Mat 13:28-30 | JFB | STEP | 28. He said unto them, An enemy hath done this-- Kind words these from a good Husbandman, honorably clearing His faithful servants of the wrong done to his field. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?-- Compare with this the question of James and John ( ), "Lord, wilt Thou that we command fire to come down from heaven and consume" those Samaritans? In this kind of zeal there is usually a large mixture of carnal heat. (See ).

‏ Matthew 13:28-30

28. He said unto them, An enemy hath done this--Kind words these from a good Husbandman, honorably clearing His faithful servants of the wrong done to his field.

The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?--Compare with this the question of James and John (Lu 9:54), "Lord, wilt Thou that we command fire to come down from heaven and consume" those Samaritans? In this kind of zeal there is usually a large mixture of carnal heat. (See Jas 1:20).

29. But he said, Nay--"It will be done in due time, but not now, nor is it your business."

lest, while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them--Nothing could more clearly or forcibly teach the difficulty of distinguishing the two classes, and the high probability that in the attempt to do so these will be confounded.

30-39. Let both grow together--that is, in the visible Church.

until the harvest--till the one have ripened for full salvation, the other for destruction. (See on Mt 13:39).

and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers--(See on Mt 13:39).

Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them--"in the fire" (Mt 13:40).

but gather the wheat into my barn--Christ, as the Judge, will separate the two classes (as in Mt 25:32). It will be observed that the tares are burned before the wheat is housed; in the exposition of the parable (Mt 13:41, 43) the same order is observed: and the same in Mt 25:46--as if, in some literal sense, "with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked" (Psa 91:8).

Third and Fourth Parables or Second Pair:

The Mustard Seed and The Leaven (Mt 13:31-33).

The subject of both these parables, as of the first pair, is the same, but under a slight diversity of aspect, namely--

The GROWTH OF THE KINGDOM FROM THE Smallest Beginnings to Ultimate Universality.

The Mustard Seed (Mt 13:31, 32).