Jesus’ parables are not vague spiritual riddles meant to keep sincere people in the dark. They are pictures drawn from ordinary life that reveal the ways of the kingdom of heaven to those who are willing to hear and obey. The Parable of the Weeds, also called the Parable of the Tares, is especially important because it prepares believers for a reality we must face without becoming cynical, harsh, or naïve.
In Matthew 13:24-30 and Jesus’ explanation in Matthew 13:36-43, we learn why true and false “plants” exist side by side in the present age, what the final outcome will be, and what our responsibilities are in the meantime. We will walk through the parable carefully, follow Jesus’ own interpretation, and then apply its lessons to the church’s life, including the crucial distinction between false believers and false teachers.
The Parable in Context
Matthew 13 records a series of kingdom parables given during a season of increasing opposition to Jesus. Some were believing, some were curious, and others were hardening themselves against Him. In that setting, Jesus taught both the growth and the mixed condition of the kingdom as it is experienced in the world before the end of the age.
The Parable of the Weeds follows the Parable of the Sower. That matters because the Sower emphasizes different responses to the word, while the Weeds emphasizes an enemy’s counterfeit work alongside the true work. In other words, it is not only that people respond differently to truth. It is also that a real enemy actively opposes the kingdom by introducing imitation.
“Another parable He put forth to them, saying: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.’” (Matthew 13:24-25)
Notice that Jesus begins, “The kingdom of heaven is like.” He is describing the kingdom’s present operation in this age, not merely the final state after judgment. That helps us avoid a common misreading: this parable is not permission to tolerate known, unrepentant sin in the church. It is not a command to abandon discernment. It is an explanation of why, in the world and even around the people of God, there will be a mixture until God’s appointed harvest.
Wheat and Tares Together
Jesus describes a farmer who sowed “good seed” in his field. The problem that emerges is not that the seed was defective. The problem is that an enemy attacked the field by planting tares. In the ancient world, this was a known act of sabotage. The tare likely refers to darnel, a weed that resembles wheat in its early stages. It looks similar enough that an inexperienced eye might not see the difference until the heads form.
This detail is part of the parable’s force. Counterfeit life often looks convincing at first. Many things resemble spiritual life: religious language, moral reformation, church involvement, emotional experiences, and even ministry activity. But resemblance is not the same as new birth. Eventually, fruit reveals what kind of plant it is.
“But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’” (Matthew 13:26-28)
The servants ask a reasonable question: “Do you want us then to go and gather them up?” Their instinct is to protect the crop. But the master’s response is surprising. He forbids them from uprooting the tares at that stage because of the danger of harming the wheat. Wheat and tares can become intertwined below the surface. Pulling one can injure the other.
Jesus is not teaching that truth and error are equal, or that evil should be ignored. He is teaching that premature, human-driven separation can create damage that cannot easily be repaired. There is a kind of zeal that is not according to knowledge. It is possible to try to “purify” the field and end up wounding the very people you want to protect.
“But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’” (Matthew 13:29-30)
So the parable includes both patience and certainty. There is patience now: “Let both grow together until the harvest.” There is certainty later: the harvest will come, and there will be a real separation. God is not confused about which is which, and the outcome is not in doubt.
Jesus Interprets His Parable
We do not have to guess what the symbols mean. Jesus later explains the parable to His disciples in private. That is an important principle for Bible study: when Scripture interprets Scripture, we listen closely and build our understanding from what God has plainly said.
“He answered and said to them: ‘He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.’” (Matthew 13:37-39)
Several anchors come from Jesus’ explanation. First, the Sower is the Son of Man, Jesus Himself. The good seed is good because it comes from Him and produces genuine kingdom people. Second, the field is “the world.” That keeps us from pressing every detail into a narrow “local church only” framework. Jesus is describing the kingdom’s presence in the world during this age, where the children of the kingdom live alongside others, including counterfeit kingdom people.
Third, the tares are “sons of the wicked one.” This is strong language. It does not mean that everyone who is not saved is a tare planted as a deliberate counterfeit inside a congregation. But it does mean that behind counterfeit religion there is an adversary, the devil, who hates Christ and seeks to corrupt the witness of the kingdom by imitation and confusion.
