Commentary - Matthew 13:36-43

Bird's-eye view

After dismissing the crowds, the Lord Jesus retires to a house, and His disciples follow Him, seeking a private explanation of the parable of the tares. What follows is not another parable, but the divine answer key. Jesus systematically decodes the allegory, identifying every key element: the sower, the field, the good seed, the tares, the enemy, the harvest, and the reapers. This explanation provides a foundational piece of our Lord's teaching on the nature of the kingdom in this present age. The kingdom has been sown in the entire world, not just in a corner of Palestine. It is Christ's field. Yet, it is a mixed reality. The sons of the kingdom and the sons of the evil one grow side by side, often indistinguishably, until the final judgment. The central thrust is a warning against a premature, impatient, and destructive purism within the visible church and the world. The final separation is God's work, to be executed by His angels at the end of the age, not by overzealous saints who might do more harm than good.

This passage is intensely practical, teaching the church patience and trust in God's sovereign timing. It is also profoundly eschatological, giving us a clear picture of the final judgment. The wicked will be gathered out of Christ's kingdom, a kingdom that encompasses the whole world, and they will be cast into the fire. But the righteous, those who are Christ's good seed, will be glorified, shining forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. This is the certain hope that anchors the church as she lives in the midst of a world where good and evil are perplexingly intertwined.

Outline

Context In Matthew

This passage sits in the middle of Matthew 13, a chapter dedicated to Jesus' parables of the kingdom. It directly follows the public telling of the parable of the tares (or darnel) and the parables of the mustard seed and the leaven. The disciples' private request for an explanation separates this teaching from the public discourse. Jesus' willingness to explain the parable to them in private underscores a central theme in Matthew: the kingdom's mysteries are revealed to the disciples while being concealed from the hardened crowds. This explanation provides the theological framework for understanding the other parables. It establishes the reality that the kingdom, while growing inexorably like the mustard seed and leaven, will coexist with evil until the final judgment. This section is therefore the interpretive key not only to the preceding parable but to the entire state of the world between Christ's first and second comings.

Key Issues

The World is Christ's Field

One of the most foundational truths in this explanation is Jesus' statement that "the field is the world." This is a world-altering claim. The sower, the Son of Man, did not come to plant a small garden in a corner of the world, walled off from everything else. He came and sowed His good seed, His people, in the entire kosmos. This means the whole world is His field. It belongs to Him. The devil, when he sows his tares, is not working on his own turf; he is an enemy, a trespasser, an intruder in Christ's field. This is a postmillennial parable. Christ has claimed the whole earth as His kingdom, and the story of history is the story of His wheat growing to fill it. The presence of evil, the tares, does not negate Christ's ownership. It is a temporary problem that He will deal with decisively at the end of history. But we must begin with the breathtaking scope of Christ's claim: the whole world is His, and He is cultivating His people in every part of it.

Verse by Verse Commentary

36 Then He left the crowds and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.”

The setting is significant. Jesus moves from the public space of the crowds to the private space of the house. This is where He provides deeper instruction to His inner circle. The disciples show their spiritual hunger. They are not content with the surface-level story; they want the meaning behind it. They recognize that this is not just an agricultural tale, but a spiritual reality they need to grasp. Their question is a model for all believers: we must come to Jesus, through His Word, and ask Him to explain the mysteries of the kingdom to us.

37 And He answered and said, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man,

Jesus begins the decoding process, and He starts by identifying Himself. He is the sower. "Son of Man" is His favored self-designation, drawn from Daniel 7, identifying Him as the one who receives an everlasting dominion and kingdom from the Ancient of Days. He is the sovereign Lord of the harvest, the one who initiates the work of the kingdom. The kingdom doesn't just happen; it is actively and purposefully sown by its King.

