Let Them Both Grow Together Until the Harvest

Imagine a king who entrusted a precious garden to his servants. In that garden, he planted rare and valuable trees whose fruit could sustain life. The servants rejoiced as they watched the young trees grow. Yet one night, while the gardeners rested, an enemy secretly entered and planted imitation trees among them. At first, no one noticed the difference. The leaves looked alike. The branches stretched toward the sky in the same way. To the untrained eye, they appeared identical. As time passed, however, the purpose of each tree became evident. One bore life-giving fruit, while the other produced nothing of value.

Through this simple illustration, we can understand the concern Jesus expressed when He spoke about the Parable of the Weeds and the Wheat. God’s truth would be planted in the world, but falsehood would arise alongside it, appearing so similar that many would struggle to distinguish it from the truth.

The Parable Spoken by Jesus

Matthew 13:24–30  Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’ ‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ ‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’ ”

Later, when His disciples asked for an explanation, Jesus explained the meaning of the parable:

Matthew 13:36–42  Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.” He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

According to Jesus’ explanation, the good seed represents the truth that He personally established, while the weeds symbolize the lawlessness introduced by the devil after the truth had been planted.

This prophecy teaches that both truth and falsehood would coexist until the time of harvest—the end of the age.

The Meaning of the Parable of the Weeds and the Wheat

If weeds looked completely different from wheat, no one would be deceived. The farmer’s servants would have removed them immediately. However, Jesus emphasized that the weeds and the wheat would grow together because distinguishing between them would not be easy.

Likewise, false teachings would not openly appear as falsehood. Instead, they would outwardly resemble the truth while differing from God’s will. Therefore, God’s people must not judge according to appearances, popularity, or tradition. Rather, we must return to the teachings that Jesus and the apostles originally established.

Ephesians 2:20  . . . built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.

The safest way to identify the wheat is to examine what Christ Himself taught before the weeds appeared.

Let us examine these teachings one by one.

Wheat: The Truth of the Sabbath Day

One of the teachings established by Jesus was the Sabbath, which He kept as His custom.

Luke 4:16  He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read . . .

The apostles also followed Jesus’ example and kept the Sabbath as was their custom.

Acts 17:2  As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures . . .

Jesus and the apostles worshiped on the seventh day, the Sabbath (Saturday). Yet after the apostolic age, another day of worship emerged—Sunday, a day associated with sun-god worship.

Although it appeared similar because its adherents claimed to worship God, it was not a teaching established by Christ Jesus. As Jesus foretold, the weeds grew alongside the wheat.

Wheat: The Passover of the New Covenant

Before His crucifixion, Jesus established the New Covenant Passover, a teaching symbolized by the wheat in the parable.

Matthew 26:17–19  On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?” He replied, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.’ ” So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover.

Matthew 26:26–28 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

Through the Passover bread and wine, Jesus promised forgiveness of sins and eternal life.

The apostles continued observing the Passover after Christ’s ascension.

1 Corinthians 5:7–8  Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

However, history records that the Passover was abolished in A.D. 325. Afterward, substitute practices appeared, such as Christmas, the birthday of the sun god, as a form of the weeds. Though they used religious language and ceremonies, they were not the feast established by Jesus Himself.

Just as weeds resemble wheat, these practices appeared similar while differing from the original truth of Christ.

Wheat: The Day of Pentecost and the Feast of Tabernacles

The early church also observed these New Covenant feasts of God.

Concerning Pentecost, the Bible records:

Acts 2:1  When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.

Although some churches identify themselves as Pentecostal, they neither understand nor observe the Day of Pentecost, since the weeds were sown later.

Jesus likewise observed the Feast of Tabernacles and taught during its observance.

John 7:2  But when the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles was near . . .

John 7:14 Not until halfway through the festival did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach.

John 7:37–39 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.

These feasts were not optional customs. They were among God’s appointed feasts, through which He bestows blessings and the Holy Spirit. Yet after lawlessness entered, these feasts gradually disappeared from many churches. The prophecy of the weeds continued to be fulfilled exactly as Jesus had spoken.

Wheat: The Regulation of the Veil

Another teaching preserved in the apostolic church was the regulation concerning head coverings during worship.

1 Corinthians 11:1–6  Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the traditions just as I passed them on to you. But I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head. But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head—it is the same as having her head shaved. For if a woman does not cover her head, she might as well have her hair cut off; but if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, then she should cover her head.

The Apostle Paul instructed that women should cover their heads while praying before God.

This was not a human custom but a teaching handed down through Jesus and the apostles. Nevertheless, as time passed, this regulation was largely abandoned.

Again, the distinction between the wheat and the weeds was revealed not by outward appearances but by obedience to the teachings established in the Bible.

The Meaning of the ‘Time of Harvest’ in the Parable

Jesus did not say that the weeds would remain forever. He said, “Let both grow together until the harvest.” And the harvest is the end of the age.

At the harvest, God separates the wheat—the true church—from the weeds—the false churches. What determines this separation is not human opinion, tradition, fame, size, appearance, or numbers. Rather, it is whether one follows the teachings planted by Jesus Christ or the lawlessness introduced afterward by the enemy, the devil.

Though the wheat may appear fewer in number and less noticeable than the weeds surrounding it, the farmer’s purpose has always been to gather the wheat into his barn.

For this reason, God’s people must carefully examine every teaching according to the Bible and return to the examples left by Jesus and the apostles. The Sabbath, the Passover, the Day of Pentecost, the Feast of Tabernacles, and the regulation concerning the veil were not created by men; they were established through the New Covenant.

The Parable of the Weeds and the Wheat is more than a lesson about good and evil. It is a warning given by Jesus Christ to all who seek salvation.

Jesus foretold that truth and falsehood would grow side by side until the harvest. Because the weeds would resemble the wheat, many would assume that whatever is common or widely accepted is correct. Yet Jesus Christ directed us to look beyond appearances and return to the teachings originally sown by Him and His apostles.

As we are now in the last age, the question is not which teaching is most popular, but which teaching was planted by the Son of Man.

May we become the wheat that remains faithful to every truth of the New Covenant in the World Mission Society Church of God, following the example of Christ in keeping the Sabbath, the Passover, the Day of Pentecost, the Feast of Tabernacles, and all the regulations taught by the apostles. Then, at the judgment, we may be gathered into God’s heavenly barn and receive the eternal blessings He has prepared for His people.