Tares Among the Wheat

by Leonard V Johnson

Well, greetings dear Brethren, Friends, and Co-Workers in Christ in Benissa and Marbella, Spain, in Bath, United Kingdom, and in Phoenix, Arizona! Welcome. This is Leonard V Johnson for the Church of Jesus Christ Online Ministries.

Again, let me ask, why does the LORD God allow wars, strife, and chaos around the world? Why does the LORD God allow suffering, poverty, squalor, and unhappiness around the globe? 

It is simply because the LORD God wants mankind to act for ourselves. God Almighty is working out a great purpose here below, and that purpose is to bring mankind to learn our lessons. Our Master and Creator has delegated a seven-thousand-year plan to accomplish His purpose. And the first six thousand years are delegated for humans to experience our own lessons for disobedience ── to do as mankind pleases, to reap our own consequences for disobedience. We are told by the LORD God, “’ I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life.’” – Deuteronomy 30:19. 

Now, as I’ve been speaking about the last two or three articles in this series, the LORD God could stop it. The LORD God can prevent wars. But, the only way that the LORD God can prevent wars would be, and pardon my vernacular, would be to cram His religion down our throats! And, you know, nobody would like that ── because mankind’s mind is hostile against the LORD God. Naturally hostile. There’s a growing number of people on Earth who are beginning to believe there is no God at all ── no Creator. But rather, like what the famous Stephen Hawking who self righteously hawked, “Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing.” And they speak of “spontaneous generation.” They tend to believe that man just evolved from lower primates after wiggling ourselves out of the oceans.

Now… our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, came bearing a Message from God the Father to all of mankind that had not liked to retain God in their knowledge and was given over to a reprobate mind. God the Father sent His glorious Son, Jesus, bearing this Message. 

Certainly, this world has been proclaiming ── more or less ── the Son of God. They have been proclaiming Jesus Christ, the name of Jesus. But His Message, I tell you, they have rejected. They have rejected the Message of Christ. And what was the Gospel of Christ? Why do we not hear this Message being proclaimed? The Gospel of Jesus Christ, the very Message that our Lord Jesus announced, the Message He brought that God the Father had sent to all mankind, which was ultimately spurned and outright rejected by mankind ── the kingdom of God.

Well… just what is the kingdom of God? 

This brings us back around to where we were in this series, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Seeing just what our Lord Jesus preached and why we are not hearing this Message today ── and what I mean by ‘not hearing it today,’ is the fact that this world’s so-called Christian churches are not proclaiming this Message unto mankind. Of what was His gospel message, what was His example, and His customs. And why are this world’s so-called Christian churches not following His examples today? He has set us an example that we should be following. But people today DO NOT ── these worldly churches do not! The churches do not proclaim the glorious Gospel of the kingdom! You think they do, but they don’t.

What, when, and where is the kingdom of God? 

Sadly, very few have understood. 

Our Lord Jesus spoke to the multitudes in parables, and the people did not understand. He did not speak in parables to make His meaning clearer, but rather to hide its true meaning, to cloak it and shut it up from the people. 

So, notice here Matthew chapter 13 ── 

“And the disciples came and said to Him, ‘Why do You speak to them in parables?’” 11) He answered and said to them, ‘Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.’” – Matthew 10:10-11. 

So, our Lord Jesus said, ‘unto you it is given.’ Notice the Book of Mark, chapter 4 ── 

“But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable. 11) And He said to them, ‘To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to THOSE WHO ARE OUTSIDE [those not within the fold], all things come in parables, 12) so that ‘Seeing they may see and not perceive, And hearing they may hear and not understand; Lest they should turn, And their sins be forgiven them.’” – Mark 4:10-12.

And, as my Catholic revised version of the Challoner-Rheims renders it, “ … ‘ lest perhaps at any time they should be converted, and their sins be forgiven them.’” As well as the King James Version. 

But, friends, this isn’t the way you’re hearing it today! That isn’t what most people believe. 

Returning again to Matthew 13. “Another parable He put forth to them, saying: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like …’” And notice that in each of these parables, He is speaking about the glorious kingdom of God. 

