The Wheat and the Tares grow TOGETHER

“Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:  But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?
He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?
But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.
Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.”  ~Matthew 13:24-30

Jesus said that the “wheat” and the “tares” grow TOGETHER. The tares will never be allowed to completely obliterate the wheat, however, try as he might, the wheat will never be completely free of the tares.

The “tare” of the middle east, and the weed that Jesus is most likely referring to…one that the farmers of his day would have known quite well and thus would have automatically understood the meaning of his parable, is a weed called “lolium temulentum” today known as Darnell or “Bastard Wheat”.

It is a species of Rye Grass that, while it grows, looks exactly like wheat…so much so that very few farmers can distinguish it from the real wheat and thus must let both grow together until the ears of wheat open and show forth their “fruit”.  What Jesus was saying is that the tares can only be distinguished from the wheat by their FRUIT!

Unlike wheat, the “fruit” of the Bastard Wheat (not a real Son) is BLACK and POISONOUS, producing convulsions and even death when eaten.  Both grow in the same field together until the day of harvest because only once the fruit is shown can the reaper then distinguish the wheat from the tares and harvest accordingly…but until that point the tares must remain or else some of the wheat may be mistaken for a tare and uprooted too!

Such is the reality of life on Earth.