Sunday 29 May 2022

Parable of the Tares

 Scripture:  Matthew 13 v 36 - 43: "Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.

37  He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;
38  The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;
39  The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.
40  As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.
41  The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; 
42  And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
43  Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear."

The Parable of the tares is like other parables that Jesus used to teach His disciples about the trouble that is always making headlines in the media.  Those items are rarely good news.  Good news does not sell, but slander and evil tidings goes like hot cakes.

The field is the world.  The good seed sown are those who believe in Jesus and fulfil His plan to promote His Kingdom.  The tares are the weeds sown by Satan to choke the blessings of the Word of God, to spread diseases, to destroy by war, accidents, school massacres....all of which are happening around us this past week.

Just like tares of the field are weeded out and burnt, so are those people who oppose righteousness, Godly living and reject salvation.  They will be gathered by angels sent by Jesus, and cast into eternal fire.  

Those who believe that a merciful loving Father will relent at the last minute and let them into Heaven, have forgotten about Sodom and Gomorrah and The Flood.  No mercy then and no mercy now, nor on the last day, for those who persist in rebellion and sin.

This throwing of the tares into the fire is called the end of the world by Jesus.  Christians are a new creation and strangers to the world.  We do not belong in it, but can pass through it without being tainted by it.  It is a false system run by Satan for the ultimate destruction of believers in Jesus.

Most people, even Christians, are unaware of the wiles of the Devil to draw us back into his awful kingdom, and regularly fall into trials and temptations to our own hurt.  Sometimes, God has to make drastic interventions to rescue us from our own folly.

Christian, if you are crying, 'Why is this happening to me?'  It is probably because you have not paid attention to the voice of the Lord and stepped on a landmine.  It's painful, humiliating and costly but Jesus will carry you through it and when you survive it, you have changed.

You have lost your independent self-will, your pride, and you are ready to obey without question the righteous King of Glory, Jesus Christ.  You may not have clearly understood your position before calamity struck, but it's as clear as a bell now.  If you continue in worldliness you will have a relapse, or something else will go horribly wrong.  It's the fight for the human soul.

God loves you and He would rather not see you suffering, but when an extreme make over is called for, the demolition of the old structure will hurt.  It affects things like traditional religious beliefs, as opposed to the true Word of God.

When you are born again and call Jesus Lord, then you no longer own anything.  You, your close family, your possessions, your finances, your job, are under His Lordship.  Jesus owns you lock, stock and barrel. He lets you use everything but He is the OWNER.  

I remember a very precious Royal Dalton tea service I was given.  It only came out on special occasions.  On one of these occasions a young child picked up an empty cup and smashed it on the floor.  The mother was horrified and said she would replace it, but I told her that the cup belonged to Jesus and He no longer needed it.  

Let us change the way we view that which belongs to God.  Like the donkey Jesus rode into Jerusalem to the sound of Hosanna to the King.  He sent his disciples to bring the donkey to Him and just tell its keeper that the Master has need of it.  Let's bless God with our understanding that if He needs our Mercedes we will be the chauffeur for whatever He wants done.

If He needs some of our clothes for a number of His children be ready to dive into our cupboards to help.  If He needs you to share your faith with someone, don't hesitate, worry, panic or run away.  Just do it.  He will put the words in your mouth that He needs you to say.  After the first ten times it's much easier.

Whoever is in His line of sight has been well prepared for your words.  I am reminded of my old Jewish dentist.  After I got saved, whenever I had a dental visit I always shared something about Jesus with him.  After a few years he asked me one day if I knew a certain man whom he named.

I said I had never heard of him.  He said it was rather astonishing because over the past few years every time I had an appointment this man would have one the same week.  And we would both tell him the exact same things about Jesus.  The Lord must have loved that Jewish dentist but I never knew if he ever got saved.  Can't wait to get to Heaven and see if he made it.

He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

Prayer:  Heavenly Father, Jesus left the 99 righteous sheep to rescue one lamb that had fallen down a cliff, and He wants us to be alert for their cries.  We do not want to be cast out with the tares because we are lazy or selfish, we want to be Your hands extended to help.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.