All glory, praise, and worship to our mighty, Almighty God! The apostles Mark, Luke, and John all speak concerning the glorious kingdom of God. The Apostle Matthew recorded the same speech, the same words, as our Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew wrote down, ‘kingdom of heaven.’ Mark, Luke, and John wrote the same speech, the same words, of our Lord Jesus, as saying, ‘kingdom of God.’ And, as we have explained before, it isn’t the kingdom inside of God or inside of heaven; rather,  it’s the kingdom that is ruled from heaven and is ruled by Almighty God whose mighty throne is in the upper heavenly realms. The word “of” denotes ownership ── hence, the kingdom of God.

“ … ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25) but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.’”

Here again, it is the kingdom, the kingdom of God. Now… is He speaking about this present time?

Multiple people think, suppose, and outright teach that our Lord Jesus Christ spoke in parables to make things clearer. They have supposed that this is the only time of salvation, and that if you don’t perform a Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick before the person dies, they may not make it to heaven. And, they believe that God has been making a grand effort to get the whole world saved during this dispensation. Of course, if this be true ── He hasn’t succeeded very well, because most of the world is certainly not converted in any manner, shape, or form. And, God’s living word teaches us that the whole world has been deceived, and many false prophets have gone out into the world using Jesus’ name, telling the people about Jesus ── that Jesus is the Christ. They proclaim His name, and by acting like His ministers, by pretending to be ministers of righteousness, yet, actually denying the Law of God, and preaching unrighteousness and sin and upholding sin and abominations while they continue with their own doctrines, their own standards, of what they deem is right and wrong, giving their own definition of what sin is ── denying the LORD God and leading people into sin without even calling it sin. As the Prophet Isaiah wrote under divine inspiration, “’ Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!’” – Isaiah 5:20. They have turned truth upside down! And that which the LORD God says, ‘I hate!” they have said it is right! ── a blasphemous song, “Love Who You Want To” with the lyrics ──    

Say what we wanna say 

Do what we wanna do 

Be who we wanna be 

Love who we want to

My friends, we are living in a sin sick world, and it’s time we wake up and realize what kind of world we are living in!

So, most people believe that our Lord Jesus was speaking of this present evil age ── or, what is also called the Church age, or the dispensation of Grace, along with a whole plethora of other names that various churches around the world use. In other words, this present time, certainly from the time that our Lord Jesus Christ ascended to the upper heavenly realms ── O’ my, this morning perusing Facebook was the beautiful photo taken by the James Webb Space Telescope of the Pillars of Creation! The majesty and the awesome power of God! … and up until the glorious and powerful Second Coming of our Lord Jesus. And so, they tell their people that this is the only day of salvation – the only day of salvation. And they believe it, my friends, erroneously. Yet, this is not what God’s living word teaches us.

So, what is the kingdom of God that our Lord Jesus is talking about? Because most suppose that He’s talking about this Church age, or about the Church, because most people believe that the kingdom is the Church. But, notice this.

“ … ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25) but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. 26) But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. 27) So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares? 28) He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up? 29) But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. …’” Notice, 30) “’ Let both grow together until the harvest, …’” – Matthew 13:24-30. 

So, pay close attention. This is during the age of the kingdom. Whenever the kingdom of God is, they are both to grow together during the age of the kingdom until harvest. And, when is the harvest? Notice ── “’ Let both grow together until the harvest, and AT THE TIME OF THE HARVEST I will say to the reapers, ‘First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles TO BURN THEM, but gather the wheat into my barn.’” They are to be gathered together in bundles.

Have you ever noticed that it is inherently human to want to belong to something ── in other words, it is part of our human nature. Humans tend to want to belong to something. A club, a lodge, a society, a movement. They want to belong to something they can join and feel a part of. Have you ever thought of this and of what is happening today among the youth of America? The Black Lives Movement, climate groups such as Fridays for Future (FFF), Women’s Rights Movements, the #Me Too Movement, the LGBTQ+ movement, etc. 

“’ Let both grow together until the harvest …’” When is that harvest? Is He speaking of our present evil age, or the age to come? Well… what was our Lord Jesus specifically speaking to? At the time of the harvest, whenever that is, ‘I will say to the reapers, First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, …’ Friends, this is certainly something worth looking into. Something you might want to investigate and begin to ponder upon!

