Matthew 13:36 – 43

The Parable of the Tares Explained

36 Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.”

37 He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.

38 The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one.

39 The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.

40 Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age.

41 The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness,

42 and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

43 Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!;

Back in the first verse of this chapter it indicates there was a great number of people wanting Jesus attention, He was in His house, so He left His house and went out to teach and heal them.

Jesus sends the multitudes away and returns to his house and the disciples ask Him for an explanation of the tares and the wheat.

Jesus explains that He is the sower of the field.

The field is the world, and the the result of the good seed(Gospel) being planted are the ones who accept the Gospel and are the members of the kingdom(church)

The tares are the products of evil teaching or people of the world who do not accept the Lord's teaching and do not become members of the kingdom.

The enemy of Jesus is Satan, he has always been an enemy of righteousness and has always used deception to keep people from accepting Christ's teaching.

The harvest will be the end of earth time or the judgment day. The ones doing the harvesting or reaping are the angels of God, they have always been His servants since the beginning of time. There part of the harvesting is also mentioned in (Revelation 14:14 – 20).

It is natural during the season of the harvest to destroy by fire any refuse or trash which has accumulated during the growing year. The tares are useless so as they are gathered they will be burnt. This is referring to those who do not accept the teaching of Christ during the growing season and will be burnt at the judgment.

Many times we refer to the church as the kingdom of Jesus, but the entire world is His kingdom as described in this verse. A definition of kingdom is a territory subject to the rule of a king. Jesus tells us in (Matthew 28:18) God has given all power to Him in heaven and in earth so the entire inhabited earth is the kingdom of Christ. So the people who refuse to follow the law of Christ will be taken out of the population on the last day and thrown into the lake of fire with Satan and his angels.

This verse shows that the time in the fire will be full of conscious torture.

Verse 43 describes the time after the end of the world and the judgment. Jesus will give up his kingdom as described in (1 Corinthians 15:24) that is when the righteous will shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.