Theme
Jesus tells a story about
tares (weeds) and wheat. The plants represent people and their spiritual situation
with God. Some people produce spiritual fruit which God desires. Other people
produce nothing of spiritual value like weeds also known as tares. The theme
Jesus is sharing is that God allows such non-fruitful people to live and
prosper upon the Earth along with fruitful people. On the Judgement Day, the
weeds will be cast into a fire.
Comment
God’s decision to do this was meant to protect the wheat, but can make life harder for them too. The actions and attitudes of the weeds can have a negative influence. This would have been the situation Jesus had among his disciples with Judas in their midst. We don’t know the influence Judas had on the other disciples. The Gospel of John states that Judas was a frequent thief. Jesus, who knew the hearts of men, probably knew Judas was a weed. Yet Jesus did not cast him out. Allowing Judas to stay may have allowed his negative attitudes to spill out now and then with words and actions. Jesus allowing Judas to stay also indicates Jesus knew the mind of God and acted in the same way God does within his kingdom here on Earth.
God’s decision to do this was meant to protect the wheat, but can make life harder for them too. The actions and attitudes of the weeds can have a negative influence. This would have been the situation Jesus had among his disciples with Judas in their midst. We don’t know the influence Judas had on the other disciples. The Gospel of John states that Judas was a frequent thief. Jesus, who knew the hearts of men, probably knew Judas was a weed. Yet Jesus did not cast him out. Allowing Judas to stay may have allowed his negative attitudes to spill out now and then with words and actions. Jesus allowing Judas to stay also indicates Jesus knew the mind of God and acted in the same way God does within his kingdom here on Earth.
Verses
John 12:6 Judas did
not really care about the poor. He was a thief. He was the one who kept the
moneybag for the group of followers. And he often stole money from the bag.
Matthew 13:24 Jesus said, “God’s
kingdom is like a man who planted good seed in his field. 25 That night, the
man’s enemy planted weeds (tares) among the wheat. 26 Later, the wheat grew,
and heads of grain grew on the plants. But at the same time the weeds also
grew. “The servants asked, ‘Do you want us to pull up the weeds?’
29 “He answered, ‘No, because when
you pull up the weeds (tares), you might also pull up the wheat. 30 Let the
weeds (tares) and the wheat grow together until the harvest time. At the
harvest time I will tell the workers this: First, gather the weeds (tares) and
tie them together to be burned. Then gather the wheat and bring it to my
barn.’”
