Commentary - Matthew 13:24-30

Bird's-eye view

In this parable, the Lord Jesus teaches us how to think about the vexing problem of evil within the visible church, and by extension, the world. The kingdom of heaven, in its current manifestation, is a mixed multitude. It is not yet the pristine, spotless bride of the eschaton. Rather, it is a field where good seed and bad seed, wheat and weeds, grow side by side. This reality is not an accident, nor is it a sign that God's plan has gone awry. It is, in fact, part of the plan. An enemy, the devil, is actively working to corrupt and counterfeit the work of Christ. But our Master's response is not one of panicked, premature purging. Instead, He commands a patient forbearance, not for the sake of the weeds, but for the sake of the wheat. The time for ultimate separation is coming, and it will be executed with divine precision by His angelic reapers at the harvest, which is the end of the age. This parable is therefore a crucial lesson in eschatological patience, a warning against pietistic utopianism, and a profound comfort that the Lord of the harvest is in complete control of His field.

Jesus later explains this parable to His disciples, leaving no room for confusion. He is the sower, the good seed are the children of the kingdom, the field is the world, the tares are the children of the wicked one, and the enemy is the devil. This is a cosmic conflict playing out in the soil of human history. The central takeaway is that zealous but misguided attempts to create a perfectly pure church in this age will inevitably cause more harm than good, uprooting true believers along with the false. Our job is faithfulness in our own patch, not a fanatical crusade to purify the whole field by our own efforts. Judgment belongs to God, and He will execute it perfectly in His time.

Outline

Context In Matthew

This parable is the second in a series of seven parables about the kingdom of heaven found in Matthew 13. It follows the Parable of the Sower, which explained why the preaching of the kingdom receives different responses. While the first parable dealt with the nature of the soil (the human heart), this one deals with the nature of the seed itself, or rather, the two kinds of seed sown in the same field. The chapter as a whole is a pivotal moment in Matthew's gospel. Jesus has been publicly rejected by the religious leaders of Israel (Chapter 12), and so He now begins to teach in parables, a method that simultaneously reveals truth to His genuine disciples and conceals it from the willfully blind. These parables describe the nature of the kingdom in this present age, between Christ's first and second comings. They teach that the kingdom will have small, hidden beginnings (mustard seed, leaven), that it is of ultimate value (treasure, pearl), and that it will contain a mixture of good and evil until the final judgment (tares, dragnet).

Key Issues

The Field is the World

When Jesus interprets this parable for His disciples, He says plainly, "The field is the world" (Matt. 13:38). This is a statement of breathtaking scope. The kingdom of heaven is not a small, cloistered garden set apart from the world; Christ's claim is over the entire cosmos. He is sowing His good seed, the children of the kingdom, throughout the whole world. This is the foundation of the Great Commission. The devil, as an intruder and a counterfeiter, sows his seed in Christ's field. The world belongs to Jesus, and the devil is the trespasser.

This understanding cuts against any pietistic retreat from the world. The church is not called to huddle in a holy corner, waiting for the rapture. We are sown in the world to be salt and light. It also informs our understanding of the mixed nature of the visible church. Because the field is the world, the church, as it exists in the world, will inevitably have tares sown within it. This is not a failure of the church, but a reality of the spiritual war we are in. The parable of the dragnet at the end of this chapter makes the same point: when you cast a net into the sea, you bring in all sorts of things, not just the keepers. The sorting happens on the shore, at the end of the age.

Verse by Verse Commentary

24 He presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field.

Jesus, the master teacher, presents another word picture to explain the kingdom. The central figure is a landowner, who we later learn is the Son of Man Himself. He is engaged in a positive, creative act: sowing good seed. This is the foundational reality. The kingdom begins with God's sovereign, generative work. He is the one who initiates, who plants, who establishes His people in His world. The seed is good, and the field belongs to Him. The story begins with everything in its right and proper order.

25 But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away.

Here the conflict is introduced. The work of God is immediately met with the work of an enemy. The enemy's action is malicious, deliberate, and clandestine. He comes "while his men were sleeping," under the cover of darkness. This doesn't necessarily mean the servants were negligent; it simply points to the subtle and insidious nature of evil. The enemy sows "tares," likely a poisonous weed called darnel which, in its early stages, is virtually indistinguishable from wheat. This is a counterfeit. The enemy's goal is not just to ruin the harvest, but to do so by creating a deceptive imitation of the real thing. And having done his dirty work, he "went away," leaving the consequences to fester. The devil is a hit-and-run artist.

