Jesus is Essential
Matthew 13:36–39: Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.” He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.
This parable teaches us that good and evil will always be found together in the professing church, until the end of the world. The visible church is pictured as a mixed body: it is a vast “field” in which “wheat” and “weeds” grow side by side (verses 24–26). We must expect to find believers and unbelievers, converted and unconverted, “the sons of the kingdom” and “the sons of the evil one” (verses 38–39), all mingled together in every congregation of baptized people.
The purest preaching of the Gospel will not prevent this. In every age of the church the same state of things has existed: it was the experience of the early Fathers; it was the experience of the Reformers; it is the experience of the best ministers at the present time. There has never been a visible church or a religious assembly of which the members have all been “wheat.” The devil, that great enemy of souls, has always taken care to sow “weeds.” 1
Walking with Jesus
How prepared are you for the coming harvest? Are you a good seed, or a tare?
But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. John 8:45
Satan looks for every opportunity to be the gardener of your heart.
Praying
Dear Lord, purify my heart today. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
1. Ryle, J. C. (1993). Matthew. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
