Wheat and weeds both start with a W. They look alike until they’re ready to harvest. Both grow from seeds and are found in fields.
The comparisons stop here. Jesus interpreted His now familiar parable of the wheat and tares (Matthew 13:24-43 NASB) to give understanding to His disciples. He says wheat and tares are simply two people groups, good and evil. They grow together and often look the same. You see them in workplaces and even in churches. Planted by the Lord, the good wheat stands for those who are growing into the image of the Bread of Life – the real deal, the authentic Christian. The tares or weeds, also called darnel, are those who are planted by the evil one at night, “while men sleep.” A characteristic of darnel (found in the Middle East) is that it is often tainted with a fungus that causes hallucinations and is a noxious weed, unfit for human consumption. Darnel looks so like wheat but is colored with lies and deceit, earmarks of the enemy.
The parable teaches that the good wheat and the weeds can’t be separated until the harvest because their roots are intertwined, and they look alike. We who belong to God, the wheat, must wake up to the undermining work of the enemy done in darkness. We must nourish ourselves on God’s Word and come into agreement with God. It’s the fertilizer we need to make ourselves grow strong and influence those in our field of life. Whatever happens in our life experiences, we can’t enter into agreement with the enemy and his deceit. Don’t feed the weeds! If you’ve been feeding weeds, our Pastor jokes, “Pray for a crop failure.”
Nan Robertson
~Christ Fellowship