Matthew 13:34

Mat_13:34-41

But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares.

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The tares and the wheat

This parable relates chiefly to the condition of the Church.

I. The mixed condition of His Church in our world.

II. The cause of this mixed condition of the Church. The existence of His people Christ traces to Himself. The tares traced to a spiritual author-stealthily. Satan does not show himself while doing his work.

III. The conduct of the Christian servants with respect to this mixture in the Church.

1. They notice it.

2. They wish to alter this state of things-to put an end to this mixture.

IV. The end which shall at last be put to this mixture in the church. (C. Bradley, M. A.)

The wheat and the tares

I. Who are the tares?

1. Those who outwardly profess religion, but inwardly reject it.

2. It is likeness to wheat which makes tares specially mischievous.

II. Why are there tares?

1. The servants of Christ, loving their Master, make His interests their own. They look anxiously to the crop.

2. The same question still disturbs us-Why does God permit His crop to be marred?

(1) It has always been so. David complains of this (Psa_55:12). The apostles grieved by it (2Co_11:26; Gal_2:4).

(2) The reason is brief-An enemy hath done this. It is Satans chief triumph to hinder Christs work by false brethren (2Co_11:13-14).

(3) Beyond this we must not inquire; sufficient that God permits this present trial of faith and patience.

III. What to do with tares.

1. Zealous servants who grieve at spoilt crops would fain pull up.

2. Their zeal natural and creditable. Natural:

(1) Because these cause enemies to blaspheme;

(2) Because foes within more dangerous than foes without;

(3) Because trust is shaken and love quenched. Creditable: because love for Christ is the source of the wish.

3. Yet mistaken.

4. The reason given.

5. It is sad to retain in Church impostors, more sad to cast out faithful. Better trust men too much than too little. (E. Gray, M. A.)

Fifth Sunday after Epiphany

I. The two planters-He that soweth good seed is the Son of Man. The enemy that sowed them is the devil.

1. The One is good and beneficent. He cultivates His own rightful possession. He acts as a gracious Benefactor. The other is only malignant, the common foe of all good.

2. The Planter of good is first; the planter of evil comes after. As Satan followed the planting in Eden, so he follows every holy planting.

3. The Planter of all good does His work openly, in the eyes of all. It is the nature of good and truth to be open; falsehood and sin are cowardly.

II. The two growths.

1. They are intermingled in the same field.

2. They are hard to distinguish.

3. They both grow.

III. The two policies.

1. That of the servants in natural, and seemingly founded on just zeal for what is good, but is unwise and hurtful. We are not able to judge rightly.

2. The policy of the Master, though more perplexing, is far better. It leaves things less satisfactory for the time, but accomplishes the greatest good in the end.

3. The policy of the Blaster will prevail, despite all efforts to the contrary, even to the end of the age.

IV. The ultimate consummation.

1. Note the reapers-not the servants. Mightier strength and higher wisdom than theirs is needed.

2. Note the commands which they execute Gather ye together, etc.

3. Note the final result. (J. A. Seiss, D.D.)

The tares and the wheat

I. The difference between these two classes.

1. The first have solid spiritual excellence.

2. They are useful. The false disciples have neither-they are useless and noxious.

II. How they come to be thus associated. The good seed Divinely planted. Satan has a hand in the life of the wicked in this world. The tares are known.

III. His intention that believers and false professors should abide together until the harvest.

1. There is nothing so likely to convert false professors as seeing real Christians amongst them.

2. That the faith and patience of believers may be tested and manifested to the world.

IV. This association cannot last for ever.

1. The return to judgment-Gather ye the tares.

2. The bundles. Let the companions in sin be grouped in doom.

3. To be burned-punishment and pain.

4. We are also animated by hope Gather the wheat into My barn. (B. W. Noel.)

Tares and wheat

We are to understand mixture of good and bad in the Church. There are persons whose blind, intemperate zeal would bid fair to be injurious to the Church. Our Lord reserves the judgment to the end of the world. From this mixture of good and bad advantages result to both.

1. The persecutions which the righteous experience from the wicked are inconvenient, but become proper trials of virtue.

2. They give the good an opportunity of testifying their sincerity.

3. The good in their intercourse with the bad may reclaim them.

4. The good by dwelling amongst the wicked see the pernicious consequences of vice.

5. The good are a restraint upon the wickedness of the evil doers.

6. For the good of both God mercifully permits this mixture of the pious and the wicked. (The Pulpit.)

The two sowers

Why did this enemy thus go his way?

I. He did not wish to be seen. He did not care for the fame of doing the thing; all he cared for was that it should be done. How different from us i Satan does his work unknown, etc.

II. He had done his work. He needed but one sowing time.

III. He had confidence in the seed. It would not fail. It was the true seed of hell. What confidence does this exhibit in the vigour and vitality of error. Have we like confidence in the life and power of truth?

IV. He had confidence in the soil. The soil was evil-would not fail him-it would do its work.

V. He had confidence in the atmosphere. It is on the air as much as on the soil that the harvest depends. He trusts to the evil air and the evil seed suiting each other.

VI. He had other work to do. He does not abide in one place, he goes about to do work elsewhere. He is an incessant worker. What an enemy have we to fight with. Resist, etc. (H. Bonar, D. D.)

The conditions and limitations of moral growth

The good and the worthless.

I. These are externally alike, but vitally different.

II. As they grow their vital differences become more manifest.

III. The world-field in which they grow is the property of Christ. It is one of the mysteries of the Divine government that God should allow an enemy in the field at all.

