June 28, 2006
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tares
"Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field.
"But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away.
"But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also.
"The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?'
"And he said to them, 'An enemy has done this!' The slaves said to him, 'Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?'
"But he said, 'No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them.
'Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn."'"
....
Then He left the crowds and went into the house And His disciples came to Him and said, "Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field."
And He said, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one;
and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels.
"So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age.
"The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness,
and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
"Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father He who has ears, let him hear.
- Matthew 13The plants called here "tares" look very similar to wheat when they're first growing, but closer to harvest time it becomes apparent that there is no fruit. This is fascinating... Jesus says "let them grow together"... both the wheat (the true followers of Christ) and the tares (the fake followers of Christ)... until the end.
Being "Jesusy" is not sufficient... attaching "in the name of Jesus" to whatever one's personal feelings of morality and love condone is not sufficient... ( unlike this astonishing but rather typical example )
"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter." - Matthew 7:21
Comments (4)
And how can one know the will of the Father without being intimately familiar with His words... another reason that the personal thirst is so important...
The tares parable is so key to understanding the Church on earth... the Church is the Church, no matter what. It is bound --ultimately-- not by time and space, but by the Holy Spirit indwelling us. Far be it from us to pull up some good plants with bad!
But Scripture is also very clear on association principles, and if we only look at the tares, we'll probably come to the "Jesusy" conclusion. I will not keep myself in Christian fellowship with those who are in open sin and have been confronted about it. Not that I won't talk to them or be nice or watch a movie with them, but I won't pray, minister, or mutually support someone I regard as unrepentant. It's important, I think, that I disfellowship him, as Paul says, in hope of his repentance -- and that I don't make a judgement about whether he's really saved. I can have my opinions, by my action should be informed by a desire to see him return to fellowship or else enter into fellowship for the first time. Again, I will use different words based on what I think he understands/believes, but I will not "pass judgment."
Good points both of you...
...yes, as Paul says, our motive (in church discipline) is love for our brother..
Thanks Tim!
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