who had put Him there as seen in Luke 23:34.  If Jesus did these things of forgiveness how can we, as His followers not do the same.  In this present age, believers are not God’s instruments of judgment and destruction but of truth and grace.  As a true believer we are not to have hearts of condemnation to the unbeliever, but we are to have compassion for their souls.

            Believers of this age are called to preach and teach against sin and all unrighteousness, but as we do that, its purpose is not to judge but to win souls, it is not to punish but to convert sons of the evil one into becoming sons of the kingdom.

 

            MacArthur adds “In any case, the Lord makes clear that the separation of the wheat and tares of the sons of the kingdom and the sons of the evil one, would be only at the end of the age.  In the meanwhile they exist side by side, breathing the same air, enjoying the same sunshine and rain, eating the same food, attending the same schools, working in the same factories and offices, living in the same neighborhoods, and sometimes attending the same churches.”

 

            It will be the angels whom the Son of Man will send forth…will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. It is the entire earth that is seen here as the Lord’s kingdom, and truly He is the rightful monarch, and for that matter always will be.  It is out of His world the angels collect all stumbling blocks—the devil’s sons  who work against God and seek to cause many to fall into hell and those who commit lawlessness by disobeying God’s Word.

 

            As I desire to complete this section tomorrow we will begin by looking at what happens when the Lord Jesus Christ returns to planet earth as seen in Revelation 19.

 

4/21/2022 10:36 AM