38 and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one;

Here we have a series of crucial identifications. First, as noted, the field is the entire world. The kingdom's reach is universal. Second, the good seed is not an idea or a doctrine, but people: "the sons of the kingdom." These are the elect of God, the regenerate, those who belong to Christ. Third, the tares, which are a poisonous weed called darnel that looks very much like wheat in its early stages, are also people: "the sons of the evil one." This is stark, binary language. There are two families in the world, two lineages tracing back to two spiritual fathers. You are either a child of God, sown by Christ, or a child of the devil. There is no third category.

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

The identifications continue. The enemy responsible for the presence of evil is the devil. He is a real, personal enemy who maliciously counterfeits the work of Christ. The harvest, the time of separation, is designated as "the end of the age." While this phrase can refer to the judgment that fell upon Jerusalem in A.D. 70, the context here, with the universal scope of the world-field and the finality of the judgment, points primarily to the consummation of all things at the final judgment. And the workers in that final harvest are not men, but angels, God's heavenly ministers of judgment.

40 So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age.

Jesus now moves from identification to application. The agricultural practice of separating weeds for burning becomes the analogy for the final judgment. The parallel is explicit: what happens to the darnel in the parable is precisely what will happen to the wicked at the end of history. The separation is certain, and the end for the wicked is destruction.

41 The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness,

Here we see the authority of the Son of Man in action. He is the one who dispatches the angels. Their task is to purge His kingdom. Notice, they gather the wicked out of His kingdom, which reinforces the point that the kingdom is the entire world-field where both wheat and tares have been growing. The ones gathered are identified in two ways: as "stumbling blocks" (skandala), those things and people that cause others to sin, and as "those who commit lawlessness." This is a comprehensive roundup of all unrepentant sinners.

42 and will throw them into the fiery furnace; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The destination of the lawless is described in terrifying terms. The "fiery furnace" evokes images of intense, inescapable, and destructive judgment, like the furnace in Daniel 3. Jesus adds His common description of the experience of hell: "weeping and gnashing of teeth." Weeping signifies profound sorrow and regret. Gnashing of teeth signifies intense pain and impotent rage against God. This is not annihilation; it is conscious, eternal torment, and we must not blunt the force of our Lord's words.

43 Then THE RIGHTEOUS WILL SHINE FORTH AS THE SUN in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

After the terror of judgment comes the brilliance of glorification. The word "Then" marks the great transition. Once the kingdom has been purged of all evil, the true nature of the righteous will be revealed. In this life, the wheat is often obscure, humble, and looks much like the darnel. But at the harvest, they will be revealed in glory, shining like the sun. This imagery is drawn from Daniel 12:3. Their glory is not their own; it is a reflected glory, shining in the kingdom of their Father. The passage ends with a familiar admonition from Jesus: "He who has ears, let him hear." This is a call to pay close attention, to understand that this is not a mere story but a description of ultimate reality with eternal consequences.

Application

This explanation of the parable of the tares provides the church with her marching orders for the entire period between the two advents of Christ. First, it teaches us cosmic optimism. The world is not the devil's field; it is Christ's. He has sown His seed here, and His purposes will not fail. The presence of evil is real, but it is an intrusion, a parasitic growth that will one day be eradicated.

Second, it teaches us patience. The servants in the parable were eager to go weed-pulling, but the master forbade it, lest they pull up the wheat along with the tares. The church is not called to a violent crusade to root out every evildoer from the world. We are not the reapers; the angels are. Our task is to be faithful wheat, to grow to maturity, to bear fruit. We must resist the temptation of a carnal, revolutionary zeal that seeks to establish a pure kingdom by our own efforts and on our own timetable. God is patient for the sake of the wheat, and so must we be.

Finally, this passage forces us to ask the most important question: which seed are we? Are we sons of the kingdom, sown by Christ? Or are we sons of the evil one, sown by the enemy? The test is not outward appearance, for the wheat and darnel look alike for a time. The test is fruit. The good seed bears the fruit of the Spirit. If you hear these words and they drive you to Christ in repentance and faith, that is a sign of wheat. If you hear them and harden your heart in rebellion, that is the sign of a tare. The harvest is coming. The furnace is real, and the glory is real. He who has ears, let him hear.