IV. Though they are permitted to grow together for a time there is a destined period of separation. Many a sinner might have been worse than he is, but for restraining contact with Christians. We must not think that forbearance is equal to complacency of evil. A strong government can afford to tolerate its foes. (E. D. Green.)

Why God delays to punish the sins of men in this world, reassuring them to the judgment which shall be hereafter

I. As they regard the particular case in view, and account for the justice of god in suspending his judgments.

1. The sinners in the text are spared on account of the righteous that they may not be involved in the punishment due to the sins of others. But some sinners are spared out of mercy to themselves, in hope of their amendment. The interests of good and bad men are so united in this world that no signal calamity can befall the wicked but the righteous share it; hence, out of mercy to the righteous God spares the incorrigible sinners. This was Abrahams plea for Sodom. But are there not many ways of punishing men without including others in the calamity? Could not these single out desperate sinners?

1. How do you know but that the wicked are often thus punished? God does exercise judgment on the wicked in silent manner.

2. But allow the objection that a great number of wicked men ripe for destruction are spared and allowed to flourish in the world, this is for the sake of the good. The wicked man has friends whose welfare depends upon his prosperity. All men are related to others. Are all these relatives as great sinners as the man himself, would you not turn innocent children into the streets! We cannot arraign the wisdom and goodness of God. The day is coming which will dissolve all these present relations between men, when every one shall stand singly.

I. But why does God permit sin? The enemy sowed his tares. Such is the condition of human nature that no care can prevent the growth of vice. Those who demand that God should prevent evil by irresistible power demand nothing less than that He should destroy all law and religion, and divest men of reason and understanding, their chief characteristic. Since offences must needs come, why are not men as certainly distinguished by rewards and punishments as by virtue or vice?

1. Reason fails for a due administration of rewards and punishments, as it does not know mens hearts in this world.

2. This is inconsistent with the present condition of men, and the goodness of God. They are in a state of trial, and should have time to show themselves; and as to the goodness of God, it would ill become Him to destroy men as long as there were hopes of amendment.

3. Who has reason to complain?

II. AS furnishing us with a principle of reason and equity applicable to many cases. Because God spares the wicked who deserve punishment for the sake of the righteous, is it reasonable that men and magistrates should act in like manner? Temporal judgments are executed immediately, the law does not consider those related to the offender. Magistrates are not at liberty to suspend the execution of justice. The reason of the two cases is very different. The punishments of this world are not final, but the means to secure virtue; but this end can never be secured by allowing criminals to go unpunished. In a word, offences in this world must be discouraged by present punishment or else the world will be a scene of misery to the best men. Offences against God, though of a deeper dye, have not in them the same call for immediate vengeance. The ends of justice are best served by delay. (T. Sherlock, D. D.)

The parable of the tares

I. The sowing.

II. The growing.

III. The reaping. (J. C. Jones,)

Points in the parable

I. Inability to form perfect judgment of individuals now. Men are to be known by their fruits, but the fruits of a mans life cannot be fairly judged until they are ripened and complete.

II. The duty of accepting profession now and leaving final judgment for Gods future.

III. The distinction between good and evil is vital, and there can be no real confusion between them.

IV. The distinction between good and bad persons will one day re clearly shown.

V. The temptation to use outward and physical forces to accomplish the aims of Christs church must be resisted. (Anon.)

The tares and wheat

We have-

I. A beneficent operation-Sowed good seed.

1. The man that sowed was Jesus. This was His special work during His public life on earth.

2. The good seed are the righteous. In the former parable the good seed is the Word of God.

3. The field is the world. Whether this is to be understood in its general and most comprehensive sense, or whether it signifies the Church in the world, it is not easy to determine.

II. A malicious deed While men slept his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. Notice:

1. The agent.

2. The season-while men slept. It is said of the ungodly that they love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil. There is nothing they hate so much as the light, for there is nothing so contrary to their nature and so unfavourable to their designs. As John Bunyan says: My Lord Understandings house was too light for the Prince of Darkness, and therefore he built a high wall to darken all the windows.

3. The result.

III. A natural request. From attempting such a work we are debarred on account of-

1. Its difficulty. It seems that the apostles and early Christians were endowed with a peculiar gift called the discerning of spirits, so that for them to separate the precious from the vile might have been an easy matter. We do not know what degree of imitation is compatible with a total absence of true piety.

2. Its danger Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.

IV. An important decision-Let both grow together until the harvest; and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn. But concerning this separation, notice-

1. The period when it will take place. It will be at the time of harvest; which harvest, we are told, is the end of the world.

2. The instruments to whom the work will be committed-The reapers are the angels: who are free from the manifold infirmities by which we are now encompassed-ignorance, selfishness, prejudice, impatience, partiality, animosity.

3. The manner in which it will be accomplished.

4. The final results which will follow-to burn them: My barn. (Expository Outlines.)

The parable of the wheat and the tares

This parable shows that persecution upon the account of religion is utterly unlawful, though men may hold grand errors:

1. Because the best men on earth are not infallible. They do not know but that what they call heresy may be a truth of Christ.

2. Because Jesus Christ is only the King and Sovereign of the conscience. None ought to impose upon the consciences of men in matters of religion.

3. Because it is directly contrary to that golden rule, or true moral precept, Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye the same unto them.

