Jesus taught this parable – along with a number of other parables – by the Sea of Galilee, during his (approximately) eighteen month Galilean ministry. The Wheat and the Tares lesson describes the separation of the sons of the enemy from the sons of the Kingdom in the end-times. 

Traditionally, this parable has been described as “the great harvest” at the end of the age suggesting a great addition of new births into the Kingdom, just prior to Jesus’ return. However, upon closer examination, one receives the revelation that this teaching’s focus is not upon “gathering” but upon “separating” in the Kingdom. 

He spoke to the multitudes, but later the disciples asked Him to explain the Wheat and Tares teaching to them (Matthew 13:37-43). Jesus responded by explaining each element of the parable: “He who sows the seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the Kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed the [tares] is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.” 

Jesus then further explains that just as at harvest time when the tares are separated and burned before the mature crop is gathered, so it will be at the end of the age, when He will send His angels to “gather out of His kingdom all things that offend and those who practice lawlessness…Then the righteous will shine as the sun in the Kingdom of their father.” 

As the Body of Christ, we are to glean a central message from this teaching. In Matthew 24, Jesus speaks at length regarding the end of the age and repeatedly urges us to “take heed that no one deceives you.” Why would the enemy (devil) sow tares (sons of the wicked one) into the field (world) of wheat (sons of the Kingdom)?

The enemy’s unwavering purpose is to prove to God that He made the wrong choice in choosing humanity – the lowest of all created beings – to be His heirs. To accomplish this purpose, the devil wields one of his most effective weapons – deception. Through deceit, the enemy works to keep the members of the Body of Christ (wheat) from growing and maturing into the fullness of their gifts and callings. 

Deception is not accomplished by presenting a clearly different alternative but rather by counterfeiting the truth. The sons of the wicked one (tares) are not members of the Body of Christ; but they exist side by side with the sons of the Kingdom (wheat) as this age is manifested in time. 

In the parable, the man who sowed the seed instructs the servants to not pull the tares up “lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them (v.29).” Removing the tares could not also uproot the wheat unless these two plants were intimately associated with one another. Today, the sons of the devil live, work, corporately worship, and relate with those in the Body of Christ on a daily basis. If they were removed from these relationships presently, in their deception, they would take with them many of the Kingdom, because the wheat (Kingdom sons) has not matured. 

How is it that sons of the enemy (Tares) exist in relationships with the sons of God (Wheat) and are not recognized? The Kingdom of God and the Person of Truth are not understood by logic; but by revelation. In this present age, intellectualism pervasively governs humanity’s thinking. If one prioritizes and places trust in the workings of the human mind to understand the principles of God and the ways of God, one’s faith is focused in such a way that is bound to disappoint. 

It is impossible for the human mind to sort out the deceptive schemes of the enemy purely through the exercise of the intellect. The modern world operates through the construct of human knowledge – substantiated with the logistical paradigms of binary deduction. As a result, we have predominantly integrated this approach into our corporate gatherings and into our Bible study. 

Jesus told the disciples in John 14:26: “the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” In John 16:7, Jesus encouraged the disciples: “I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.” 

Paul, in Ephesians chapter 1:16-17 exhorted the believers in Ephesus: “I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in your knowledge of Him.”

And to the Corinthians, regarding the gifts of the Holy Spirit: 

“Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. . . . There are different gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different ministries, but the same Lord. There are different ways of working, but the same God works all things in all people.

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by the same Spirit. . . .” (1 Corinthians 12:1,4-8)

However, in present western church culture we commonly set aside the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we have not had eyes to see as the enemy supplanted Holy Spirit revelation with human reason.

A field is harvested when it has matured. Matured tares stand straight up; but the heads of mature wheat bow over.

The end-time harvest will be the matured Body of Christ – His Church. We must walk through trials to learn obedience through suffering, and therefore mature (James 1); just as Christ learned obedience through the things He suffered (Hebrews 5:8). 

Jesus modeled the Spirit-led life for us all. “Truly, truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing by Himself, unless He sees the Father doing it. For whatever the Father does, the Son also does. The Father loves the Son and shows Him all He does.” (John 5:19-20)

Jesus urged His followers to “see to it that no one deceives you.” (Matthew 24:4) Just as Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit, we also are to lay aside the priority of human logic and walk intimately with the Father through the leading and discernment of the Holy Spirit within us. He will lead us and guide us into all truth (John 16:13).