The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares During Christ’s mortal ministry, he shared
many parables.
One of those is known today as the parable of the wheat and the tares.
Here’s the parable as Christ gave it in Matthew 13:24-30:
“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 not thou sow good
seed in thy field? from whence then hath 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.”
Let’s see if we can understand the main storyline of this parable.
A farmer plants some wheat, but at night an enemy planted tares—which is a kind of weed—by
the wheat.
It’s interesting to note that this action—planting weeds among wheat—was specifically forbidden
by Roman law.
The fact that there’s a law against it suggests that this type of thing sometimes happened.
So when the wheat plants started to grow, the tares were right next to it—and at the
early stages it is hard to discern the wheat from the weed.
So when the man’s servants asked if they should go pull up the weeds, the man said,
“No, let’s wait until they’ve grown up, presumably because it would then be easier
to distinguish the wheat from the tares.
At that point they would gather the wheat together and burn the weeds.
So the storyline makes sense, but what does it mean?
Later in Matthew 13, Jesus explains the meaning of certain elements of the parable.
He says that “The field is the world”; “the good seed are the children of the kingdom”;
and “the tares are the children of the wicked one.”
The enemy who planted the tares “is the devil”; “the harvest is the end of the
world”; and the “reapers are the angels.”
In this parable, at the end of the world, the righteous will be gathered and the wicked
will be burned in the fire.
In Doctrine and Covenants 86, Jesus Christ provides some additional explanation.
He adds that “the apostles were the sowers of the seed;” and explains that after the
apostles had “fallen asleep [or died] the great persecutor of the church…even Satan…soweth
the tares; wherefore, the tares choke the wheat and drive the church into the wilderness.”
With this additional insight we can see that this parable relates to the Apostasy as the
true church is no longer present on the earth.
Jesus continues, “In the last days, even now while the Lord is beginning to bring forth
the word, and the blade is springing up and is yet tender—Behold, verily I say unto
you, the angels are crying unto the Lord day and night, who are ready and waiting to be
sent forth to reap down the fields.”
These verses help us locate the parable in our day and time.
The angels who Jesus referred to in Matthew 13, those who reap the field, are crying out
to begin their job.
But the Lord tells them, “Let the wheat and the tares grow together until the harvest
is fully ripe; then ye shall first gather out the wheat from among the tares, and after
the gathering of the wheat, behold and lo, the tares are bound in bundles, and the field
remaineth to be burned.”
It’s exciting to see that Doctrine and Covenants 86 places this parable in our day, “even
now.”
So what is the bottom line message from this parable for us today?
While parables have many meanings, consider a few possible applications.
First, is the principle to not judge.
It’s hard to tell the wheat from the tares.
Somebody we might think is the perfect Latter-day Saint might actually be a tare.
And somebody we might think is looking like a weed could be a beautiful wheat plant.
We don’t need to be judges of whether others are the wheat or the tares—that’s the
job of the Lord and his authorized servants.
Second, in light of Doctrine and Covenants 86, a key message from this parable is that
the righteous will be gathered during the last days and Christ will destroy the wicked
at his Second Coming.
President Nelson has taught that the “gathering is the most important thing taking place on
earth today.
Nothing else compares in magnitude, nothing else compares in importance, nothing else
compares in majesty.
And if you choose to, if you want to, you can be a big part of it.”
Another possible application of this parable is for us to focus our energies on being the
good wheat.
Each of us is learning and growing.
In the final verse of Doctrine and Covenants 86, Jesus Christ says, “Continue in my goodness,
a light unto the Gentiles.”
Day by day we can continue in the goodness of Jesus Christ, growing closer to him and
holding up his light to others.
How do you see the parable of the wheat and tares applying to your life?