4. Because such severities have no tendency to convince the conscience.

Believers are a choice people-choice grain

They appear to be a choice and precious people, and are so-

1. Because of the seed from whence they sprang; they are the seed of God, the seed of Christ (Isa_53:11).

2. In respect of that holy image which is stamped on them.

3. In respect to their union with Christ.

4. If we consider what an excellent spirit they are of, and how they walk with God every day, and have communion with the:Father and the Son, it shows they are a precious people in Gods esteem.

Why are the saints compared to wheat?

1. Wheat is the product of a rare and choice seed; they are the product of the Holy Ghost.

2. The seed of wheat must first be sown in the earth before it can produce increase, so must the seed of grace be first sown in mens hearts before they can bear Gods image or bring forth fruits of holiness.

3. Wheat is a profitable sort of grain. So the saints and people of God are a profitable people to the world (Pro_10:21; 2 Co_6:19).

4. Wheat will abide and live in the sharpest winter, when some other grain will not. So true believers do abide, endeavour, and live in the times of sharpest trials, persecutions, tribulations, and temptations.

5. Wheat seems sometimes as if it were quite dead, you can in winter hardly see one green blade, so the saints seem sometimes to themselves as if they were almost dead (Psa_88:15).

6. Wheat is sometimes, by reason of unseasonable weather in the spring, very sickly, the colour being changed. So in like manner, by reason of Satans temptations, and the corruptions of their hearts, and evils of the times, poor believers are very sickly and weak.

7. Yet when the sun shines sweetly upon wheat and God sends dry and seasonable weather, it wonderfully on a sudden revives (Hos_14:7).

8. Wheat needs weeding, and if it be not it will soon be grown over with weeds (Mat_13:22).

9. Full ears of wheat hang down their heads, being full of corn. So sincere believers are humble and lowly-minded.

10. Wheat is not ripe presently, but must have time to grow to maturity, and receive the former and latter rain before it is fit for the sickle.

11. Tares oft-times are found to grow amongst wheat, which tends greatly to mar its beauty.

12. Wheat, when it is fully ripe, is gathered into the barn. So when Christ sees a believer is ripe for heaven, He gathers it as a shock of corn fully ripe.

13. Sometimes a harvest seems much in bulk, but there is bug little corn. So the spiritual harvest may seem much in bulk-a mighty appearance of a great harvest, but there may be but few sincere believers amongst them.

14. Wheat dies first, before it rises. Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die.

While men slept the devil sowed his evil seed

This may caution all ministers of Christ to take heed and watch, lest evil seed be sown amongst them, the seed of error and heresy.

1. Many may, under fair pretence of exalting Christ, sow pernicious and poisonous seed.

2. By way of council, beware of such men who are lifted up with pride, who to magnify themselves seem to despise others, perhaps more worthy than themselves.

3. Beware of such that effect novelty and strive to promote new notions in matters of religion.

4. Likewise have a watchful eye of such that cry up this and that man, and cry down others.

5. Moreover, watch such who are subject to wander from their own fold and pasturage, and such also that are ready on every small occasion to take offence.

I will show you how the wheat, or sincere Christians, ripen for the harvest

1. As the wheat after it is sown hath the ripening time, so have the saints and people of God.

2. Wheat ripens gradually, that it is hardly discerned; so the godly ripen gradually also, it is hardly discerned by themselves or others.

3. Wheat must have showers to ripen it. So must the saints have the showers of Divine and heavenly doctrine, or spiritual dew to ripen them (1Co_3:6).

4. Moreover, believers grow and ripen for the harvest by means of the shining and sweet fructifying influences of the Sun of Righteousness.

5. Some Christians are like wheat smitten or blasted in respect; of their hope, peace, and joy, and so seem to languish (Amo_4:9).

What should a believer do to ripen for the harvest

1. Improve all opportunities, all seasons of grace.

2. Observe well and cherish all those convictions of your consciences, and of the Holy Spirit, either in respect of sin or duty, lest ye sin them away.

3. Improve all the dispensations and providences of God, or those various trials, afflictions, and temptations you meet with.

4. Live much in the sense and thoughts of death and of the judgment day (Deu_32:29).

5. See that you gather day by day, get more strength against sin.

6. Labour to add to your faith virtue. (2Pe_1:5-7).

7. The way to ripen for heaven is to strive against all those things that hinder or obstruct your growth, as thorns and briars (Mat_13:22).

I shall show you how the tares, or the wicked, ripen for the harvest of sorrow

1. Mercies not improved, but slighted and neglected, ripen the wicked apace for harvest.

2. When conscience is disregarded, men turning a deaf ear to those checks and sharp rebukes they find in their own breasts, this tends to ripen them for ruin.

3. When the judgments of God, instead of softening, harden the sinner.

4. When the motions of the Spirit in His common operations (Gen_6:3) are quenched. (Rom_9:22).

5. The tares, or wicked men, ripen for the harvest by letting lusts conceive in them.

6. Another gradation or progressive motion to ripening sinners is when lusts conceived break forth into acts, or the abominable commission thereof (Jam_1:15).

7. A third step is when sins, yea, great sins, are extenuated and rendered small.

8. When sin is delighted m; some men take pleasure in wickedness.

9. When they are told of their sins and hellish polution, and they plead excuses as if the fault was not theirs.

10. Such men are certainly ripe for harvest who are found glorying in their sin and shame (Php_3:19). Lastly, a hardened heart, a seared conscience, final unbelief and impenitence follows, and so they come to be fully ripe for the harvest.

