Parable of the Tares
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Jesus tells the Parable of the Tares in the Gospel of Matthew and in the noncanonical Gospel of Thomas. It refers to the coming of the Son of Man, when angels will separate the evil ones ("tares" or weeds) from the worthy (the wheat), and the evil ones will be destroyed.
The parable fits Matthew's theme of division and judgment[1]. As the parable addresses concerns of the early Christian community (the fate of false Christians), some historians regard it as originating not with Jesus but with the early Christian community.
The parable is also known as the Parable of the Weeds, Parable of the Wheat and Tares, or the Parable of the Weeds in the Grain.
The Greek word translated "tares" is ζιζάνια (zizania), plural of ζιζάνιον (zizanion). This word is thought to mean darnel.[2]
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[edit] The parable
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 not sow good seed in thy field? From whence then has 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.
A few verses later, an explanation is given:
Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
– Matthew 13:36–43, KJV
Another version appears in the apocryphal Gospel of Thomas (Patterson-Meyer Translation):
Jesus said, "The Father's kingdom is like a person who has [good] seed. His enemy came during the night and sowed weeds among the good seed. The person did not let the workers pull up the weeds, but said to them, 'No, otherwise you might go to pull up the weeds and pull up the wheat along with them.' For on the day of the harvest the weeds will be conspicuous, and will be pulled up and burned."
[edit] Interpretation
The meaning is quite complex: This is not just a heaven/hell exhortation to repentance, but an explanation of God's patience with the world's unbelief. The parable of the tares is also meant to explain the cause of hypocrisy within the Christian church. For mere social reasons, some who are actually nonbelievers put on a religious front. But their actions and attitudes often indicate that they are not real Christians.
Nevertheless, God is patient in judgment. Just as the man in the parable does not want his servants to accidentally root up the wheat, Jesus does not want his followers to conduct judgmental witch hunts for "hypocrites" in the church.
This still does not prevent the expulsion of church members who live in open rebellion against God's law, such as the man in 1 Corinthians 5 who committed adult incest.
Another interpretation is that the parable explains the history and plan of the world. The world is the field in which the seed was sown. That is, the world is God's creation that He made good. The evil one came and planted bad seed—that is, he led humans into sin. The present state of the world is that there exists good seed—those who ultimately stop rebelling against God and accept His grace—and bad seed—those who refuse to accept and instead persist in rebellion. The reason God did not just destroy everybody who was in rebellion of Him (the bad seed) is that some people exist who have not yet accepted His grace, but someday will. These people would be uprooted if harvested too early. Instead, He is bringing the world to a point (the harvest) in which everybody will have made their final decision and can then be sorted fairly—the good to be gathered together and the evil to be destroyed.[citation needed]
Christians who oppose the Death Penalty use this parable to say Jesus did not favor executing anyone, for you deny them the chance to accept his grace and condemn them to an early hell. Christians who advocate the Death Penalty cite Matt. 10:29 ("...one [sparrow] shall not fall on the ground without your Father"), and Eph. 1:11 ("...[God] worketh all things after the counsel of his own will"), in order to deny that an "early hell" is possible.
[edit] Attribution
Some historians attribute the parable and its explication not to the historical Jesus himself but to the early Christian community. This conclusion is based on several factors: that the concern of separating "true" from "false" Christians originated in the early Christian community, the parable doesn't feature Jesus' characteristic exaggeration and irony[3], and that it doesn't challenge social divisions[4]. Additionally, scholars that regard Jesus as not having preached the end times consider the parable to be outside Jesus' message.
[edit] References
- ^ See also in the judgment of the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25:31–46)
- ^ Liddell H G and Scott R, A Greek-English Lexicon, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1843–1996, under "ζιζάνια". The plural form (Zizania) has in modern times been adopted as the botanical name for wild rice.
- ^ See parables such as The Good Samaritan for examples that reverse common expectations.
- ^ Funk, Robert W., Roy W. Hoover, and the Jesus Seminar. The five gospels. HarperSanFrancisco. 1993. pages 194, 196.
