billy-brown 2

Let's look again at the "tares and wheat" parable and its interpretation:

Matt. 13
24a Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared . . .

Stop right there.

Is not Jesus speaking about what the kingdom of heaven can be compared to?

Indeed, he is describing the kingdom of heaven in the parable itself.

And so, the Kingdom of heaven is a DOMAIN over which the KING/PRIEST Jesus Christ is ruling; this DOMAIN contains "wheat" (righteous people) and "tares" (unrighteous people); this is what this parable is about.

Continuing . . .

Matt. 13
24b . . . to a man who sowed good seed in his field.
25 “But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away.

And so, we have Satan sowing "tares" among the "wheat" that had been sown already by Jesus; indeed, Satan did this while "the men of Jesus" were sleeping. Continuing . . .

Matt. 13
26 “But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also.
27 “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?’
28 “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?’
29 “But he said, ‘No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them.

Yep.
Now, this section is explicit in the truth that the "tares" look like the "wheat"; this became evident when the wheat sprouted and bore grain. Thus, only the reapers can "first gather up the tares" . . . and "gather the wheat"--and this is done at the same time--"harvest time"--as taught below:

Matt. 13
30 ‘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.”’”

And notice Jesus' own interpretation of aspects of the "wheat and tares" parable below--He tells us specifically what we need to know about the DOMAIN of the Kingdom of heaven in Matt. 13:37-50. Here we go:

Matt. 13
37 And He (Jesus) said, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man,
38 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;
39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels.

Yep.

Indeed, Jesus has covered ALL mankind in these three verses above from Matt. 13:37-39--and in 2 people groups: righteous ("wheat") and unrighteous ("tares"). And apparently, Jesus is unapologetic in His declaration that the DOMAIN of the Kingdom of heaven has ONLY 2 kinds of people in it. Also, the end of the age is "harvest time"---and the angels do the reaping.

Continuing . . .

Matt. 13
40 “So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age.
41 “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,
42 and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
43 “Then THE RIGHTEOUS WILL SHINE FORTH AS THE SUN in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

Now, this passage confirms the truth the that angels have insight into what should be gathered out . . . of His kingdom; this is the reason that the Kingdom would have been a present reality before the gathering at "harvest time" and so on.

Also, the righteous are not thrown in the furnace of fire, but the unrighteous is thrown in the furnace of fire; thus, there is a gathering for separation of both the "tares" and the "wheat" at the same time: at the end of this current age--as also taught below by Jesus as well:

Matt. 13
47“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea, and gathering fish of every kind;
48and when it was filled, they drew it up on the beach; and they sat down and gathered the good fish into containers, but the bad they threw away.

49“So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous,
50and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.