I shall show you how fitly the end of the world may be compared to harvest

1. The harvest is the time that the husbandman longs for, and hath much patience until it cometh. So this spiritual harvest is the day which all the godly long for, and are exercised with patience under all their trials until it comes.

2. When the harvest is fully ripe then both the wheat and tares are severed one from another by the servants of the husbandman. So all sincere Christians and hypocrites shall, by the angels, be separated one from another.

3. When the harvest is fully ended there is no more wheat or tares growing, or to be found in the field. So when this world is ended there will be no people, either godly or wicked, to be found to live as they do together now in this world, any more.

4. Harvest is a time of great joy to an industrious husbandman, but the sluggard meets then with great disappointment, and is perplexed with grief and sorrow (Gal_6:8).

How shall the tares be known from the wheat, or hypocrites be discerned from sincere believers at the end of the world?-

1. The tares shall be known by their contemptible bodies-their bodies shall not be glorious as the bodies of the saints, (Php_3:21).

2. The ungodly will be known by their company-the saints shall be attended by all the glorious angels,

3. The wicked will be blown by their cries and lamentations (Isa_65:14.)

4. The ungodly will that day be known by that signal act of our Lord Jesus Christ (Mat_25:22).

5. Moreover, it will be known by the different placing of the one and the other-and life shall, set the sheep on His right hand, the goats on His left. (B. Keach.)

The tares

This parable does not forbid Church discipline:

1. Because Church discipline is enjoined by many plain passages of the New Testament, and that no interpretation of any parable may be put against that.

2. Discipline rightly understood is for the saving of a man to the Church, and not for the casting of him out of it.

3. What the parable here recommends is not so much the following of a certain course as the cultivation of a certain spirit.

I. Do as we will, we shall never get evil entirely out of the church-the ideal Church is in heaven (Rev_21:2). This truth has a two-fold lesson.

1. It is well fitted to comfort those who are labouring in the ministry of the gospel, and to all who are tenderly solicitous for the honour of the Church.

2. It is calculated to correct the error of those who decline to enter into the membership of the Church because it is not absolutely pure.

II. The great lesson taught us is that the rash attempt to separate the good from the bad in the church may result in a state of things that is worse than that which is sought to be amended.

III. At the last judgment there will be an absolute separation between the good and the bad. (W. M. Taylor. D. D.)

A rash zeal for amendment injurious

The best all round is often lost by attempting to have the absolute best in any one department. In the organ, if every note be separately tuned up to the scale, discord will be the effect when one attempts to play upon it; for it is an imperfect instrument, and most of the fifths must be left somewhat fiat, and the few others made somewhat sharp, the octaves alone being put in perfect unison. So, if we attempt to bring up the music to the point of perfection, we shall most likely put the whole church out of tune. We must make the best of things as a whole, and be content sometimes with a little less in some departments, and a little more in others, in order that we may have harmony in all. Peace in a church is essential to progress. (W. M. Taylor. D. D.)

The mixed state society

1. It is apt to make the darnel think itself as good as the wheat.

2. The Urgency of the call to Christ is deadened by the fact that we are not treated differently at present.

3. The wheat is apt to think itself no better than the darnel. (Dr. M. Dods,)

Likeness of wheat and tares

If by tares is meant the bearded darnel of our English fields, then the tares and the wheat bear a strong resemblance to each other. They both belong to the tribe of grasses, and to the special group Trititicinoe, or wheat-like grasses. Their structure, mode, and conditions of growth are almost the same; when in the blade they present an appearance so very similar, that the Jewish farmer, who is careful in weeding his field, cannot distinguish between them, and it is only when the fruit is formed that the impostor is detected by its smaller and darker ear. (Hugh Macmillan.)

Mixture of tare and wheat

Adams family was the one, and the only one visible Church)or a time. Therein there was a Cain, as well as an Abel; both sacrificed, though both were not sanctified. In Abrahams family (a visible Church) there was an Ishmael, as well as an Isaac: in Isaacs house an Esau as well as a Jacob. Among the patriarchs, Simeon and Levi, with Joseph and Benjamin. In Noahs ark (a type of the Church). there was a Ham; among the apostles, a Judas; among the deacons, a Nicholas. (Bishop Thomas.)

The end of the world

The end is not a mere running down of the machinery that keeps the world going, it is not a mere exhaustion of the life time keeps us all alive, it is not a hap-hazard cutting of the thread; it is a conclusion coming as truly in its own fit day and order, as much in the fulness of time and because things are ripe for it, as the birth of Christ came. It is the time of the gathering up of all things to completion, when the few last finishing strokes are, given to the works that suddenly show the connection of things which seem widely separate, and reveal at once the purpose and meaning of the whole. Men will then understand, what now scarcely one can constantly believe, that it is Gods purpose that is silently being accomplished, and that it is usefulness to Him that is the final standard of value. (Marcus, Dods.)

Blending of wicked with godly,

Six reasons why in the kingdom of grace wicked men should be inseparably mingled with godly.

1. Because hypocrites can never be severed but by Him that can search the heart.

2. Because if men should make the separation weak Christians would be counted no Christians, and those who have a grain of grace under a load of imperfections would be accounted reprobates.

