Parables: The Stories Jesus Told

The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares
(Matthew 13:24-30)
Pastor Mike told of how his father-in-law set out to plant a natural prairie. After sowing seeds and much hard work, plants came up… two acres of weeds. Mike offered to help pull them, but his father-in-law told him, “No—we don’t need to. There are things happening under there that we don’t see.” He said that in the first year, only weeds would show. All of the prairie’s energy was going into developing strong roots. Then the next year, the prairie would rise, and the weeds would fall. It worked, and the prairie emerged and flourished.

Similarly, Jesus’ parable of the wheat and the tares makes the point that Christians aren’t tasked with spending their lives trying to root out the weeds from our culture. We have cultivated a reputation—in many cases, rightfully so—for being some of the most critical, judgmental people in the world. How did that happen? We, as Christians, are not created to be the morality police, judging and condemning others. We can spend our lives pulling weeds, and at the end not have a single transformed soul to show for it. What this world really needs is for someone to get out there and plant some grass.

Food for Thought:

In the choice between pulling weeds or planting grass, what’s the most important way for us to spend our time?

What did Jesus do when he was on earth (John 3:17)?
In this parable, is Jesus telling us to ignore the truth and tolerate sin? Not at all. He’s helping us prioritize. If we’re busy condemning the world, who’s out there offering solutions? If all Christians took to heart the entreaty to go out and make disciples, how would the world be changed?

Related Scriptures:
Ephesians 6:12
2 Corinthians 10:3-4