“ … ‘but gather the wheat into my barn.’” Notice, they weren’t bundled at all. They come into the barn. In other words, they come into the glorious kingdom of God. That is what He is saying. But the tares ── they are bundled together and burnt.

So the wheat is going to be saved. Salvation and eternal life are what the wheat here portrays.

Let’s notice the Book of Luke, the 19th chapter.

Verse 11 ── “Now as they heard these things, He [our Lord Jesus] spoke another parable, because He was near Jerusalem and because they thought the kingdom of God would appear immediately.” 

So, there were a lot of people in that day who believed the kingdom of God would appear immediately. In other words, believing that our Savior was going to establish the kingdom in Israel at that time. In fact, the disciples asked Him once, “’ Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?’” (see: Acts 1:6). They, not fully understanding at that time, ── disciples in training. They, thinking that here is the nucleus of the Church and that the kingdom of God is the Church, therefore, the kingdom of God was immediately appearing at that time. And our Lord Jesus Christ spoke to them that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit would come, and it did come, and the Church was started. And because they thought that that would be the kingdom, our Lord Jesus spoke a parable ── as well as because they were near Jerusalem. He gave this parable ── 

“ … ‘ A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return.’” 

Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, is this “nobleman.” And, He went to a “far country” ── that is, the upper heavenly realms. He said to His disciples, “’ Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper [the Holy Spirit] will not come to you; …’” – John 16:7. And if God’s Spirit hadn’t come, my friends, they could never have been imbued, or begotten of the glorious Holy Spirit of God ── the very life of God ── filled with the very nature of God so that they might now be begotten and later born into the kingdom of God. 

Recall our Lord Jesus said, “’ That which is born of the Spirit, is Spirit.’” And, He said that we must be ‘born of the spirit.’ Now, the LORD God is that Spirit. When you’re born of flesh, you are flesh… everyone after his own kind. We reproduce after our own kind. And when we are born of God, then we will be ── God willing ── of the glorious divine family of God within the divine kingdom of God! 

So, because they thought that the kingdom of God would immediately appear, He said to them that He had to go to the upper heavenly realms in order to send the Comforter for them that they might be begotten of God, and then later enter into the kingdom of God.

Throughout God’s living word, Satan the Devil is pictured as the true invisible, powerful ruler of this present evil age. Now, of course, the LORD God could alter that and change that at any given moment ── and indeed He shall eventually. Yet again, the LORD God has allotted mankind a certain period of time for Satan the Devil, and when the time is fulfilled, God is going to bind Satan along with his demons and throw them ── without a key ── into what God’s word calls the “bottomless pit.”

And, think on this! The Prophet Daniel, in vision, saw this young “nobleman” who had gone to that “far country” returning and receiving for himself a kingdom ── 

“’ I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven [the atmosphere]! He came to the Ancient of Days [God the Father, sitting on His throne in earth’s atmosphere], And they brought Him near before Him. 14) Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, …’” – Daniel 7:13-14.

So, notice this vision was not of the upper heavenly realms ── what God’s living word calls the Third Heaven. Because you don’t have … “ …’ all peoples, nations, and languages …’” in the Third Heaven. He was seeing a vision in Earth’s atmosphere, which is also called “heaven.”

God the Father is Supreme Ruler! And it has been decreed that Satan, the Devil, will rule earth for six thousand years. And now, that six thousand years is nearly up, and Satan “knows that he has a short time” left.

Now… the LORD God had given Adam a set of commands. The LORD God had revealed to Adam the very purpose of why he was created and the Way of life. That Adam was created from the ground, “’ for out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.’” Well, Adam had been lied to ── and he came to believe that Most Horrendous Lie Ever Perpetrated Upon Mankind!       

Because the ancient whisperer came along ── that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan ── and had told Eve, “You will not surely die – you are an immortal soul.” And Adam, naïve, believed this most horrendous lie – this first lie. They had obeyed Satan, the Devil. And, as the Apostle Paul tells us, “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to DEATH, or of obedience leading to righteousness?” – Romans 6:16. They, in essence, became slaves to Satan the Devil, and had sold out the whole human race to Satan until our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ (the Second Adam) came to ransom us from our jailer. And He paid the ransom price ── His own life.

