As then the darnel is gathered and is burned in the fire, thus it shall be in the completion of the age.
The Lord has just named every part of His own story — the sower, the field, the seed, the enemy, the harvest. Now He draws a line from a farmer's bonfire to the close of this age, and one word here has confused readers ever since: what ends when the weeds are burned?
The older translation reads "the end of this world." But the word for "world" in verse 40 is not the same word as in verse 38. One writer sets the two side by side:
If we treated these two words as meaning the same thing, we would miss the thought in some of the passages. For instance, in Matthew 13:38, "The field is the world" means the physical world where people live. In Matthew 13:40, "the end of the world" really means "the end of the age" — the period that closes when the Lord appears.
The difference matters. The next verses show an earth that is cleared out and then carries on, not one that is cancelled:
This is not the end of the world; the next verse proves the opposite. The Lord sends His angels and clears out of the field (that is, the world) everything that offends Him. He judges the lawless, removes what makes people stumble, and destroys the bad crop and the bad fish... The field, or world, that Satan's schemes had spoiled will be cleared of all its corruptions and of the lawless people behind them. So the harvest that closes this age is not the end of the world at all. It is the start of the world going on in blessing, under the openly displayed kingdom of the Son of Man.
The verse ties the outcome to the burning of the weeds, and a farmer burns them at the end, not while the crop is growing. So the mixture is not cleaned up before then:
The parable is not about discipline among God's children. It deals with another question: is there a cure for the evil Satan brought into this whole period "while men slept"? Can this period be put back on its original footing? The Lord decides that question at once, and with authority: no. He tells us that all through this period the evil will get no cure. The time of harvest — that is, the judgment — will root it out, and until then the evil will go on.
Verse 39 has already said the reapers are angels. That sets a clear line between the work of now and the work of then:
The angels bring in judgment from God, while the gospel lays hold of poor sinners to save them. The Lord shows here that the present sending out of the word of the kingdom will come to an end. A day is coming when the effects of Satan's work will be fully developed and judged. "The reapers are the angels." We have nothing to do with the judging, only with spreading the good; the angels deal with the judgment of the wicked.
Earlier in the parable the weeds — "tares" in the older wording — are tied into bundles before they are burned. One writer will not guess how that will happen, but he points to something already at work:
The Lord does not say that the wheat is tied into bundles to be taken to heaven. Nothing points to any special preparation of the saints before they are taken up. But God does deal with the tares in that way. The angels are to gather the tares into bundles before the Lord clears them out of the field. I will not claim to know how that will happen. Perhaps the way people group themselves together today is paving the way for the Lord's final action about the tares. But the principle of worldly association is growing fast.
The burning is not the last word here. Once the bad is taken away, the good comes into view — and the Lord's choice of verb is worth weighing:
Then comes the separating. The angels gather the tares and throw them into the fiery furnace, and "the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father." Notice how exact the wording is: they shine — it does not say they are caught up. It will be a new age, with no mixing of the good and the bad. The gathering out of the wicked for judgment closes this age, so that the good may be blessed in the next.
- Age, not world. The harvest closes this age, not the planet. The same harvest that ends one age opens the next, under the reign of the Son of Man.
- Wait. Until the harvest the evil the enemy sowed gets no cure. Good and bad grow side by side for the whole age.
- Bundle. Before the fire comes the tying. The angels bundle the false with the false, and the true are left standing apart.
- Burn. The reaping belongs to the angels. Our work now is to spread the good, never to sort the field.
- Shine. The last word is not fire but light. With the offenders cleared out, the righteous shine like the sun in their Father's kingdom.
The Son of man shall send his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all offences, and those that practise lawlessness;
Matthew 13:41 comes from the Lord's own explanation of the parable of the wheat and the weeds. He says what happens at the end to the good and evil that grew up side by side in the world. Two words carry the weight: His kingdom, and the angels He sends to clear it.
The harvest that closes this age does not close the world's history. One writer points to this verse as the proof. The earth is cleared so that it can go on:
Far from being the end of the world, the next verse proves the opposite. The Lord sends His angels and purges from the field (or world) what is offensive to Him. In short, He punishes the living wicked, and the righteous shine in the kingdom of their Father… The harvest that closes this age will be the start of the world going on in blessing under the kingdom of the Son of Man on display.
Verse 41 speaks of the Son of Man's kingdom; verse 43 speaks of the Father's. Commentators read these as the earthly and heavenly sides of a single kingdom of God:
Here we have the upper region, called the kingdom of the Father, and the lower, the kingdom of the Son of Man… Those gathered out are not even allowed to be on the earth. They are cast into a furnace of fire. "Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father." Both are "the kingdom of God." What a glorious prospect! Is it not a sweet thought that God will deliver even this present scene of ruin and confusion? That He will have the joy of His heart, not only in filling the heavens with His glory, but in honouring the Son of Man in the very place where men rejected Him?
The word His matters. Another writer sees in it a change in Christ's position:
"The Son of Man will send His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom" — it is now His kingdom, He is not simply sitting on the Father's throne.
The two things gathered out are traps that make others fall, and people whose lives are lawlessness. The scene of the gathering is the same field the parable began with:
Does anyone doubt that our Saviour speaks of the harvest-field, the world, as His kingdom? At His coming He sends His angels there to gather out all offences (or traps that make people fall) and those who practise lawlessness. … The earth is purged for the Son of Man's kingdom, not yet dissolved or destroyed. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of the Father.
