The parable of the wheat and the tares is one of the clearest teachings Jesus gave concerning the end of the age, yet it is also one of the easiest to read through the lens of something we have already been taught. Rather than beginning with an end-times system and trying to fit the parable into it, the safer approach is to begin with the words of Jesus and allow Him to tell us what the parable means.
That is especially important because Jesus did something with this parable that He did not do with every parable. He explained it.
Jesus began:
“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.” Matthew 13:24–26
The servants recognized that something was wrong and asked whether they should remove the tares. The landowner answered:
“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.’” Matthew 13:29–30
That word first deserves our attention.
Jesus did not say that the wheat would first be removed and the tares left behind. He gave the order the other way around. At the harvest, the tares are gathered first.
Later the disciples came to Jesus privately and asked Him to explain the parable. His answer removes much of the guesswork.
“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.” Matthew 13:37–39
Jesus identifies every major part of the picture. The sower is the Son of Man. The field is the world. The good seed represents the sons of the kingdom. The tares represent the sons of the evil one. The enemy is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels.
That should govern our interpretation.
One of the first things we should notice is that Jesus said, “the field is the world.” Matthew 13:38
He did not say the field is the church.
That distinction matters. This parable should not be used to teach that a church must tolerate open sin or refuse to exercise biblical discipline. Paul plainly commanded the Corinthians concerning open, unrepentant sin:
“Remove the evil person from among yourselves.” 1 Corinthians 5:13
The wheat and tares describe the condition of the world until the end of the age. The righteous and the wicked continue together until the appointed harvest.
But the most striking part of Jesus’ explanation is the order of that harvest.
Jesus had already said:
“First gather up the tares.” Matthew 13:30
Then, when explaining the meaning, He said:
“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.” Matthew 13:40–42
Notice again what happens.
The Son of Man sends His angels, and they gather the wicked out.
The righteous are not described here as being removed first while the wicked remain behind. The action Jesus emphasizes is the removal of those who practice lawlessness.
Only after describing that judgment does Jesus say:
“Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” Matthew 13:43
The order in the parable is therefore not difficult to see. Both groups remain until the harvest. At the harvest, the wicked are gathered out for judgment, and the righteous enter the glory of their Father’s kingdom.
Jesus reinforces the same pattern only a few verses later in another parable.
He compared the kingdom of heaven to a dragnet gathering fish of every kind. When the net was full, the good fish were kept and the bad were thrown away. Then Jesus explained:
“So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come forth and remove the wicked from among the righteous, and they will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Matthew 13:49–50
That statement could hardly be more direct.
At the end of the age, the angels remove the wicked from among the righteous.
Again, Jesus does not describe the righteous being removed from among the wicked. He describes the wicked being removed from among the righteous.
That does not answer every question concerning prophecy. Matthew 13 does not give us a complete chronology of every event surrounding Christ’s return. It does not tell us everything Revelation tells us, nor does it explain every detail concerning resurrection, judgment, or the final kingdom.
But where Jesus does speak plainly, we should let His words stand.
A deeper study of Scripture should never mean making the text more complicated than Jesus made it. Sometimes deeper understanding comes from noticing a simple word such as first, and then refusing to reverse the order Jesus gave.
This same general pattern appears elsewhere in Scripture.
Psalm 37 repeatedly describes the wicked being removed while the righteous remain to inherit what God has promised.
“For evildoers will be eliminated, but those who wait for the LORD, they will inherit the land. Yet a little while and the wicked person will be no more; and you will look carefully for his place and he will not be there. But the humble will inherit the land and will delight themselves in abundant prosperity.” Psalm 37:9–11
Later the same psalm says:
“For those blessed by Him will inherit the land, but those cursed by Him will be eliminated.” Psalm 37:22
And again:
“For the LORD loves justice and does not abandon His godly ones; they are protected forever, but the descendants of the wicked will be eliminated. The righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever.” Psalm 37:28–29
The same contrast appears in Proverbs:
“For the upright will live in the land, and the blameless will remain in it; but the wicked will be eliminated from the land, and the treacherous will be torn away from it.” Proverbs 2:21–22
These passages are not all giving a detailed end-times timetable, so we should not force them into one. But they do establish a repeated biblical pattern: God removes wickedness and preserves those who belong to Him.
That is exactly the picture Jesus gives in Matthew 13.
This matters because believers can sometimes look at the world around them and wonder whether evil is winning. The tares are visible. Wickedness grows. Falsehood spreads. Those who reject God may appear powerful, while those who follow Christ may seem weak.
Jesus tells us not to mistake the present condition of the field for its final condition.
The enemy has planted tares, but the enemy does not own the field.
The Son of Man does.
The harvest has not yet come, but it will.
Until that day, God allows wheat and tares to grow together. That does not mean He cannot tell the difference between them. Human beings may be fooled. We may mistake appearances, judge motives incorrectly, or fail to recognize what is really in another person’s heart. God makes no such mistake.
At the harvest, the separation will be exact.
There is also a warning here for anyone who assumes that outward association with the things of God is enough. The tares grow in the same field as the wheat. They experience the same rain, the same sunlight, and the same surroundings, yet they are not wheat.
Proximity does not change their nature.
In the same way, being near Christian things does not make someone a child of the kingdom. Attending church, hearing sermons, owning a Bible, or associating with believers cannot replace belonging to Christ.
Jesus does not describe the difference between wheat and tares as merely a difference in religious activity. He calls one group “the sons of the kingdom” and the other “the sons of the evil one.” Matthew 13:38
The real question raised by this parable therefore is not simply, “What will happen to the world at the end of the age?”
It is also, “To whom do I belong?”
Jesus repeatedly described humanity in two groups. There are sheep and goats. There is a broad road and a narrow road. There are wise builders and foolish builders. There are those who hear His voice and those who reject Him. Here there is wheat and there are tares.
There is no third harvest.
The parable also corrects the idea that Christ must somehow rescue His people because evil has become too powerful for Him to control. That is not the picture Jesus gives.
The Lord of the harvest is never threatened by the tares.
He knows where the wheat is.
He knows where the tares are.
He knows exactly when the harvest will come.
And when it does, His angels will carry out His command.
That should give believers tremendous confidence. We do not need to live as though the future depends upon our ability to control the field. Our responsibility is to remain faithful to Christ, proclaim His gospel, obey His Word, and trust the Lord of the harvest.
Jesus ends His explanation with these words:
“The one who has ears, let him hear.” Matthew 13:43
Those words call for more than casual listening.
Jesus has told us what the parable means. The field is the world. The righteous and wicked remain together until the end of the age. The harvest is certain. The angels will carry out the separation. And in the order Jesus Himself gives, the wicked are gathered out from among the righteous for judgment.
Then the righteous shine in the kingdom of their Father.
We should be cautious about building conclusions beyond what Scripture says. But we should be equally cautious about overlooking what Scripture says plainly.
In this parable, Jesus gives us the order Himself.
At the harvest, evil does not inherit the field.
It is removed from it.