<p>13:30<em>&nbsp;Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the time of the harvest I will say to- </em>The parables invite us to see the Lord gathering the wheat to one place and the tares to another, as if the gathering is the judgment (Mt. 13:30); the wheat is gathered to the garner, and the chaff to the place of burning (Mt. 3:12). There is the implication that effectively, the division between sheep and goats happens in the gathering process (Mt. 25:33); our response to the gathering is our judgment. The Angel who reaps for judgment 'thrusts in' his sickle, and 'casts out' the wicked in rejection (Rev. 14:19). But 'thrust in' and 'cast out' in that verse both translate the same Greek word&nbsp;<em>ballo</em>- the implication being that the gathering-to-judgment process is in fact the separation process. Likewise the net is &quot;cast&quot; into the sea in order to gather people for judgment, and then the rejected are &quot;cast&quot; away (Mt. 13:47,48).</p>
<p>The suggestion is that when the fruit is ready, then the harvest begins. The calendar date of the Lord&rsquo;s return is therefore variable; it depends upon the development of spiritual fruit by the last generation before His return.</p>
<p><em>The reapers</em>- These are different to the 'servants' of :27. The implication is that we are the servants, and not the reapers. And yet the same word is used in Jn. 4:36-38 about how in preaching the Gospel, we are reaping people into the harvest of eternal life. As an exercise in Biblical exposition, this simply shows that a figure may be used in one context in an entirely different way, even with a completely opposite sense, to how it is used in another usage. And in yet another sense, we as it were reap ourselves according to how we sowed in this life (Gal. 6:7-9). And yet we shall be reaped by the Angels in the actual judgment process; the connection perhaps shows that effectively, we judge ourselves.</p>
<p><em>Gather up the weeds first and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn-&nbsp;</em>This detail is surely not merely incidental. The idea is that the wicked and righteous will be gathered together with others within their same category. Then, it will finally be clear who is who; they will be displayed together. There is the implication in the words of Christ to the angel/reapers that the unworthy will be destroyed together: &quot;Gather together&nbsp;<em>first</em>&nbsp;the tares, and bind them in bundles (i.e. together) to burn them&quot;. &quot;<em>First</em>&quot; here may well mean 'most importantly' rather than first in terms of time. It will be our Lord's desire to get the miserable business of destroying wilful sinners over and done with as quickly as possible- a far cry from the orthodox belief that Jesus somehow revels in the punishment of sinners. He can then concentrate on the joy of having the wheat gathered (together) into His barn (Mt. 13:30).</p>
<p>All these parables end with the impression that the faithful are going to be of eternal use to others, providing food / salvation for them. The 100 fold increase of the good ground was to be eaten, the wheat turned into bread or sown again, the mustard seed tree gives shelter to others, etc. We are to develop a desire to do that for others in this life, so that we might eternally do it in reality.</p>