3. Because Gods vessels of honour for all eternity, not as yet appearing, but wallowing in sin, would be made castaways.

4. Because God, by the mixture of the wicked with the godly, will try the watchfulness and patience of His servants.

5. Because thereby He will bestow many favours on the wicked, to clear His justice and render them the more inexcusable.

6. Because the mixture of the wicked, grieving the godly, will make them the more heartily pray for the day of judgment. (A. Fuller.)

Separate bundles of tares

Sinners of the same sort will be bundled together in the great day: a bundle of atheists, a bundle of epicures, a bundle of persecutors, and a great bundle of hypocrites. Those who have been associated in sin will be so in shame and sorrow, and it will be an aggravation of their misery, as the society of glorified saints will add to their bliss. (Matthew Henry.)

Difficulty of right judgment in society

As we grow up in society together, one man is in the main very like another. Of two of your friends, it may be the one who makes least profession of religion that you would go to in a difficulty in which much generous help and toil are needed. Take a regiment of soldiers, or a ships crew, and you may find the ungodly as brave and self-sacrificing in action, as observant of discipline as the others. There may be little to show that there is a radical difference in character. (Marcus Dods.)

Separating tares from wheat

The most troublesome of the foreign seeds in wheat are the tares (the weed commonly called darnel, and in botany Lolium temertulum). Its kernels are somewhat smaller than those of wheat, and the usual way to separate them is that adopted by the women, who sit at home with the children around a pile of wheat and patiently pick out the tares one by one. (Van Lennep.)

Sowing tares in malice

Illustrating from Hindoo life, Roberts says, This is still literally done in the East. See that lurking villain, watching for the time when his neighbour shall plough his field; he carefully marks the period when the work has been finished, and casts in what the natives call pandinellu, that is pig-paddy; this, being of rapid growth, springs up before the good seed, and scatters itself before the other can be reaped, so that the poor owner of the field will be years before he can get rid of this troublesome weed. But there is another noisome plant, called perum-pirandi, which is more destructive of vegetation than any other plant. Has a man purchased a field out of the hands of another? The offended says, I will plant perum-pirandi in his grounds.

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat 13:34-35. All these things spake Jesus in parables — Mark has it, With many such parables spake he the word unto them, as they were able to bear it. That is, he preached the doctrines of the gospel in these and many other parables of a like nature, according as his hearers were able to receive them. And without a parable spake he not unto them — That is, not at this time; at other times he did. That it might be fulfilled — That is, whereby was fulfilled; that which was spoken by the prophet — Namely, by Asaph, Psa 78:2, whose words the evangelist here quotes, and accommodates to Jesus. See notes on Mat 2:15; Mat 2:17.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CRITICAL NOTES

Mat_13:35. Fulfilled.—The quotation illustrates, much in the same way as those in Mat_8:17; Mat_12:17, St. Matthew’s peculiar way of dealing with the prophetic language of the Old Testament. He found the word “parable” at the opening of a psalm (Psa_78:2). The psalm itself was in no sense predictive of the coming Christ and has never been classed among the Messianic psalms, but was simply an historical survey of God’s dealings with Israel from the days of the Exodus to those of David. But the occurrence of the word was enough for him. Here was one whose form of teaching answered to that which the Psalmist had described, who might claim the Psalmist’s words as his own; and excluding, as he did, the idea of chance from all such coincidences, he could use even here the familiar formula, “that it might be fulfilled” (Plumptre).

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Mat_13:34-43

The triumph of truth.—Jesus still continues here to “speak unto the multitudes in parables”; and in parables only—much as had been predicted of Him a long time before (Mat_13:34-35). This makes all the more conspicuous what we are told of Him next, viz. that when His “disciples” asked Him for it, He gave them a full explanation of the previous parable of the tares. It is this explanation that we have now to consider. We shall find that it brings out into even clearer light than before, both that great trial, on the one hand, and that greater triumph, on the other, of which our previous consideration of the parable itself made us aware.

I. The trial.—The trial involved in the present mixed condition of things in the field of the kingdom (Mat_13:26; Mat_13:30). The special greatness of this is shown, first, by the great dignity of the Sower. “He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man” (Mat_13:37). Wherever the truth of the gospel is proclaimed, it is proclaimed in reality by Himself. It is of His person, His work, His death that it speaks. It is in His name, and by His authority that its message is given. And it is with the view of accomplishing His gracious purposes that its gracious offers are made. Great is the trial, therefore, to His faithful servants when they see falsehood prevailing instead, and efforts being made, and made successfully, to teach what is contrary to His truth. Only to think—they say—that the work of the Master Himself should be apparently nullified thus! The greatness of the trial is to be seen, next, in the greatness of the arena. “The field is the world” (Mat_13:38)—the whole world—the whole “religious world,” as we are accustomed to speak—including in it, therefore, all those “who profess and call themselves Christians,” and amongst whom alone we can speak with propriety of the “seed” being “sown.” This is the vast arena—this the full extent of it—which is thus evilly affected. Wherever there is the “wheat,” there is the “darnel” as well. Lastly, the trial is greatest of all because of the greatness of the actual evil itself. Who are these that are to be found in this “field” thus “growing together”? The “sons of the kingdom”; the “sons of the evil one;” those “sown” by the Saviour; those “sown by the devil;” those that are finally to “shine” as the sun; those that cause stumbling and do iniquity—in a word, those that are just such as ought not to be there. Here is the crowning aggravation of all. Where the Saviour Himself meant the light to be, there is blackest darkness instead!