Fourth, the harvest is “the end of the age.” That connects the parable to final judgment. The separation is not primarily accomplished by the servants. It is accomplished by angels at the direction of the Son of Man.
“Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. 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, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 13:40-42)
This is not a parable about minor differences. Jesus connects it to eternal realities. The “furnace of fire” and “wailing and gnashing of teeth” describe conscious anguish and irreversible loss. Whatever else we learn from the parable, we must not miss the warning: there will be people who looked like wheat in the field who will face judgment because they never belonged to Christ.
Then Jesus ends with a promise for the righteous. He does not present the future as endless mixture. The mixture is temporary.
“Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” (Matthew 13:43)
That final line, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear,” is not filler. It is a call to personal response. The parable is not only about “them,” the counterfeit. It is also about “you.” Are you wheat? Are you truly Christ’s? Do you hear His voice and follow?
Who the Tares Represent
The tares represent false believers, people who appear outwardly to belong to Christ but do not possess genuine saving faith. They may have proximity to spiritual things without possessing spiritual life. They may be connected to the church socially, culturally, or emotionally, without being regenerated by the Holy Spirit.
We should be careful with our language here. Only the Lord knows the heart perfectly. Yet Scripture repeatedly warns that not everyone who claims Christ truly belongs to Him. This is not meant to produce constant fear in sincere believers, but it is meant to produce sobriety, humility, and honesty before God.
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” (Matthew 7:21)
This does not teach salvation by works. In the same context Jesus warns about false prophets and false professions, and He describes people who appeal to their religious activity rather than to a real relationship with Him. The “will of My Father” includes believing in the Son and continuing in a life that reflects that faith. The fruit does not save, but it does reveal.
Paul gives a similar pastoral warning, not to make believers guess, but to urge self-examination in the light of the gospel. It is possible to be around the truth and yet never truly embrace it. It is possible to have an orthodox vocabulary and yet remain unconverted.
“Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? Unless indeed you are disqualified.” (2 Corinthians 13:5)
The word “examine” carries the idea of testing something to prove it genuine. The point is not morbid introspection. The point is to bring our profession of faith into the light of Christ’s lordship. Do we rest our hope on Him? Do we trust the finished work of His cross and resurrection? Do we see the Spirit producing new desires, repentance, and perseverance?
In the parable, tares look like wheat for a time. That means counterfeit Christianity can be hard to detect early on. Some people can learn Christian behavior, use Christian language, and blend into church life while never being born again. This is exactly why Jesus says human servants must be cautious about uprooting. We are not omniscient. We do not see roots.
Why God Allows the Mixture
The servants want immediate action. The master says, “Let both grow together until the harvest.” This is not indifference. It is wisdom. The master is committed to protecting the wheat, and his timing is designed to avoid unnecessary damage.
One reason is the danger of mistaken judgment. At certain stages, even wheat might look weak, immature, or messy. New believers can be confused, inconsistent, and still learning. If we treat immaturity as hypocrisy, we may crush tender faith. If we treat a struggling believer as a tare, we may do spiritual harm rather than spiritual good.
Another reason is patience that gives room for repentance. While the parable’s imagery speaks of plants and harvest, we must remember we are dealing with people who hear the gospel. God’s patience is not approval of sin. It is an opportunity for salvation and growth.
“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)
This verse is often quoted, and rightly so, because it reveals God’s heart in delaying final judgment. He is giving time. That does not mean all will repent. It means the door of mercy is open now, and it will not remain open forever.
In practical terms, the present age is the season for gospel proclamation. The church is called to preach, teach, disciple, correct, and restore. Those very ministries are part of how God separates wheat from tares over time, not by human uprooting, but by the ongoing work of truth. When the word of God is taught faithfully, it both nourishes the wheat and exposes what is counterfeit. Some who appeared false may truly repent and believe. Others may harden and eventually reveal their true allegiance.
Yet the parable also insists that a complete and final separation is reserved for the end of the age. There is a limit to what the church can accomplish by discernment in this world. We can deal with clear matters of discipline and doctrine, but we cannot infallibly read hearts. God can. God will.
