Wheat and Tares

In the parable of the wheat and tares, Matthew 13:24-26 Jesus gives us a view of Satan as a counterfeiter. He has told us that Satan comes to kill, to steal, and to destroy John 10:9-11 and that Satan is the father of lies and deception. We have other instances in the Bible where folks are deceived. Peter was deceived when he spoke positively saying, "This will not happen to you, Jesus. You will not die." Mark 8:32-34 Positive affirmation at the wrong time. The ancient prophets also had to battle false prophets who spoke positive things. Nicodemus was religious and very good but he was deceived by the goodness of his life: Jesus told him he must be born again. Many people in the Bible were deceived by supernatural actions done by evil priests (the Egyptian priests who challenged Moses for instance.)

But here he shows us an example of a deception.

On a totally communal level, the parable of the wheat and the tares is about the inability to differentiate between the good seed and the bad seed. Some Christian cults seem pretty good but they lead to death. Some Christian ministers in born again circles seem to be telling the truth yet, they are deceived deceivers. 2 Timothy 3:5-7

Satan is sneaky. Jesus says we are not ignorant of his devices. But you know... I think we often are. We realize he uses strife and lust but how often are we aware that he uses pity, human reasoning, expedience to fulfill his will to get our eyes off God's word?

We can't go heresy-hunting because it is often hard to distinguish but in our lives we must be careful we aren't being deceived