This gathering says something sobering about the kingdom's present state:
Weeds are in it as well as wheat, foolish virgins as well as wise. At the end of the age the Son of Man will send His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers. So the kingdom will be freed — but they must be in it to be gathered out.
The verse names who carries out the clearing, and it is not the Lord's servants:
The execution of judgment on the wicked in this world does not belong to the servants of Christ. He will accomplish it by the angels of His power, to whom He commits the execution of this work.
Another writer applies the same rule to the professing church today:
The children of the wicked one will be disentangled from the children of the kingdom and cleared right out. That happens when the Son of Man comes and opens the era of the kingdom displayed in power. Angels will do this work, not men. To clear the evil out of Christendom is no business of ours.
Because verse 41 removes the wicked and verse 43 shines on the righteous, some read the passage as the taking away of the church. One writer answers that the sequence runs the other way:
Matthew 13:41 and 43 only prove one thing: when the wicked are judged, the righteous shine out. But the righteous had already been gathered into the barn so that they could do so… Judgment leaves the just where they were. One is taken and the other left.
The clearing is not revenge. It prepares the earth for the reign of righteousness:
He gathers out of His Kingdom all things that offend. It must be so, for righteousness is about to reign. During the present day of grace righteousness suffers because evil is predominant.
- Whose kingdom — The field is the world. At the harvest Christ claims it as His kingdom. He is no longer only seated on the Father's throne.
- What is cleared — Not the world itself. He removes all that trips people up, and all who live in lawlessness.
- Who clears it — Angels, sent by the Son of Man. This judgment is not the servants' work, so clearing the church by human hands is not our task.
- When — At the close of this age, after the wheat is already safe in the barn. This is judgment, not the taking away of the church.
- Why — Because righteousness is about to reign. God will honour Christ in the very place where men rejected Him.
and they shall cast them into the furnace of fire; there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.
These words come from Jesus' own explanation of the parable of the wheat and the weeds, given to His disciples away from the crowd. He tells them what the harvest does with the weeds, and the furnace He pictures raises hard questions about judgment and how long it lasts.
The verse belongs to a harvest that closes the present age. One writer draws a line between the two kinds of work going on — the gospel now, judgment then:
"The reapers are the angels." We have nothing to do with the judging. Our part is only to spread the good; the angels' part is to judge the wicked… The harvest is the close of the age, that is, of the present period. It is the time while the Lord is absent and the gospel goes out over the earth. Grace is going out now. The only means God uses to work on souls are moral or spiritual. The angels bring in providential judgment; while the gospel lays hold of poor sinners to save them.
What follows this verse is the righteous shining out. That order matters. The harvest clears the earth for a coming age instead of wiping it out:
The earth is cleansed in this way for the Son of Man's kingdom — not yet dissolved or destroyed. Who can doubt that the righteous will then shine out like the sun in the kingdom of the Father? This is the age to come before eternity, the thousand-year age. The glorified are on high, and the earth is free from the usurper and blessed under the reign of Christ.
Weeds thrown on a fire disappear. Some argue from that picture that the wicked stop existing. One writer answered a question about this verse. The rest of it, he says, rules that reading out:
The explanation shows that the thought here is not extinction. People only reach that idea from what fire does to weeds. The effect of the fire, as of the outer darkness, is weeping and gnashing of teeth. So the effect shown is not the end of existence, as some claim, but suffering. It is suffering called everlasting, set against everlasting life. The fire is a figure, the usual figure of judgment… They will be tormented forever and ever — words used for the length of God's own existence.
Neither reaction is a change of heart. One writer explains what each one shows:
The weeping is only in self-pity, not in repentance. Wailing is the attitude of complaining, because faith is absent. Gnashing of teeth is a spirit of rebellion, not corrected even by the solemn judgment of God.
Does each person there show both? One writer thinks not:
The two words "weeping" and "gnashing" of teeth bring out different characters. I do not think both must be true of every person.
One writer traced every place this phrase appears and found the same sort of person each time:
Weeping and gnashing of teeth! We point to this phrase, used elsewhere in the New Testament only by Matthew. It always refers to those who have made light of the offer of grace… The Jews boasted in their natural descent from Abraham and gloried in it. That descent will do nothing for them if they reject grace… They will show everlasting sorrow and regret for their folly in rejecting the salvation offered to them in this life.
The furnace carries out a sentence; it does not open a trial:
We must never for a moment think that the judgment has to do with deciding whether a soul is saved or lost. That is settled in this life. At the Great White Throne, judgment will be measured out rightly, in perfect righteousness, and no one will have a word to say.
- Now — grace works. While the Lord is absent the gospel goes out, and the only means God uses on souls are moral and spiritual.
- Now — the case closes. This life settles whether a soul is saved or lost. The furnace does not.
- Then — angels act. At the end of the age the angels take up the judging. They clear the field instead of destroying it, so the earth can be blessed under Christ's reign.
- Then — the figure holds. Fire is the usual picture of judgment. The weeping after it proves suffering, not extinction — suffering called everlasting, set against everlasting life.
- Then — hearts stay hard. Weeping is self-pity. Gnashing is rebellion. The sorrow there is regret over grace refused here, never repentance.