(Text and Audio)
Title: The Parable of the Tares (Part 3)
Today we will conclude our teaching on the parable of the tares by looking at the final two parallels that Jesus teaches, and then look at the implications, the predictive elements to what actually happens at the time of harvest.
Let us ask that our Lord will bless our understanding for this final installment.
(read/pray)
If you recall, last week we looked at the first 5 parallels and they were as follows:
Sower=Son of Man
Field=World
Good Seeds=Sons of the Kingdom
Tares=Sons of the Wicked One
Enemy=Devil
And now, the final two parallels:
Harvest = The End of the Age
- For now, we are to coexist in the field (world) with the sinners. A time is coming (harvest) when Jesus will put an end to this coexistence.
- There is a definitive end date in mind. We do not know it, but it has been set since the Fall, and will not come a moment before, or after, it’s ordained to come.
- This will be the end of this age, but the beginning of a new age. God has plans that extend beyond this age, both for the saved and the unsaved.
- As we have said many times during the course of our teachings on the parables, the fruit is what identifies us.
Reapers = Angels
- These angels are “His” (verse 41) They are agents of our Lord, doing His good work.
- The Tares and Wheat have no power over the Reapers. Once they are sent out, there is no turning back. You are either a Tare (damned) or Wheat (saved).
- The Reapers will make no mistakes.
Therefore
At this point we reach the transition of the explanation. Jesus has explained all 7 of the parallels, and now he explains the action and involvement of each one as they are set into motion.
The first stage of the beginning of the end of this age is the reaping and gathering of the tares, to be burned in the fire. This is an obvious illusion to the fires of Hell. The Tares are separated from the wheat and destroyed.
The field, in other words, will be returned to the it’s original intention, before sin or sinning, or sinners corrupted it with their evil ways.
The field is the world, and the world’s original intention was to house man (Adam and Eve) in a place of harmony with both God and his creation. That is what we are returning to.
At this point the tares have had their time, their natures have not been changed by the Almighty, and they MUST be destroyed to satisfy the righteousness of a holy and perfect ruler.
And what, exactly, is cast out?
“All things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness.”
There will be nothing left that offends God. The theological implication of this passage is stark, because it carries with it at least two layers. The first one is obvious: that the sinners are removed, and their sins with them, that’s pretty straight-forward.
But the second implication is a bit more personal.
Mike, are you saved?
Do you still have sin?
So something’s got to give, right?
This harvest is also the culmination, the completion, of OUR sanctification. Sin itself is removed, because the Lord is casting out “All things that offend.” So for the sinner this is a terrible day, but for the saved, it is a wonderful harvest. Not only is sin and it’s influence cast away from us, no longer to but a tension and strain on our ability to worship our God, but also the sin that we wrestle with, the flesh that fights our Spirit, is also excommunicated, to be contended with no more.
We are finally free. We finally return as a species to the state which we were created for: to freely, without sin, without pride, without jealousy, without divided attentions, without hesitation, without reservation, without heavy and sorrowful hearts FREE to worship our God.
“He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
There are only two possible reactions to this passage:
- Sheer excitement
- Everything else
Sheer excitement = Wheat
Everything else = Tare
If you grasp this, you are saved, and the ONLY reasonable reaction is excitement for the future. This parable, friends, is indeed a litmus test for the reality of your faith.