Parable of the Tares
The Parable of the Weeds or Tares (KJV: tares, WNT: darnel, DRB: cockle) is a parable of Jesus which appears in the New Testament. The parable relates how servants eager to pull up weeds were warned that in so doing they would root out the wheat as well and were told to let both grow together until the harvest. Later in Matthew, the weeds are identified with "the children of the evil one", the wheat with "the children of the Kingdom", and the harvest with "the end of the age".
Quotes about
[edit]Bible
[edit]- The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
“The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’
“‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.
“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’
“‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’” [...]
Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”
He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.
“As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.- Gospel of Matthew 13:25-29;36-43 NIV.
Others
[edit]- For a moment, they [the apostles] can recognise themselves in the master's servants, looking at the world as they looked at the cultivated field. [...] And everything he says must ultimately have an impact on their successors and their apostolate, so that it is transformed into an attempt at full and genuine correspondence. [...] And if the Lord in the parable shows the judgement in advance, then their time of waiting, of patience, of having to be together with evil on earth, takes on a new meaning, which here below can never be fully understood, because understanding lies in the “acting” of the “Lord” on the day of harvest, at the end of their mission.
- Adrienne von Speyr, Le parabole del Signore (Gleichnisse des Herrn, 1966), translation into Italian by Giuseppe Reguzzoni, Jaca Book, Milano, 2008, pp. 40-41. ISBN 978-88-16-30459-8.