26 But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also.

Truth and falsehood, righteousness and unrighteousness, may look similar for a time. But maturity reveals the difference. It is when the wheat begins to bear fruit that the counterfeit nature of the tares becomes apparent. Fruitfulness is the great revealer of character. A true believer, however imperfectly, will begin to show the fruit of the Spirit. The child of the wicked one, for all his outward conformity, will ultimately reveal his barrenness or produce the fruit of the flesh. The problem becomes visible to all.

27 The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’

The servants are rightly perplexed. Their question is one that has echoed down through the ages in the hearts of God's people: If God is good and sovereign, why is there evil in the church? Why is there hypocrisy and sin among those who claim the name of Christ? Their question reveals a right understanding of their master's character. They know he only sows good seed. They are struggling to reconcile the goodness of the sower with the corruption in the field.

28 And he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this!’ The slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’

The master's answer is direct and immediate: "An enemy has done this." He does not blame the seed, the soil, or the servants. He identifies the true source of the problem, which is a malicious, personal enemy. This is crucial. We are in a spiritual war. The servants, full of zeal and loyalty to their master, immediately propose a solution. "Let's go fix it. Let's purify the field." Their impulse is understandable. They are the hardliners, eager to root out the evil. They want a pure church, and they want it now. This is the spirit of every puritanical, sectarian, and schismatic movement in church history.

29 But he said, ‘No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them.

The master's reply is a stunning rebuke to their zealous but shortsighted plan. He says "No." The reason is not a soft tolerance for the tares. The master has no love for the weeds. The reason is his profound concern for the wheat. He knows that in their current, intertwined state, it is impossible for finite, fallible servants to perfectly separate the two without causing catastrophic collateral damage. In their zeal to pull up a hypocrite, they might discourage, wound, or even drive out a genuine but weak believer. The principle here is foundational: it is far better to let a guilty man go free than to condemn an innocent one. The purity of the church is important, but the preservation of God's true children is paramount.

30 Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ”

The master's command is one of patient forbearance. Let them grow together. This is not an abrogation of church discipline. The New Testament is clear that open, scandalous sin must be dealt with (1 Cor. 5). But this parable deals with the deeper, often hidden, realities of the heart that we are not equipped to judge. The final separation is reserved for the "harvest," which Jesus identifies as the end of the age. And the task of separation is not given to the servants in the field, but to the "reapers," whom Jesus identifies as the angels. They will execute a perfect and final judgment. The tares will be gathered for destruction, and the wheat will be gathered into the master's barn, a picture of eternal security and blessing. The end of the story is one of perfect justice and perfect salvation.

Application

This parable should profoundly shape our expectations for the church in this age. We should not be surprised or undone by the presence of sin, hypocrisy, and unbelief within the visible church. An enemy has been at work. To expect a perfectly pure church on this side of the consummation is to demand an "over-realized eschatology," and this demand always leads to pharisaical impurity, witch hunts, and schism. We end up with a church of "thee and me," and then I have my doubts about thee.

At the same time, this parable is not a license for apathy or a rejection of church discipline. The master does not say the tares are actually wheat. He is not a theological liberal, erasing all distinctions. He is clear that there are two kinds of people, destined for two different eternities. We are called to exercise discipline in cases of manifest, unrepentant sin as the Scriptures command. But we must do so with humility, recognizing that we cannot read hearts. Our primary task is not to be weed-pullers, but to be fruitful wheat. We are to focus on our own growth in grace, on bearing the fruit of the Spirit, and on faithfully proclaiming the gospel.

The ultimate comfort of this parable is that the Lord of the harvest is in control. He knows who are His. The enemy's malice will not thwart His ultimate purpose. The harvest is coming. The day of perfect separation is on its way. On that day, the righteous will "shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father." Our job is to wait for that day with patient faith, tending to the work He has given us, and trusting the Lord of the harvest to bring His wheat safely into the barn.