False Believers and False Teachers
It is essential to distinguish false believers from false teachers. Scripture does. A false believer may be self-deceived, spiritually unregenerate, yet not actively trying to corrupt others. A false teacher, on the other hand, spreads error and draws people away from Christ and His gospel. The New Testament treats the second category with a special urgency because of the damage they do to the flock.
The Parable of the Weeds highlights the presence of counterfeit people among God’s people in the world until the end. But it does not say the church should allow destructive teaching to spread unchecked. Patience with people who may be deceived is not the same as tolerance of deception that harms others.
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” (1 John 4:1)
John’s command to “test” assumes discernment is necessary. Love does not mean gullibility. The church must evaluate teaching by apostolic truth. The standard is not charisma, popularity, claimed experiences, or impressive platforms. The standard is the truth about Jesus Christ and the gospel handed down by the apostles.
At the same time, we should not assume we can identify every tare with certainty. The parable warns against aggressive “weed-pulling” that becomes suspicious, accusatory, and divisive. Many churches have been harmed by a harsh culture where people are constantly put on trial. That is not spiritual maturity. The New Testament calls for a balance: discernment with humility, vigilance without paranoia, and firmness about doctrine with gentleness toward individuals.
A helpful way to keep the balance is to remember that God gives the church clear instructions for dealing with behavior and teaching, while leaving the final judgment of the heart to Him. Where Scripture speaks clearly, we act. Where Scripture reserves judgment to God, we wait.
How to Treat False Believers
If tares represent false believers, what should we do when we suspect someone’s faith is not genuine? The parable points us away from hasty removal and toward faithful ministry. We preach the gospel to all. We invite people to repent and believe. We disciple those who profess Christ. We encourage assurance where there is genuine faith, and we warn where there is ongoing hypocrisy and unbelief.
Jesus’ teaching does not excuse sin. It does not eliminate church discipline. But it does guard us from trying to do God’s final sorting work prematurely. Often the best “test” is the steady, patient ministry of the word over time. Truth has a way of clarifying what is real.
“Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” (1 John 2:3-4)
John is not teaching sinless perfection. He is describing a pattern and direction. A true believer may stumble, but a true believer cannot be at peace in ongoing rebellion. Where there is no desire to obey Christ, no repentance, and no fruit over time, a profession becomes increasingly questionable.
Yet even then, our goal is not to “win an argument” but to win the person. We appeal. We reason from Scripture. We call for repentance and faith. We pray. We show the difference between church involvement and personal trust in Christ. Sometimes God uses these very conversations to bring a tare into real conversion. The outward “plant” was there, but the new birth had not occurred. God can change that.
We also remember that many people in church settings carry misunderstandings. Some think Christianity is inherited. Some think baptism or a childhood prayer automatically guarantees salvation. Some equate being a decent person with being a Christian. Patient discipleship can clear these errors and bring someone to genuine faith.
So we do not treat suspected tares as enemies. We treat them as people who need the gospel and the clarifying light of truth. We speak honestly, but we speak with compassion.
How to Handle False Teachers
False teachers are different. Scripture speaks of them as active threats. Their work is not simply private self-deception. It is public influence that can destabilize believers, distort the gospel, and fracture churches. Because their impact spreads, the New Testament calls leaders and congregations to respond decisively.
“But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.” (2 Peter 2:1)
Peter says false teachers “secretly bring in destructive heresies.” This means the danger is often incremental. Error is introduced in a way that sounds plausible, spiritual, and even biblical, but it gradually redefines key truths. Peter adds that some will even deny the Lord. That denial may be explicit or it may be functional, where Jesus is confessed with the lips but replaced in practice by another “gospel,” another authority, or another way of salvation.
Jesus Himself warned about wolves who appear harmless. The issue is not that they look scary. The issue is that they look safe.
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.” (Matthew 7:15)
Because false teachers harm others, the church must not take a passive posture toward them. The New Testament repeatedly calls for guarding doctrine and confronting those who subvert it. This is not contrary to love. It is love for the flock.
