The Advocate and news., 1898-03-30
A Parable for FaFmers-.The Wheat
and the TAres.

A Parable for FaFmers-.T Wheat
and the Tares.
Rev. ]. S. Kirtley, in the Globe Dem
ocrat, gives the following explanation of
that great agricultural parable, with
some quotations from the Great Masters
as to its significance.
The parable Is a story true to the ag-
rlcultural life Of Palestine. It illustrates
the kingdom of heaven In its growth
and It's hindrances. 1t is not meant that
his reign Is like a man who sOws the
seed, but like the experience he has in
doing so.
After the farmer has sown his good
seed, some enemy takes advantage OF the
secrecy Of night to SOW what would be
called "cheat" In America. The pur-
pose Of the enemy was to lessen the
quantity of wheat 10 be produced, and to
introduce a noxious element into the
food of the man he hated. The ''cheat"
Is bitter, nauseating and sometimes poi
sonous. In the East it used to be a
common method Of doing injury to an
enemy, and it has sometimes been done
in Western countries. The secrecy OF
the deed was necessary to the doing
of 1t; he did 1t at night and then slipped
away, knowing that in the well-pre-
pared ground the seeds would germinate,
and have no need Of further attention
from him.
The farmers conduct on discovering
It was wise and conveyed needed les
son to the disciples. He knew at once
an enemy had done It, because he him
self had not done It, and he knew that
enemies sometimes took this method OF
revenge. And yet he wisely restrained
his natural inclination to tear them UP
by the roots; likewise he declined to
allow his servants to do so, though they
wanted to do 1t, just as was usually done
in such cases. He determined to let
them grow together till harvest and then
separate them, because the tares and the
wheat look alike till they head out and
they may pull at the wheat instead OF
the tares; besides, their roots are 80
intertwined that 1t will scarcely be pos
sible to pull out the one without de-
stroying much OF the other. The fate
Of the tares is the fate of all dead vege-
tation, to be burned, while the fate OF
the wheat is to find safety In prepared
gamers and to perform a beneficiary
ministry to human life. Altogether, this
will be the safest, best way Of handling
the hard question, as he will get more
wheat in that way and 1t will be better
preserved. SO much for the parable it.
self. It was a striking one and held
their memories, so much so that they
asked for an explanation Of II that even
ing In the house.
"a parable, then, is fictitious mar
rating, true to nature, yet undeceptive,
yelling a spiritual truth, under symbol,
for the purpose of conveying 1t to minds
reluctant or Indifferent. It differs from
the proverb in being a narrative, from
the fable In being true TO nature, and
from the myth in being undeceptiVe,
from the allegory In that 1t wells the
spiritual truth. Abbott.
Here, as elsewhere, the personality
of the devil is recognized by our Lord
in unmistakable terms. This IL no par
able but the Interpretation of parable;
1t Is no concession to popular prejudice,
for 1t Is uttered to his own disciples
alone; the devil cannot stand for the
evil In the human heart, for II Is con-
trasted Herewith, the natural evil of
the heart being symboIiged In the para