Matthew 13:42Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

In various contexts, Christ indicates that the harvest has already arrived; such as when He speaks about the Samaritans, saying, “Lift up your eyes and see the fields, for the harvest is at hand” (John 4:35), and again, “The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few” (Luke 10:2). So, why does He declare that the harvest has already come in one instance and that it will come in another? The term harvest can have varied implications. Why, then, does He state in a different context, “In is he that soweth, and in is he that reapeth” (John 4:37), yet here affirm that He Himself is the sower? In that instance, addressing the Jews and Samaritans, He contrasts the apostles with the prophets, as He also sowed through the prophets. Likewise, He sometimes uses the terms reaping and sowing interchangeably, understanding them in diverse manners. When referring to the obedience and readiness of His listeners, He designates it as reaping, having completed His task. Conversely, when He anticipates merely the result of listening, He refers to it as sowing, with reaping following afterward. How else can it be understood that the righteous will be the first to be taken up (1 Thess. 4:16)? Indeed, they shall be the first to be gathered at Christ’s return. The sinful will first face judgment, followed by the righteous entering the heavenly kingdom. The righteous are destined for heaven, while the Lord will descend to earth, adjudicating all humanity and delivering His verdict. Like a king rising with his companions, He will lead them into the blessed inheritance. Do you not perceive the severity of the punishment: they shall suffer in flames and recognize their separation from glory? But why does this occur, especially when the multitude has dispersed and Christ teaches the apostles in parables? It is so they might grasp the meaning of the parables, having been prepared by the preceding discourse. Therefore, when He later asked them, "Do you understand all these things?" they replied, “Yes, Lord” (Matthew 13:51). In this manner, among other effects, the parables also enhanced the discernment of the apostles.

The devil is termed the adversary of mankind due to his departure from God, as noted in the Ninth Psalm: ‘Arise, O Lord, lest man be strengthened.’ Thus, it is vital for the leader of the Church to remain vigilant, so that through negligence, the human adversary does not sow tares, representing heretical teachings. The phrase ‘Lest, when you gather the tares, you somehow pluck up the wheat along with them’ serves to allow sinners time for repentance and cautions against hastily condemning a fellow believer, as one who is currently misguided by false doctrine may yet come to recognize the truth. However, the instruction to let both grow together until the harvest appears to clash with the command to ‘Remove evil from your midst,’ and the exhortation to not share in fellowship with those labeled as brethren but who are truly immoral. If eradication is prohibited and tolerance permitted until the harvest time, how can one expel those within our midst?

Between the wheat and the tare, which resembles ‘cuculus’ while still appearing as grass without bearing ear, there is significant similarity, and often few, if any, distinguishing features. Therefore, the Lord cautions against quick judgments when circumstances are uncertain, entrusting the final judgment to Him, so that on the day of reckoning He may remove not just those who are merely suspected of wrongdoing, but the clear perpetrator. His declaration that the bundles of tares will be cast into the fire, while the wheat will be gathered into the barn, unmistakably indicates that heretics and hypocrites in faith will face the flames of Gehenna, whereas the saints, symbolized as wheat, will be welcomed into the heavenly dwellings.

Similarly, the wicked are of no use, while the righteous are valuable in all respects. The weeds, being unworthy, are gathered into bundles and burned at the time of harvest, whereas the wheat is collected into the storehouse. Likewise, the wicked, who are unfruitful, will be gathered at the end of the age, bound in bundles, and cast into everlasting fire. Fornicators, adulterers, those who defile others, and those who are intoxicated will form their group for destruction. Thieves, predators, and robbers, who take what belongs to others, will also be included. The deceitful, sly, and dishonest will make up their assembly. Slanderers, those who gossip and curse, will also belong to this group. Hypocrites, who appear righteous outwardly but are corrupt within, will join this gathering. These lawless individuals, being unfruitful to their Lord, will be thrown into the eternal fire and consumed. In contrast, the righteous, the holy, and the good—who bear fruit from God's word in patience, yielding a hundredfold, sixtyfold, or thirtyfold—will be welcomed into the heavenly kingdom like wheat gathered into the barn. ‘He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; the field is the world; the good seed are the sons of the kingdom, but the weeds are the sons of the evil one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Therefore, as the weeds are gathered and burned in fire, so it will be at the end of this age: the Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all the deceivers and workers of iniquity and cast them into the furnace of fire; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth; then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear’ (Matthew 13:37-43). Sinners, let us turn back to God! May we not be consumed by eternal fire like the weeds, but may we produce worthy fruits of repentance. By the grace of God, may we be the wheat gathered into the heavenly barn. ‘O God of Power! Turn us, and enlighten Thy face, and we shall be saved’ (Psalm 79:4).

Those who persevere are liberated from one trial and continue onward to face another. This cycle continues until the end of life. Oh, when shall we comprehend the significance of the evil that entices us, enabling us to organize our lives in light of this understanding! The victors are ultimately crowned by transitioning into eternal life, where sorrow and affliction are absent, and they are cleansed within, like the angels of God, free from the influence of tempting desires and thoughts. Thus, the triumph of light and goodness is prepared, to be unveiled in all its majesty on the final day of the world.