II. The triumph.—The peculiar greatness of this shall be seen, at the last, in what is to become then of the evil. On the one hand, it is to be entirely removed. All that now “causes stumbling and does iniquity” shall be gone. At the appointed time—the-time of the “harvest,” the “end of the world”—the appointed persons—the “reapers,” the “angels”—shall “come forth”—to do at last, and effectually, their appointed work in this line; and shall “gather out,” then, of the whole “kingdom” all that ought not to be there (Mat_13:40). On the other hand the evil in question is to be so disposed of then, that it can never come back. So far is quite plain. It shall all have gone to that which is spoken of as “the furnace of fire.” It shall be found only where there is the “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Mat_13:42). Never, therefore, shall the “good”—whatever be that which is meant here concerning the “evil”—be troubled by it again (cf. Zechariah 14 end Mat_13:21). Also, the greatness of the triumph is to be seen, finally, in what is to become then of the “good.” How bright their lot is to be at that time! “Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun” (cf. Rom_8:19; Rom_8:23). How exalted their lot! “Shine forth in the kingdom” (cf. Rev_1:6; Rev_20:6). How blessed their lot! “In the kingdom of their Father”—known then as His children indeed, because “made” visibly “like” to His Son (1Jn_3:2). On the one hand, the total absence of all evil shall contribute much to this great consummation (Rev_21:27). On the other, the full presence of God in Christ shall for ever complete it” (Rev_22:3).

Here is, therefore, the “patience and faith of the saints.” Here we see how we should look upon many of the perplexities of the present, viz:—

1. As so many hopes in disguise.—One reason why they are tolerated now, is because they are to be so completely obliterated in the future. They are like those mists of the morning which only show that the sun has not come yet to his strength. No sensible man gives up his journey because he sees them on the mountains. Experience teaches him rather to expect in consequence a brighter noon when it comes.

2. As so many warnings.—Who that thinks over it can really suppose that the present mingled condition of things in the kingdom of God should be intended to continue? What can it be but something borne with, and that with much difficulty, for a time? In the very nature of things, in such a field the time of harvest must come. When it does come, what can it lead to but discrimination and separation? And when the separation has been once effected what do we know of—what can we even think of—that shall cause it to be ever reversed?

HOMILIES ON THE VERSES

Mat_13:34-35. Christ the Revelation.—Christ the Revealer of all secrets.

I. Of those of God.

II. Of humanity.

III. Of the history of the kingdom of God.

IV. Of the kingdom of heaven.—J. P. Lange, D.D.

Mat_13:39. The reaping time.—

I. The fact announced—End of the world. Its:

1. Certainty.

2. Reasonableness.

3. Importance.

4. Grandeur.

II. The figure employed.—

1. Human actions are the seed—prolific.

2. Life is the seed-time—sowing deeds.

3. Judgment is the harvest—“To every seed his own body.”—Pulpit Germs.

The devil.—Yes, Jesus says, in dry clear words, “The enemy that sowed them is the devil.” But surely there is not any devil? Who says that? The Son of God, the mouth of eternal truth, who knows the realm of spirits even as He knows this visible world, who is the highest Reason and the deepest Wisdom, yea, even Omniscience itself, He believes it. He holds it reasonable to believe in it. He teaches what He believes. Dost thou know it better than He, thou short-sighted being, thou dust of yesterday, thou child of error and ignorance? He says it, and therefore it is eternal truth. “But is it not intended to be taken figuratively?” Well, suppose it were meant figuratively, we can only comprehend the figures of actually existing things, and the figurative representation of the devil would imply His real being; but here, in the text, the speech is not figurative; the expression stands not among pictures and parables, but in the interpretation of a picture and a parable.—Fred. Arndt.

Mat_13:43. Hearing.—Whence comes it that there are so many hearers, who are neither changed nor benefited, nor edified by the word? Certainly, it proceeds from hence, because they do not endeavour to prepare their hearts. For:

1. Without meditation before we come into the house of God, we can have no true reverence, neither conceive of the word as the word of God.

2. Without preparation there can be no endeavour to profit by that which we hear, nor labour to digest it and imprint it strongly in our memories.

3. Without prayer there can be no hope of the co-operation of the Holy Spirit (without whose assistance we can do nothing), because we do not awake and stir Him up (2Ti_1:6); yea, we are unworthy of His aid if we will not beg it, for, by a neglect of prayer, we seem to think that He is not worth asking for.

4. For such a contempt and neglect God is incensed, and in His just anger hardens such a hearer more and more, making the word a means to harden and not to soften him.—Richard Ward.

Hearers.—How many sorts of hearers are there? Many sorts, viz:—

1. Unwilling and constrained hearers.—Who only are compelled to hear.

2. Treacherous hearers.—Who hear that they may learn something whereby they may entrap him whom they hear. Thus the Herodians heard Christ.

3. Scoffing and taunting hearers.—Thus some heard Paul (Act_17:18; Act_17:32).

4. Malevolent hearers.—Who pervert all things they hear, wresting them to their own private senses; yea, are angry when the word reproves them, and tax the minister with malice, as though all his reprehensions proceeded from spleen or envy.

5. Blind hearers.—Who understand no more than David’s idols (Psa_115:6; 1Co_2:14).

6. Proud hearers.—Who are puffed up with their own wisdom, like the Pharisees, who thought they knew so much that Christ could teach them no more than they knew.

7. Sinful hearers.—Who are so hindered and entangled by their sins that they cannot hear anything which crosseth or opposeth their sins.

