Parable of the Weeds

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The Parable of the Tares (Parable of the Weeds in the Grain) was given by Jesus in the New Testament (Matthew).

The meaning is quite complex: This is not just a heaven/hell exhortation to repentance, but an explanation of God's patience with the world's unbelief. The parable of the tares is also meant to explain the cause of hypocrisy within the Christian church. For mere social reasons, some who are actually nonbelievers put on a religious front. But their actions and attitudes often indicate that they are not real Christians.

Nevertheless, God is patient in judgment. Just as the man in the parable does not want his servants to accidentally root up the wheat, Jesus does not want his followers to conduct judgmental witch hunts for "hypocrites" in the church.

This still does not prevent the expulsion of church members who live in open rebellion against God's law, such as the man in 1 Corinthians 5 who committed adult incest.

From (KJV)

24 Another parable he put before them, saying, "The
kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed
good seed in his field;
25 but while men were sleeping, his enemy came and
sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away.
26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then
the weeds appeared also.
27 And the servants of the householder came and said
to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field?
How then has it weeds?'
28 He said to them, `An enemy has done this.' The
servants said to him, `Then do you want us to go and
gather them?'
29 But he said, `No; lest in gathering the weeds you
root up the wheat along with them.
30 Let both grow together until the harvest; and at
harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds
first and bind them in bundles to be  burned, but
gather the wheat into my barn.'"

Another version also appears in the Gospel of Thomas (Patterson-Meyer Translation):

57 Jesus said, "The Father's kingdom is like a person
who has [good] seed. His enemy came during the night
and sowed weeds among the good seed. The person did not
let the workers pull up the weeds, but said to them,
'No, otherwise you might go to pull up the weeds and
pull up the wheat along with them.' For on the day of
the harvest the weeds will be conspicuous, and will be
pulled up and burned."

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