But before He gave His life for you and me, He had a confrontation with Satan, the Devil. And here again, Satan tried to lie and mislead the Second Adam. But our Lord Jesus didn’t listen, didn’t fall for Satan’s lies. He knew better. Then our Lord and Savior gave Satan an order that he had to obey, “’ Away with you, Satan!’” And, like the chameleon he is, he scampered away. “’ You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’” – Matthew 4:10. 

Our Master, Elder Brother, and Savior conquered him! Our Lord Jesus is the Master, and He is qualified to rule the Earth ── yet, He has not taken office. He has not assumed office at this time, because the LORD God has ordained a six-thousand-year period of mankind to rule themselves ── inspired and influenced by the evil one. Now… understand, Satan the Devil and his henchmen cannot force you to do anything ── you are a Free Moral Agent! We are able to make our own decisions. 

In the meantime, our Advocate and High Priest is in the upper heavenly realms on the right-hand side of the Ancient of Days ── God the Father. And soon They will return to this Earth, with all the angels, and the Prophet Daniel had seen this in vision by night ──

“Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all people’s, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, Which shall not pass away, And His kingdom the one Which shall not be destroyed.” – Daniel 7:14.

Our Lord Jesus Christ is in the upper heavenly realms as our Advocate and having been “called by God as High Priest ‘according to the order of Melchizedek.’” He has only been gone, technically, for nearly two earth days (see: 2 Peter 3:8). 

My friends, His glorious kingdom has not yet been established upon Earth. And, again, a great many people believed then ── and continue to believe today ── that the kingdom is the Church … well… does the Church rule the world? No. There is a Mother Church of Europe that certainly tries to, however.

And I tell you ── there is no church of men today on the face of the whole Earth that surely wouldn’t rule the world if they had the opportunity and the power. But, they wouldn’t rule the Earth in righteousness and justice. They would rule the Earth as the Nicolaitans!     

Now, returning again to the Book of Luke – back to this parable, our Lord Jesus said, “’ A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom AND TO RETURN [and, the Prophet Daniel saw this in a vision by night]. 13) So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Do business till I come.’ 14) But his citizens [now, his citizens are his own nation –Judah] hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We will not have this man to reign over us.’” 

The mina is an ancient Near Eastern unit of weight for silver or gold, equivalent to approximately 1.25 pounds (570 grams of silver, 18 troy ounces). Ten minas in today’s prices would be about $1.1402. 1

And, of course, the Jews rejected Him as their king. They murdered Him ── they crucified Him! Well… in fact, we’re all guilty of that. We’ve all crucified Him because He died for our sins, and we’re the actual guilty party. I’m not trying to be like Mel Gibson, who just blamed it on the Jewish people of that time ── in his movie The Passion of Christ, he perpetuated the belief that Jews were solely responsible for Jesus’ death. But there were some Jewish people of that time shouting, “’ Crucify Him, crucify Him!’” – Luke 23:21. That generation was crying out for His blood, and that is a fact.

Alright. Getting back ── you’ll notice our Lord Jesus spoke of “ten of his servants.” That’s the ten tribes of the house of Israel. “‘Do business till I come.’”   

“’ And so it was that when he returned [speaking of the glorious and powerful Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ!], having received the kingdom, he then commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading.’”

“’ Then came the first, saying, ‘Master, your mina has earned ten minas.’”

In other words, he had increased his spiritual growth. He had grown in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He had diligently studied God’s living word and had grown closer to the LORD God in fervent prayer, and had gone further away from this world. He had kept and obeyed the LORD God and had carried out the commanded Mission upon this Earth, each according to his own ability. He accomplished something. 

So our Lord Jesus said to him, “’ Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little [and surely, almost everything you do in this world is ‘very little’], have authority over ten cities.’”

So then, we see the harvest is at the end of the Millennium. Not the end of this present evil age. Sadly, men have gravely misunderstood this.

“And with many such parables He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it. 34) But without a parable He did not speak to them. And when they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples.” – Mark 4:33-34.

Yes, “All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them.” – Matthew 13:34. Yet, He explained and expounded all things to His disciples.

And now, let me remind you, if you really want to understand God’s living word, if you’re willing to set yourself to devote some time to Bible study, be sure to log onto our YouTube channel. We have a playlist, “A Morning Bible Study.” □    

1) Live Price Gold, Silver Price Calculator, 14 Aug 2025.