The wheat grows in the midst of the tares, but the tares will not choke it. Man is called to battle against evil, to fight for his own spiritual survival, uprooting the seeds of evil not in the people surrounding him, but first and foremost in himself.
I think the point is that angels will separate the wheat from tares at the end of the age, which is when Jesus comes back. The point is that God does not separate unbelievers from believers now for the reasons given in the parable itself.
One point about tares is that the stalk looks just like wheat. You can't tell the difference until the kernel, or fruit, develops. There is no way to tell until then. But once the tare is apparent it will not be made good. Yes, from the human perspective we don't know who is who and constraint is the best practice, but the parable doesn't address that. There is no switching between a wheat and a tare. The parable structure doesn't allow for that teaching. I had never heard someone apply this parable to executing heretics before, but I actually like that application because in the parable it isn't the job of humans to do that. It is the job of God and His angels at the end of the age.
We are to wait patiently on the LORD, even while we do our best to avoid false teaching and false teachers knowing what there fate is. Read Jude and 2 Peter for more on that.
The point about not executing heretics struck me as well. Was not the wheat - if they were wheat - also damaged in this? What was the cost to those doing the executing - both in their world, in looking back on them in time, and also in the next world?
I think the point is that angels will separate the wheat from tares at the end of the age, which is when Jesus comes back. The point is that God does not separate unbelievers from believers now for the reasons given in the parable itself.
One point about tares is that the stalk looks just like wheat. You can't tell the difference until the kernel, or fruit, develops. There is no way to tell until then. But once the tare is apparent it will not be made good. Yes, from the human perspective we don't know who is who and constraint is the best practice, but the parable doesn't address that. There is no switching between a wheat and a tare. The parable structure doesn't allow for that teaching. I had never heard someone apply this parable to executing heretics before, but I actually like that application because in the parable it isn't the job of humans to do that. It is the job of God and His angels at the end of the age.
We are to wait patiently on the LORD, even while we do our best to avoid false teaching and false teachers knowing what there fate is. Read Jude and 2 Peter for more on that.
https://thecrosssectionrmb.blogspot.com/2024/09/christians-nations-and-their-relations.html
The point about not executing heretics struck me as well. Was not the wheat - if they were wheat - also damaged in this? What was the cost to those doing the executing - both in their world, in looking back on them in time, and also in the next world?