8. Sluggish hearers—Who hear, but neither remember nor practise what they hear.—Ibid.

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

13:34-35 Even Jesus’ manner of teaching fulfilled Old Testament predictions. Psalm 78:2-3 speaks of passing down the history of God’s revelation to children of the next generation. Jesus’ revelation is the climax of that history (Matt 13:10-17; 1 Cor 2:7).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Mat_13:34. Οὐδὲν ἐλάλει] κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν ἐκεῖνον δηλαδή, Euth. Zigabenus; comp. Chrysostom. This is further indicated by the imperfect relative (previously aorists were being used). The absolute sense in which the words are understood by Baumgarten-Crusius and Hilgenfeld is inconsistent with historical facts; nor could Matthew, or Mar_4:34, have intended the words to be so taken without being guilty of the grossest absurdity. This in answer no less to Weiss, Holtzmann, Volkmar.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat 13:34-35 contain a reflection more suitable for the close of the collection of parables in this chapter, brought in here apparently because the evangelist has under his eye Mark’s narrative, in which a similar reflection is attached to the parable of the mustard seed (Mar 4:33-34 ).

Mat 13:34 . χωρὶς παραβολῆς , etc.: if this remark apply to Christ’s popular preaching generally, then the parables reported, like the healing narratives, are only a small selection from a large number, a fragrant posy culled from the flower garden of Christ’s parabolic wisdom. ἐλάλει : imperfect, pointing to a regular practice, not merely to a single occasion.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them--that is, on this occasion; refraining not only from all naked discourse, but even from all interpretation of these parables to the mixed multitude.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 34. All these things spoke Jesus - in parables] Christ descends from Divine mysteries to parables, in order to excite us to raise our minds, from and through natural things, to the great God, and the operations of his grace and Spirit. Divine things cannot be taught to man but through the medium of earthly things. If God should speak to us in that language which is peculiar to heaven, clothing those ideas which angelic minds form, how little should we comprehend of the things thus described! How great is our privilege in being thus taught! Heavenly things, in the parables of Christ, assume to themselves a body, and thus render themselves palpable.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(34) Without a parable spake he not unto them.—The words are, of course, limited by the context to this occasion, but it is noticeable from this time forward that parables are the dominant element in His teaching to the multitude, and that the mysteries of the kingdom are reserved for the more esoteric instruction of the disciples.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Then Jesus sent the multitude away,.... That his disciples might have the opportunity of conversing with him alone, about the sense of the parables he had delivered; and that he might instruct them by some others hereafter mentioned,

And went into the house: left the ship in which he had been preaching to the multitude, came on shore, and returned to the house he came out of, Mat 13:1.

and his disciples came to him; and being alone, make an humble request to him,

saying, declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field: by which they mean, not a rehearsal of it, but an explication of the sense and meaning of it: they ask nothing about the parables of the mustard seed and leaven, either because they better understood them; or because there were some things very remarkable and striking in this, which made them very desirous to be particularly informed of the several parts of it, and their meaning.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

34 All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them:

Ver. 34. And without a parable spake he not, &c.] A singular judgment of God upon them for their contumacy and contempt of the gospel: so it is now upon many people, that God taketh sometimes from their most illuminate teachers, clearness and perspicuity of expression, for a punishment of their unthankfulness and rebellion against the light. Thieves and malefactors that affect darkness (because the light discovers their evil deeds) are worthily cast into a dark dungeon: so here, Ezekiel, by the just judgment of God upon them, was no more understood by his hearers than if he had spoken to them in a strange language. Heraclitus, for his obscurities, was called the Dark Doctor, and it seems he affected it; for he often commanded his scholars to deliver themselves darkly. {a} A minister is studiously to shun obscurity in his doctrine. But if nevertheless he prove obscure and hard to be understood, let the people see a hand of God in it, and rather accuse their own impiety than the preacher’s inability.

{a} Ab obscuritate dictus est οκοτεινος. Ad hoc etiam discipulos erudiebat, cum illud saepius ingereret, Σκοτισον, obscurus esto. Joh. Bodin.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

That it might be fulfilled - This is taken from Psa 78:2-3. The sense, and not the very words of the Psalm, are given. Christ taught, as did that prophet - Asaph - in parables. The words of Asaph described the manner in which Christ taught, and in this sense it could be said that they were fulfilled. See the notes at Mat 1:22-23.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Christ spake all the aforementioned things to the multitude, and also to his disciples, in parables, dark sayings, covering Divine and spiritual truths with fit and proper similitudes; and at this time he delivered himself wholly in this manner to them, though at other times he spake more plainly. He gave us the reason before; and by this way of speaking also he made his own disciples more diligent to attend to what they heard, and more inquisitive after the true sense and meaning of it. And thus, saith the evangelist, that which was spoken by the prophet, Psa 78:2, was also fulfilled in Christ: not that the psalmist, whether David or Asaph, did there prophesy concerning Christ, for plainly the psalmist intended to relate the history of God’s dealing with the Jews, and their behaviour toward him. Nor was it fulfilled as the type in the antitype, but as a thing of the same nature was done. The prophet delivered himself in dark sayings, so did Christ, but instead of I will utter dark sayings of old, the evangelist hath,

which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world; he means the great and mysterious things of the gospel, hid from ages and generations, Col 1:26; 1Co 2:7; Rom 16:25, where it is called the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began. As the psalmist opened his mouth in grave discourses, tending to the good of the people to whom he spake; so Christ taught the people, by revealing the mysteries of the gospel, hid in God from the beginning of the world, as Paul speaks to the Ephesians, Eph 3:9.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

