By Wayne G. Thompson
Author and newspaper columnist with a Master’s degree in religious education
Springfield, Colorado
Wheat is an essential source of food for all people providing protein for a healthy part of one’s diet. Foods such as bread, cereal, pizza crust, and dainty pastries are just some of the things that are made from wheat.
Why do the farmers plant their wheat crop in the late summer? The reason has to do with the climate. The hot dry Summers don’t give the seed a good chance for survival. Wheat seems to thrive best in the cool wet season of Autumn. It withstands winter well. Then in the Spring, it thrives. By late June and early July, it is ready for harvest. The midwest of the U.S. appears to be the best climate for growing wheat, although it is grown elsewhere.
What does the Bible have to say about wheat? Jesus taught in John 12:24 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” If a grain of wheat dies, it will bear much fruit. That is to say, through the death of a grain of wheat, it can sprout many other seeds and do a lot of good. Jesus uses this parable to explain how his death on the cross would some day draw people unto him from around the world.
In Matthew 13:24-30, the message is profound. Wheat symbolizes God’s people or the citizens that make up the Kingdom of Heaven. It also pictures a good harvest, blessings, fertility and life. Jesus said “The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But when the 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.”
The lesson here is clear. Good and evil coexist in the world today. The wheat is the good seed representing the people of God. The tares (weeds) represent the people who do not acknowledge the Word of God who chose to follow the evil ways of the devil. They are the sons and daughters of the evil one who will be sentenced to the fiery furnace of hell at the end of the age. The harvest workers are the angels of God who will separate the wheat from the tares.
Take heed, the enemy (evil in the world) sows weeds (tares) among the good seed when we are asleep or unaware. This highlights the reality that deception often takes root when vigilance wanes. Therefore, be watchful and pray. Don’t follow the crowd; just because it is popular doesn’t make it right, even if everyone else is doing it. Do what you know is right: read the Bible, listen to the great hymns of faith, fellowship with other believers, and attend a church near you on a regular basis each and every Sunday.
Some day in the future, the harvesters will come to separate the good wheat from the evil tares. Choose you this day whom you will serve.
Remember, Jesus was like a grain of wheat in that he gave up his life on the cross for our sins: he died, was buried in a tomb, and rose to life again, so that by believing in him we too can have eternal life. See John 3:16.