“He must hold fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict. For there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, for the sake of dishonest gain.” (Titus 1:9-11)
Paul says their “mouths must be stopped.” That can sound severe until we remember what is at stake: “whole households” can be subverted. Lives can be shipwrecked. The gospel can be distorted. The church is not allowed to treat destructive teaching as a mere difference of opinion. There is room for disagreements among believers on secondary matters, but there is no room for a “gospel” that is not the apostolic gospel, and no room for teachers who persist in spreading harmful error.
Paul also instructs believers to withdraw from those who refuse wholesome teaching and instead promote corrupt controversies and ungodly motives.
“If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing… From such withdraw yourself.” (1 Timothy 6:3-5)
Withdrawing is not personal hatred. It is refusal to grant influence and platform to destructive teaching. It is also a sober recognition that persistent error is not merely intellectual. Paul ties doctrine to godliness. Sound doctrine “accords with godliness.” Teaching that leads away from godliness is not harmless, even if it sounds impressive.
This is where the distinction matters: the parable teaches patience regarding the presence of tares in the field, but the epistles teach firmness regarding the spread of false teaching in the church. We can be patient with people while being strict with doctrine. We can be gentle in our tone while being unwavering in our convictions.
Our Assignment Until Harvest
The Parable of the Weeds gives clear direction for how believers should live between the sowing and the harvest. We do not take the role of angels. We do not execute final judgment. But we do take the role of witnesses, disciples, and faithful workers in the field.
We keep sowing the word. God’s method for gathering wheat is the gospel. Our task is not to become obsessed with identifying every tare, but to be faithful with Christ’s message, trusting that truth will do its work.
“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.” (1 Corinthians 3:6-7)
This helps us stay humble and steady. We plant and water through preaching, teaching, conversations, prayer, and example. But only God gives life. That guards us from manipulation. It also guards us from despair when people do not respond as we hoped.
We also trust God’s knowledge of His own. The presence of tares can make sincere believers anxious, as if the church is always one step away from collapse. But the Lord knows those who are truly His, and He is not confused by appearances.
“Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: ‘The Lord knows those who are His,’ and, ‘Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.’” (2 Timothy 2:19)
Notice the two sides. God knows His own, and those who name Christ must depart from iniquity. Assurance and holiness belong together. We do not earn belonging by departing from sin, but those who truly belong will not be content to remain in sin.
The parable also teaches us to accept the reality of mixed responses without quitting. Some will receive the word. Others will resist it. Some will imitate faith for a time and then reveal unbelief. That is not proof that the gospel failed. It is proof that Jesus told the truth about the field.
When we encounter rejection, we do not become bitter, nor do we become stuck trying to force an outcome. Jesus gave His disciples permission to move on when a message is refused. That keeps the mission moving forward.
“And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet.” (Matthew 10:14)
“Shake off the dust” does not mean we stop caring. It means we do not carry a false burden of responsibility for what only God can change. We are responsible to be faithful and clear. We are not responsible to make people believe.
Finally, we remember that the harvest is real. The parable ends with judgment for the tares and glory for the righteous. That keeps our evangelism urgent, our discipleship serious, and our hope anchored. The injustice and confusion of the present age will not be the final word.
“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.” (Matthew 13:41)
Jesus calls His people to endure with clarity. We do not pretend evil is good. We do not call tares “wheat” to avoid discomfort. We also do not attempt to do God’s end-time work with fleshly zeal. We preach Christ, shepherd people, confront false teaching, practice church discipline where Scripture commands it, and leave final separation to the Lord at the end of the age.
My Final Thoughts
The Parable of the Weeds teaches us to expect a mixed field until the harvest, to resist the temptation of harsh, premature judgment, and to trust that Jesus will bring a perfect separation in His time. It warns every professing Christian to make sure their faith is real, rooted in repentance and trust in Christ, not merely in outward religion.
So keep sowing the word, keep loving people, and keep guarding the church from destructive teaching. Let the gospel do its searching work in hearts, and let the promise of the harvest steady you: the Lord knows His own, and in the end the righteous will shine forth in the kingdom of their Father.
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