What does Matthew 13:42 mean?

In the parable of the weeds and the wheat (Matthew 13:24–30), Jesus depicted two plants living side-by-side in a crop, due to an act of sabotage. Some are good wheat and others are inedible weeds. The two were so intertwined in a field that they could not be separated without damaging the valuable grain. So, the farmer waits until the harvest.

The good wheat represents the children of God's kingdom. The weeds represent the children of the Devil (Matthew 13:38). The harvest is the time of God's judgment, when Christ will set up His kingdom on the earth. At that time, the entire world—represented by the field—will be His kingdom. Christ will send the reapers, His angels, to gather out of His kingdom all the law breakers and the causes of sin.

Now He adds what will be done with them. They will be thrown into the fiery furnace, a place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Jesus often used this language to describe the eternal fate of those who do not repent of their sin in order to be included in the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:22; 8:12). He is describing the experience of God's judgment on those who do not come to His kingdom through faith in the Messiah. We commonly refer to this as hell.