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"Whose fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly cleanse His threshing-floor, and
will gather together His wheat into the granary, but the chaff will He burn up with fire
unquenchable."
Some may have heeded these stern words, but many we know refused the witness, and
became the enemies of the Lord and His work. The words of John to the Pharisees and
Sadducees find an echo in the words of Christ in later passages. In the very chapter
which precedes this one of kingdom parables, and where the rejection of Christ reached a
climax, we find reference to these "tares," the seed of the wicked one. The subject
(chap. 12: 22-37) refers to satan's kingdom, and in verses 33, 34 the Lord says:--
"Either make the tree good, and its fruit good, or make the tree corrupt, and its fruit
corrupt. For from the fruit the tree is known."
This last sentence is entirely in harmony with the parable. The tares, or darnel, are the
Arabian zowan, which grows among the corn. Even the native farmers cannot distinguish
between the wheat and the tares with sufficient accuracy to enable them to weed out the
latter. The moment, however, that the wheat and the zowan begin to head out, a child
could distinguish between them.
Continuing the quotation of chap. 12: 34 we read:--
"Offspring of vipers, how can ye speak good things, being wicked."
Again in Matt. 23: 33 the Lord says:--
"Serpents, offspring of vipers, how should ye flee away from the judgment of Gehenna?"
In John 8: 30-32 we have the two kinds of believers or disciples:--
"As He was speaking these things, many believed on Him. Jesus said, therefore, unto
the Jews who had believed on Him, If ye abide in My word, ye are truly My disciples;
and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
The Lord Jesus "needed not that any one should bear witness concerning man, for He
knew what was in man" (John 2: 25). His words, addressed to those who had believed
exposed their inner selves. "They answered Him, seed of Abraham are we. . . . our
father is Abraham." Here we have a link with the "offspring of vipers" (Matt. 3:), and
this is used by the Lord in His reply, "Ye are of your father the Devil, and the lusts of
your father ye choose to be doing." How soon the Lord's word divided the wheat from
the tares! It is the same in John 6: 59-71:--
"Many of His disciples, therefore, when they heard, said, This is a hard saying, who
can hear it? . . . . There are some among you who do not believe; for Jesus knew from
the beginning who they were that did not believe, and who it was would deliver Him up.
. . . Did not I make choice of you, the twelve, and yet from among you one is a devil."
The servants could not distinguish the true from the false, but the Lord knew what was
within before it developed its fruit.