The Parable of The Tares in the Wheat: What A Strange Parable

“At that time Jesus said in reply, “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike… And he taught them at length in parables.” I love the parables. I share this scriptural love with our own Deacon Bob Evans. If you have not already, check out his book Walking The Parables.

Why did Jesus Christ teach us so much in Parables? A third of all His teachings are parables. I believe it is because God wants us to think, to wonder and to reason out all there is about the Kingdom of Heaven. After all, that is what children do. Firstly, remember that when Jesus talks about wheat or grapes or wine, then we need to be extra attentive to what he has to say. And what a strange story we have today. It begins in a very straightforward manner: “The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field.“

Next, it takes a most strange turn: “While everyone was asleep his enemy came and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off.” Well, this is most unusual. Why would anyone want to do such a thing? It’s a question worth asking. Now, this act of planting weeds in a field was an actual statute crime under Roman law - and it was a very serious crime: it was a capital crime. This means that if you were caught doing this, you could be put to death for it.

Let me try to explain. Back then, property was so important. It represented where you lived, it represented your livelihood. It represented who you were and your identity as a person from a certain place. If you wanted to buy a piece of land, and the old owner did not want to sell to you, well, you were stuck. Apparently, an old trick was to sow weeds in the field to make it appear that it was a bad piece of land and this would devalue the land, maybe even deceiving the owner into selling it, and selling it at a cut-rate price.

So we can see how a malevolent person of bad intent would be insidious by doing such an act as sowing this weed seed in a field. The upshot in the parable is that the owner sees that an enemy has done this evil deed, and he decides on a drastic course of action. The temptation was to pull up the weeds once it was determined they were bad and threatening the wheat, but pulling up the roots of the weeds would damage and probably pull up many of the wheat stalks also.

So “let them grow together until harvest; then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters, “First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning; but gather the wheat into my barn.” Basically, this parable is all about good and evil. There is evil in our world. You don’t need me to tell you that. One of the proofs of this is, sadly, abortion in our society. It is a touchy subject, yet God's unconditional love is extended to all of us.

Next weekend, I will be working on a Rachel’s Vineyard retreat here in Phoenix.

Rachel's Vineyard is a safe place to renew, rebuild and redeem hearts broken by abortion. Weekend retreats offer a supportive, confidential and non-judgmental environment where women and men can express, release and reconcile painful post-abortive emotions to begin the process of restoration, renewal and healing.

I will be around the parish as much as I can. The following week, I will be working on a similar healing retreat (this time in Spanish) called Grief To Grace (Del Dolor A La Gracia). “Through the retreat program, facilitated by mental health professionals, and centered on Jesus Christ, Grief To Grace helps those who have endured physical, emotional, sexual and/or spiritual abuse find healing. Grief To Grace has served thousands across the United States and around the world since 2005.

There is such a need for healing in our world and in our Church. We need to get the word out about healing and hope. Jesus wants us to act and to get involved in His Kingdom here on earth.

Jesus wants us to Think. Jesus wants us to Wonder. Jesus wants us to Imagine.

In Christ,

Fr. Kilian McCaffrey

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