Mystery of the Parables

One of the common methods Jesus used in His teachings were parables (short, simple stories). There are over 35 parables recorded in the three Gospels – Matthew, Mark, and Luke – and some of these are recorded in all three Gospels. It seems like the Gospel writers deemed them as important as Jesus did. Jesus’ parables are not moralistic stories like Aesop’s fables, and neither did He use parables merely as an illustrative tool. He had a much higher purpose for teaching in parables.

Purpose of the Parables

When asked why He taught in parables, Jesus answered in Mark 4:11 – “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but those who are outside get everything in parables.” He then quoted from Isaiah (in Mark 4:12) – “so that while seeing, they may see and not perceive, and while hearing, they may hear and not understand, otherwise they might return and be forgiven.” What did Jesus mean by this and how can this help us in understanding the reason Jesus taught in parables? Let’s first look at the passage in Isaiah.

In Isaiah 6, Isaiah sees the heavens opened and the Lord, Yahweh, seated on the throne. The angels are worshiping Him crying “Holy, Holy, Holy.” Isaiah is undone but God cleanses him with a burning coal. God asks whom shall I send as a messenger to the people? Isaiah volunteers. But God’s message is a message of judgment. The message is that they will keep on listening to God’s Word but will not perceive it.

Jesus says that this was the same reason He also spoke to the people in parables – to the disciples, the parables revealed the secrets of the kingdom but to the outsiders, the kingdom remains obscure.

Separation through the Parables

Jesus used the parables to bless one group of people while at the same time, He was judging another group of people. The main reason Jesus taught in parables is to show the separation of the children of God from those who continue to rebel and remain children of wrath.

This theme of separation is seen in many of Jesus’ parables. Most of the parables portray characters (people) who respond in the right way, and characters who respond in the wrong way. This theme of separation has to inform our understanding when we read the parables. Jesus was not giving universal truths through His parables or even using the parables as illustrations to explain a certain point. Rather, the parables were the teaching! And hidden in them were both an invitation, a welcome to become the people of God characterized by new birth, and a warning for those who would reject the invitation.

Parables are a double-edged message of welcome and warning. They are not just disseminating information about the kingdom of God, but they are the means to bring the kingdom of God into our lives by our inclusion in it. It was not a new thing that Jesus was doing. If we look at the Old Testament, the prophets also used a wide variety of stories to welcome people through repentance and to warn people of the imminent judgment. One example is the story of the locusts in the book of Joel. It was a call to repentance and a proclamation of God’s judgment.

In this sense, Jesus was being prophetic in His teaching of the parables. However, the big difference between the OT prophets and Jesus is that the parables make Jesus the center, and it is all about Him as the bringer of the kingdom of God. Consequently, Jesus is the center of the parables; and we have to see that we enter the kingdom through Him, and those who reject Him will be judged. This is the separation that Jesus intends through His parables.

So, what does this mean for us?

First, we have to hear the invitation that is offered in the parable. As an example, consider the parable of the two builders in Matt 7:24-27. The invitation is to follow Jesus’ teaching and to see His Word as the sure foundation. This parable comes at the end of His Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus explains the heart of the Law. In Deut. 30:15-18, after giving the Law, Moses says that those who follow it will live and multiply; but those who turn away from it will surely perish. But Jesus, in His parable, is inviting people to follow His teaching, His Word. The one who followed it in the parable was safe and secure, while the one who did not follow it was destroyed in the storm.

Second, the parables require an action. And this action needs to be proportionate to the right response within the context of the parable. What this means is that we have to identify relationships used in the parable and extend them to our life context. If the characters in the parables are expected to act in a certain way within the parable, then what is the right response within our context – this is what we have to recognize and follow up with action.

Using the parable of the two builders as an example, the right response in the parable was to build the house on a sure foundation, on the rock. The incorrect action was to build the house on sand since the house was destroyed when the storms came. Extending it to our context, the right response is to not just hear the words of Jesus but to base our life upon it. As James says in his epistle (James 1:22), we should not just be hearers of the Word but also doers of the Word. If the person in the parable built his house on the rock, then we should build our life on the Word of God (not just hear it and walk away).

Conclusion

Parables are double-edged containing a welcome and a warning. The children of God are those who hear the welcome message and turn to Jesus. The warnings apply to those who reject the Son, Jesus Christ, the center of the parable and the bringer of the Kingdom of God.

Where do you stand?

Further Reading