Church Fathers Commentary Matthew 13:36-43

"Then he left the multitudes, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Explain unto us the parable of the tares of the field. And he answered and said, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; and the field is the world; and the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil [one]; and the enemy that sowed them is the devil: and the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are angels. As therefore the tares are gathered up and burned with fire; so shall it be in the end of the world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and them that do iniquity, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He that hath ears, let him hear." — Matthew 13:36-43 (ASV)

St. John Chrysostom: The Lord had spoken to the multitude in parables to induce them to ask Him their meaning. Yet, even though He had spoken so many things in parables, no one had yet asked Him anything, and therefore He sends them away: “Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house.” None of the Scribes followed Him here, which makes it clear that they followed Him for no other purpose than to catch Him in His teaching.

St. Jerome: The Lord sends away the multitude and enters the house so that His disciples could come to Him and ask Him privately about those things which the people neither deserved to hear nor were able to understand.

Rabanus Maurus: Figuratively, having sent away the multitude of restless Jews, He enters the Church of the Gentiles. There He explains heavenly sacraments to believers, from which it follows: “And his disciples came to him, saying, Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.”

St. John Chrysostom: Before, though eager to learn, they had been afraid to ask. But now they ask freely and confidently because they had heard, “To you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of heaven.” Therefore, they ask when they are alone, not envying the multitude to whom this was not given. They pass over the parables of the leaven and the mustard seed as being clear, and ask about the parable of the tares, which has some similarity to the preceding parable of the seed and reveals something more.

And so the Lord explains it to them, as it follows: “He answered and said to them, He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.”

Remigius of Auxerre: The Lord calls Himself the Son of Man so that in that title He might set an example of humility. It may also be because it would later happen that certain heretics would deny He was truly man, or so that through belief in His humanity we might ascend to the knowledge of His divinity.

St. John Chrysostom: “The field is the world.” Since it is He who sows His own field, it is clear that this present world is His. It follows, “The good seed are the children of the kingdom.”

Remigius of Auxerre: That is, the saints and the elect, who are counted as sons.

St. Augustine of Hippo: The Lord explains that the tares do not mean, as Mani interprets, certain false additions inserted among the true Scriptures, but rather all the children of the Evil One—that is, the imitators of the Devil's deception.¹

As it follows, “The tares are the children of the evil one,” by which He means for us to understand all the wicked and impious.

For all weeds among the grain are called tares.²

It follows, “The enemy who sowed them is the devil.”

St. John Chrysostom: For this is part of the schemes of the devil, to be always mixing truth with error.

“The harvest is the end of the world.”

In another place, speaking of the Samaritans, He says, “Lift up your eyes, and consider the fields that they are already white for the harvest” (John 4:35). And again, “The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few” (Luke 10:2). In these words, He speaks of the harvest as being already present.

How then does He speak of it here as something yet to come? It is because He has used the figure of the harvest in two different meanings. As He says in that other place, one sows and another reaps. But here, it is the same one who both sows and reaps. Indeed, in the other passage He brings up the Prophets not to distinguish them from Himself, but from the Apostles, for Christ Himself sowed among the Jews and Samaritans through His Prophets.

The figure of the harvest is thus applied to two different things. When speaking of the initial conviction and turning to the faith, He calls that the harvest, as that in which the whole work is accomplished. But when He examines the fruits that follow the hearing of God's word, He then calls the end of the world the harvest, as He does here.

Remigius of Auxerre: The harvest signifies the day of judgment, in which the good are to be separated from the evil. This will be done by the ministry of angels, as it is said later that the Son of Man will come to judge with His angels.

“As then the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of Man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all offenses, and them which do iniquity.”

St. Augustine of Hippo: Gathered out of that kingdom in which there are no offenses? The kingdom, then, must be His kingdom which is here on earth—namely, the Church.³

That the tares are separated first signifies that the wicked will be separated from the righteous by tribulation. This is understood to be performed by good angels, because the good can carry out duties of punishment with a good spirit—like a judge or the Law—whereas the wicked cannot fulfill offices of mercy.⁴

St. John Chrysostom: Or, we may understand this to refer to the kingdom of the heavenly Church. In that case, a two-fold punishment is presented here: first, that they fall from glory, as it is said, “And they shall gather out of his kingdom all offenses,” so that no offenses will be seen in His kingdom; and second, that they are burned.

“And they shall cast them into a furnace of fire.”

St. Jerome: The “offenses” refer to the tares.

Glossa Ordinaria: The terms “offenses” and “them that do iniquity” should be distinguished as heretics and schismatics. The “offenses” refer to heretics, while “them that do iniquity” is to be understood as schismatics.⁵

Alternatively, by “offenses” we may understand those who give their neighbor an occasion of falling, and by “those that do iniquity,” all other sinners.

Rabanus Maurus: Observe, He says, “those who do iniquity,” not “those who have done iniquity.” This is because not those who have turned to repentance, but only those who remain in their sins, will be delivered to eternal torments.

St. John Chrysostom: Consider the unspeakable love of God toward mankind! He is ready to show mercy and slow to punish. When He sows, He sows Himself; when He punishes, He does so through others, sending His angels for that task.

It follows, “There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Remigius of Auxerre: These words show the reality of the resurrection of the body and, furthermore, the twofold pains of hell: extreme heat and extreme cold. Just as the “offenses” refer to the tares, so the righteous are counted among the children of the kingdom, about whom it follows: “Then the righteous shall shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.”

In the present world, the light of the saints shines before men, but after the consummation of all things, the righteous themselves will shine like the sun in their Father's kingdom.

St. John Chrysostom: This is not to say they will not shine with greater brightness, but because we know of no brightness that surpasses the sun, He uses an example suited to our understanding.

Remigius of Auxerre: That He says, “Then shall they shine,” implies that while they now shine as an example to others, they will then shine like the sun for the praise of God. “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Rabanus Maurus: That is, let him who has understanding, understand. For all these things must be understood mystically, not literally.

1. Cont. Faust., xviii, 7
2. Quaest. Ev., i, 10
3. City of God, book xx, ch. 9
4. Quaest. Ev., i, 10
5. non occ.