36 Then Jesus sent the multitudes away, and went into the house. His disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the darnel weeds of the field.”

37 He answered them, “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, 38 the field is the world; and the good seed, these are the children of the Kingdom; and the darnel weeds are the children of the evil one. 39 The enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40 As therefore the darnel weeds are gathered up and burned with fire; so will it be at the end of this age. 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather out of his Kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and those who do iniquity, 42 and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be weeping and the gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Matthew 13:36-43 - World English Bible

Like his explanation for the parable of the Sower and the Seed (13:28-23), Jesus interpreted the parable of the Wheat and the Tares as an aside to his disciples. He separated the parable of the Sower and the Seed from its explanation with the reason he taught in the genre, backed up with a quote from Isaiah. He placed distance between the parable of the Wheat and the Tares and its interpretation with two short similes about the Kingdom, backed up with a quote from Psalm 78. Matthew wrote his gospels in groups of two (called “doublets”), in this case, a parallel construction.

Jesus interpreted the parable of the Wheat and the Tares (darnel weeds) in a personal way. He, the Son of Man, sowed the seed, the children of the Kingdom, while the Evil One sows children of his own. Notice the cosmic dimension of the parable, the struggle between good and evil, heaven and hell. The harvest was the end time when the Son of Man will send out his angels (in Greek “messengers”) that could be interpreted as missionaries (his "seeds?") instead of spiritual beings. The Word they proclaimed would save people from “things that cause stumbling.” Rejection of that Word would condemn those who committed iniquity. In the end, the righteous would “shine like the sun,” reminiscent of the visual glory Jesus had at the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-9). The admonition of 13:43b about hearing his words was directed at disciples; he gave them the task to spread the Good News.

How have you heard the words of Jesus this week?