34. All these things — All these principles or truths. Without a parable spake he not — There was no principle introduced which he did not illustrate by this newly commenced form of teaching.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 34, 35. The parallel passage in Mar_4:33, 34 is as follows: "And with many such parables spoke he the word unto them, as they were able to hear it; and without a parable spoke he not unto them: but privately to his own disciples he expounded all things." The same general idea underlies our present verses, but although each evangelist appears to have used the same words as a basis, he has worked them out in his own characteristic way. For while both writers contrast our Lord"s treatment of the multitudes and his treatment of the disciples in the matter of parables, St. Mark barely alludes to his using them as a judicial punishment upon the people, and St. Matthew merely hints here at the fact that Christ explained them to his disciples (see further, ver. 35 b, note).

It will be noticed that our verses have much in common with the thought of ver. 10, sqq. It seems just possible that both paragraphs had one common nucleus from which they were each developed. But according to existing evidence, ver. 10, sqq., and the parallel passages in Mark and Luke serve to introduce explanatory matter to the disciples, and our present verses with the parallel in Mark to close a series of parables.

All these things (tauta panta). All seems to imply that the four preceding parables are but a few typical ones taken from a larger collection (cf. Mark, "with many such parables;" also vers. 3, 51). Spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; in parables unto the multitudes (Revised Version); for the order of the Greek is the same as in the next clause. Observe the "parallelism" of the two clauses (contrast Mark). Is it due to the influence of Hebrew Christians? And without a parable spake he not (nothing, Revised Version, ebony) unto them, As happens often in Semitic writers (cf. St. John"s Gospel), the thought of the preceding clause is now expressed negatively, and yet a fresh thought is added, namely, that he spake in parables alone. Nothing (Revised Version); i.e. under these circumstances, when large crowds of Galilaeans were listening to him. Spake (elalei : contrast elalhsen before); i.e. during this period.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Without a parable spake he not unto them - That is, not at that time; at other times he did.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

An explanation by the evangelist:

v. 34. All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake He not unto them,

v. 35. that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open My mouth in parables, I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.

It was at this time that Jesus made use of this form of teaching for reasons which Matthew had indicated above, v. 13. Here again was a prophecy fulfilled, Psa 78:2. But, though the majority of the audience no longer had the true spiritual benefit from the beautiful stories which Jesus told them, yet there were a few that would understand His language. For them His teaching became in reality a revealing, a making known, of the wonderful things of God which had been hidden since the foundation of the world, known only within God’s council. The invisible, heavenly beauties are here unfolded before the eyes of the unlearned disciples in a simple, appealing manner, though Christ was obliged, especially at first, to open the eyes of their understanding.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

34, 35. Without a parable spake he not. On that occasion. His whole discourse to the multitude was made up of parables. Which was spoken by the prophet. Psalm 78:2.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

General Information:

Here the author quotes from the Psalms to show that Jesus' teaching in parables fulfilled prophecy.

All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; and he said nothing to them without a parable

Both sentences mean the same thing. They are combined to emphasize that Jesus taught the crowds only with parables. (See: Parallelism)

All these things

This refers to what Jesus taught beginning at Matthew 13:1.

he said nothing to them without a parable

"he taught them nothing except by parables." The double negative can be expressed in a positive way. AT: "everything he taught them he said in parables" (See: Double Negatives)

what had been said through the prophet might come true, when he said

This can be stated in active form. AT: "what God told one of the prophets to write long ago might come true" (See: Active or Passive)

when he said

"when the prophet said"

I will open my mouth

This is an idiom that means to speak. AT: "I will speak" (See: Idiom)

things that were hidden

This can be stated in active form. AT: "things that God has kept hidden" (See: Active or Passive)

from the foundation of the world

"since the beginning of the world" or "since God created the world"

translationWords

Jesus

parable

prophet

true

found

world

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

34. ἐν παραβολαῖς. In reference to the teaching by parables it may be remarked, (1) that the variety in the subject-matter not only gives great vivacity and fulness to the instruction, but the several illustrations would interest specially particular classes and persons—the fisherman on the lake, the farmer and the merchant would each in turn find his own pursuit furnishing a figure for divine things, even the poor woman standing on the outskirts of the crowd learns that her daily task is fruitful in spiritual lessons. (2) As descriptive of the kingdom of heaven they set it forth as incapable of definition, as presenting many aspects, as suggested by a variety of external things, though not itself external. (3) For the general effect on the imagination and for variety comp. the series of images by which Homer describes the march of the Achæan host. Il. II. 455–484.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

34. καὶ χωρ. π. οὐδ. ἐλ.] κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν ἐκεῖνον δηλαδή· πολλὰ γὰρ πολλάκις ἐλάλησεν αὐτοῖς δίχα παραβολῆς.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

34. The editor now inserts Mk.’s conclusion, 4:33-34.

(M) 34. All these things spake Jesus in parables to the multitudes; and without a parable He was speaking nothing to them.] Mar 4:33, Mar 4:34 has: “And with many such parables He was’ speaking to them, as they were able to hear. And without a parable He was not speaking to them. But privately He was interpreting all things to His disciples.” Mt. has omitted Mk 33b and 34b on account of the ambiguity of 33b “as they were able to hear.”

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.