Matthew 13:28

He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? HE SAID UNTO THEM, AN ENEMY HATH DONE THIS. Kind words these from a good Husbandman, honourably 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 .)...

24-30, 36-43 This parable represents the present and future state of the gospel church; Christ's care of it, the devil's enmity against it, the mixture there is in it of good and bad in this world, and the separation between them in the other world. So prone is fallen man to sin, that if the enemy sow the tares, he may go his way, they will spring up, and do hurt; whereas, when good seed is sown, it must be tended, watered, and fenced. The servants complained to their master; Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? No doubt he did; whatever is amiss in the church, we are sure it is not from Christ. Though gross transgressors, and such as openly oppose the gospel, ought to be separated from the society of the faithful, yet no human skill can make an exact separation. Those who oppose must not be cut off, but instructed, and that with meekness. And though good and bad are together...

Verse Matthew 13:28. _AN ENEMY HATH DONE THIS_] It is the interest of Satan to introduce hypocrites and wicked persons into religious societies, in order to discredit the work of God, and to favour his own designs. _WILT THOU THEN THAT WE GO AND GATHER THEM UP?_] A zeal which is rash and precipitate is as much to be feared as the total lack of strict discipline....

THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS LIKENED ... - That is, the “gospel resembles.” The kingdom of heaven (see the notes at Matthew 3:2) means here the effect of the gospel by its being preached. The meaning of this parable is plain. The field represents the “world,” in which the gospel is preached. The “good seed,” the truths preached by Christ and his apostles. Matthew 13:25 WHILE MEN SLEPT, HIS ENEMY CAME ... - That is, “in the night,” when it could be done without being seen, an enemy came and scattered bad seed on the new-plowed field, perhaps before the good seed had been harrowed in. Satan thus sows false doctrine in darkness. In the very place where the truth is preached, and while the hearts of p

EXPOSITION A few remarks by way of introduction to the characteristic portion of this chapter (Matthew 13:1). (1) We have here a collection of the Lord's parables, all spoken, as it would appear, at an early period in his ministry, descriptive of the principles of the kingdom of heaven as they make themselves felt in history, and of the way in which those who are brought into contact with the kingdom ought to act. As the chapter stands, it consists of three chief parts, which probably roughly correspond to three stages of development in its composition. (A) Matthew 13:1, also in Mark and Luke, except some characteristic enlargements in verses 10-17. The section contains the parable of the sower and its interpretation, together with a statemen

HE SAID UNTO THEM, AN ENEMY HAS DONE THIS,.... This is the answer of the householder to the question of his servants. In the Greek text it is, "an enemy man"; and is so rendered in the several versions; meaning, not that the enemy was a man; for he was the devil, as in Matthew 13:39 but it is an Hebraism; such as in Esther 7:6, איש צר ואויב, "the man adversary and enemy" is this wicked Haman; and signifies a certain enemy, and one indeed that is an implacable enemy to man. THE SERVANTS SAID UNTO HIM, WILT THOU THEN THAT WE GO AND GATHER THEM UP? which words express the concern of the ministers of Christ for the true members of the church, comparable to wheat, lest they should receive any damage by the ill examples, and pernicious principles of evil men among them; also their detestation and

Matthew 13:24. _Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:_ He knew that it was good. It had been tested: it was unmixed: it was good throughout. Matthew 13:25. _But while men slept his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way._ It was a very malicious action. The thing has been done many times. Bastard wheat was sown in among the true wheat, so as to injure the crop. Matthew 13:26. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow go

II. THE REJECTED KINGDOM AND THE REJECTED KING. CHAPTER S 13-28. 1. The King at the Seaside. The Mysteries of the Kingdom. CHAPTER 13 1. The King at the Seaside. (Matthew 13:1 .) 2. The Parable of the Sower. (Matthew 13:3 .) 3. The Question of the Disciples and His Answer. (Matthew 13:10 .) 4. The Parable of the Sower Explained. (Matthew 13:18 .) 5. The Parable of the Good Seed and the Tares. (Matthew 13:24 .) 6. The Parable of the Mustard Seed....

MATTHEW 13:24; MATTHEW 13:36. THE WHEAT AND THE TARES. Mt. only. The parable is a substitute for rather than an adaptation of Mark 4:26 *. We need not deny its genuineness on the plea that the standpoint is that of the Church with its mixed elements. The field is the world, not the Church. As in the parable of the seed growing secretly, the non-interference of man is illustrated. Only the great Assize can determine between good and bad. The genuineness of the explanation is more doubtful than in the case of the Sower, and may be an imitation of it. It is mechanical and conventionally apocalyptic. Matthew 13:31. The Mu

AN ENEMY HATH DONE THIS. The enemy has already been identified as the devil. He began the tare sowing in Eden, sowed seeds in the hearts of Adam and Eve that led them astray, and has continued his quiet, active sowing of tares in the field ever since. Whence came the tares? Whence came evil? Christ answers that they came from the devil. Man was made. free agent, with the power to choose the right or the wrong, and the devil led him to choose the wrong. Whence came the devil? He is. fallen angel; an angel that was created upright, but in the exercise of free choice, chose to rebel against God. See Jude, verse 6. WILT THOU THAT WE GO AND GATHER THEM UP? It has been assumed by one class of interpreters that this, in its application, is. question whether discipline shall be administered upon recreant church members. If the _field_ in which the tares are growing with the wheat is "the world...