“Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?”
The full verse · Matthew 13:28 · KJV
He unto , An hath . The unto , Wilt that we and ?
Asked by
Servant: the servants of the householder in Jesus' parable of the tares, who found tares growing among his wheat (Matthew 13:27)
Asked to
Householder: the master of the house in Jesus' parable of the tares, who has just told his servants, "An enemy hath done this" (Matthew 13:28)
The Scene
The householder has just told his servants that the tares in his wheat field were sown by an enemy (Matthew 13:27-28).
Why It Was Asked
The purpose behind the questionOnce the servants knew an enemy had done it, they wanted to fix the problem right away by pulling the tares out. Gill sees several things in their question: concern that the wheat not be harmed, a hatred of what is evil, and a readiness to obey. He also notes that they were "not willing to proceed of themselves" but chose to "ask counsel and advice of him." Their zeal was real, but they asked before they acted.
The Response
What Scripture recordsThe householder said, "Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them" (Matthew 13:29). Instead, "Let both grow together until the harvest," when he would tell the reapers to gather the tares first and burn them, "but gather the wheat into my barn" (Matthew 13:30). Jesus later explained that "the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels" (Matthew 13:39).
Historical Context
The world behind the wordsThe danger the householder named was practical. Because darnel looked so much like wheat, Barnes explains that even then "it would be difficult to separate them. By gathering them, they would tread down the wheat, loosen and disturb the earth, and greatly injure the crop." At harvest the separation could be done without harm.
Gill notes that the Greek behind "an enemy" reads literally "an enemy man," a Hebrew way of speaking, even though Jesus identifies the enemy as the devil (Matthew 13:39).
The Bigger Picture
Where this fits in God's storyThe householder's answer shows God's patience and His care for the wheat. He is not careless about the tares. He has already decided their end (Matthew 13:30, 40-42). But He will not let the good be destroyed by a hasty effort to remove the bad. The sorting is real, it is certain, and it belongs to the harvest and to the reapers He sends (Matthew 13:41).
Gill takes the lesson to be that "a pure and perfect church cannot be expected in the present state of things," so believers should bear with this patiently until Christ's time comes. Yet both Gill and Matthew Henry say this does not forbid all discipline. Henry writes that gross transgressors, and such as openly oppose the gospel, "ought to be separated from the society of the faithful," yet "no human skill can make an exact separation."
Look Closer
Why did the householder say no to pulling up the tares?
Carry the question into prayer and conversation.
Lord, where am I eager to pull up what looks wrong when You are asking me to wait for Your harvest?
A prayer to carry into the day.
- The servants asked before they acted. What usually drives you when you want to fix a problem right away: care for what is good, frustration, or something else?
- Tell about a time when waiting on God's timing protected something good that a quick fix might have damaged.
For you, a small group, a friend, or the dinner table.
When you see evil mixed in with good, the urge to clear it out fast can feel righteous. The servants' question shows a better first step: bring that urge to the Lord and ask what He wants before you act.
The householder's answer teaches patience. Not every problem is yours to uproot, and a hasty effort can harm people who truly belong to God. Final judgment is His, carried out at His time by those He sends (Matthew 13:30, 41).
This does not mean anything goes. The same Master who said "let both grow together" also promised that the tares will be gathered and burned (Matthew 13:30). Patience is not approval of evil. It is trust that God will judge rightly and in His time.
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