Christ Jesus often spoke in parables to his disciples and the multitudes. Such narratives, from which spiritual truths are drawn, enabled his followers to see clearly that they could apply the truth in their own experiences.
One such lesson may be found in the thirteenth chapter of Matthew. Jesus, as he sat in a ship, was talking to the multitude on the shore about the kingdom of heaven. He likened it to "a man which sowed good seed in his field" (Matt. 13:24). "But," he said, "while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat." Then the servants asked the householder if they should go and gather up the tares, but the householder said, "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."
The tares spoken of are said to be the weed called "darnel," which, before it comes into ear, is so similar in appearance to wheat that both are allowed to grow together until harvest time; then a definite distinction appears. The tares are then separated from the wheat and burned, for their seeds are often poisonous.
