What does Matthew 13:28 mean?

This parable is sometimes called "the wheat and the tares." "Tare" is another name for a weed sometimes called "darnel," an inedible ryegrass that is sometimes called "false wheat." As a young plant, it looks almost exactly like wheat until both begin to bear; then the difference becomes obvious. By that point, though, the roots of the wheat and the weeds are likely entangled.

In the story, a farmer's servants have come to him to ask how it is possible that weeds have come up throughout the field along with the wheat. Did he use good seed? The farmer now assures them the seed was good. An enemy has attacked them, sowing the seeds of the weeds in among the good seeds of the wheat. This would not have been an unheard-of act in Jesus' era. Sabotaging another's field with hostile plants is an act seen in many places around the world.

The servants now ask the farmer if he wants them to go and pull up all the weeds. That's not an unreasonable question: darnel is mildly poisonous, so it can't be ignored, or the entire harvest will be ruined. In the following verse, the farmer will explain why that's a bad idea. The two plants will be separated, but not yet.

Jesus will soon explain to the disciples exactly what each element of this story is meant to represent (Matthew 13:36–43).