Honesty

The parable of the tares easily leads one who is listening to assume that he is a son of the kingdom. For the Jews who listened, this was their theology. They, as the sons of Abraham, would be the sons of the kingdom; all others are therefore the sons of the evil one.

John the Baptist spoke against this attitude.

"Therefore bring forth fruit in keeping with repentance; and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our father'; for I say to you, that God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham." Matthew 3:8-9

God could make statues that look like Abraham; they would do nothing either.

We can listen to this parable in the same way, only taking Christians to be the sons of the kingdom. Are not Christians born again by the living and abiding word of God? That should make us sons of the kingdom. Jesus has just scattered us across the world, and the devil has scattered his sons across the same world.

But to take the parable in this way leads to a straightforward conclusion that we were always the sons of the kingdom, for we were sown that way. Then how can we have been dead in our trespasses and sins, if we were sown the sons of the kingdom?

This would also make Jesus less than honest.

"Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, 'If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, "From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water."'" John 7:37-38

(His statements would need some fine print about not applying to the sons of the evil one.)

If we assume that we are sons of the kingdom, then how do we explain ourselves? How can a son of the kingdom contain what we know is in our heart? Would we not fit better in the category of the stumbling blocks and lawless? Imputed righteousness not withstanding, how can we assume that a son of the kingdom would do what we do, unless being a son of the kingdom, sown by Jesus Christ, does not really result in real righteousness.

If the sons of the evil one are those around us, then nothing can be done for them. We would be living in a world with a race that is completely without hope and without God. Our theology would turn our heart to stone against the rest of mankind.

But this is not the heart of God.

"This is good and acceptable in the sight of our God and Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony borne at the proper time." I Timothy 2:3-6

Jesus did not physically sow men; the devil did not physically sow men. Jesus sowed the word of the kingdom. The sons of the kingdom grow from that seed. But just as Jesus sowed good seed, the devil sowed tares in the same ground. The devil sows lies; lies that take root and grow.

Honesty tells us that He was describing us; we have the good seed in ourselves, and we have tares. We have things growing in us that came from the devil. We may even know when the tares were sown.

This parable has nothing to do with looking down on others; it is describing a painful reality about ourselves.