Perplexed by Parables

Matthew 13:1-23

Exaggerated stories. We like to stretch the truth to make us look better, and to make us feel better about ourselves.

What is a Parable? Parable vs. Allegory

Examples:

Allegory - John Bunyan’s Pilgrim Progress

Allegory - Augustine’s Good Samaritan

Parable - Nathan’s story to David

Jesus’ stories were treated as elaborate allegories, with almost every detail in each expounded as if it had some second level of spiritual or symbolic significance.

Many saw parables like a good joke — if you have to explain it, you have already failed.It is the comparison of two subjects for the purpose of teaching. It proceeds from the known to the unknown. It is an everyday story with a spiritual meaning.

‌It is, as the Hebrews put it, a “mashal”, ‘a riddle’. The Greek word gives another nuance: it is a parabolē, a comparison (literally ‘a throwing together’—maybe for similarity, maybe for contrast, maybe for sheer surprise). The parable form is flexible.

‌There are at least three good reasons.

‌1) First, look at verse 1. The move from the synagogue to the seashore is significant. As the leaders of establishment religion turn increasingly against him, we find Jesus moving more and more out into the open air, where the common people hear him gladly. So the teaching in parables comes after widespread rejection of his message and his person by the rulers.

‌Its use enables him to continue to hold and intrigue the hearers at a time of great opposition. It enables him to fascinate without alienating. No doubt he had spoken in parables before, but now, against a background of sharpened claims and consequent polarization, the parables form an ideal vehicle for his continued ministry.

‌2) Secondly, Jesus valued parables because they were an instrument of revelation (35), but only for those to whom it is given to see (11, 16–17).

The parable revealed truth to those who were hungry, and concealed it from those who were too lazy to look for it, or too blinded by hatred and prejudice to discern it.

The law of atrophy is at work.

It's unfortunate, but that's just how life works. Without regular exercise, a person risks weakening or even losing their muscles. They grow in size and power the more you use them. At a spiritual level, it's the same.

The parables bring light for those who look for it, and for those who do not the darkness intensifies. Matthew contrasts the crowds, for whom everything happens ‘in riddles’, and the disciples, who see and understand the mystery of the kingdom (16–17).

This may well point respectively to the ‘crowds’ of ordinary churchgoers (who, by the time Matthew wrote, were growing in numbers if not in understanding), and to the leaders, the inner circle, who really need to know the revelation of God so that they may communicate it effectively to their congregations.

3) Thirdly, Jesus taught in parables that they were a spur towards decision. The kingdom cannot be understood from outside. In the parables there is no direct relation between the analogy and the thing signified. This holds good for the parables just as it does for the sacraments. Both share in the hiddenness of Jesus. No human eye could pierce his incognito.

There was a givenness of revelation when a person understood who Jesus was. As he would say to Simon Peter, ‘Blessed are you … for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven’ (16:17).

To be a historical contemporary of Jesus did you no good without the eye of faith. Likewise, hearing the parable gave you no insight without that ‘click’ which enables you to cry, ‘I see!’ And that is given to those who are ready to receive it.

This does not mean that Jesus does not want people to turn to him and be healed. It is the cry of a frustrated love and longing on his part. He quotes, with heavy irony, the condemnation Isaiah had issued to the people of his day.

The parable was meant to challenge people to think again. It was meant to be a mirror in which they could see what they really looked like. It was intended to draw the hearers to decision, and to give them room to do so.

It was to be a sort of precisely like the incarnation itself.

T. F. Torrance has some wise words of explanation: ‘Jesus deliberately concealed the Word in parable, lest men against their will should be forced to acknowledge the Kingdom, and yet he allowed them enough light to convict and convince them.’

Or as Professor C.F.D. Moule once put it to me, ‘You can’t teach by spoon-feeding. You must let people puzzle it out for themselves.’ That is part of why Jesus taught in parables.

There’s a good reason to talk, at least here about the difference of a parable and allegory.

‌The parable gives this idea of significance to a story that is intended to compare two people, ideas, things. A person who responds well to the gospel, and a person who does not.

Allegory is this idea of projecting into a story what we think it should mean.

‌Example of my early preaching:

My example was Greg Laurie. Always had a good joke. Always delivered the punchline perfectly. When it was my turn, I failed miserably!

‌History of Parables

‌The interpretation of parables began to change because cultures would use it within their context rather than keeping it to its original format. They hopefully were able to recreate the same kind of dynamic or effect that they had in their original context.

‌More often than not, there was a surprising reversal between the character a first-century Jewish audience would have expected to be the hero or good example and the one who actually turned out to play that role.

We can’t play telephone with the parables. We will most likely develop a story that doesn’t exist. That’s where people get confused about what the Bible really says.

Some people think phrases like, “God helps those who help themselves,” is in the Bible when it’s not.

Or the phrase, “Only God can judge me,” isn’t found in Scripture anywhere, that was actually made famous by a Tupac song.

So then why is this distinction important? Look at the way medieval interpretations saw this passage in Scripture.

Medieval Thought:

100-fold: Martyrs for the Kingdom of God

60-fold: Monks who lived a celibate life

30-fold: Submissive wives who did no wrong

‌Jesus never had martyrs, monks, or obedient wives in mind.

‌“The main things are the plain things and the plain things are the main things.” - Alistair Begg

‌We must allow the Bible to explain itself about itself.

The Purpose of Parables

‌Parables have two primary purposes:

Parables conceal the truth from those who will not submit to Christ. Parables reveal the truth to those who by God’s grace will submit to Christ.

‌What the soil represents...

Roads - receptive to the seed but will be trampled by foot and wagon, will be eaten by birds.

Rocky - ground is wet; sufficient moisture; initial response to the seed but when it dries up, burned up

Roses - choke out the potential life of the seed trying to germinate.

Rich - the seed hits the soil. Full of nutrients, goes down deep because it’s soil is not only rich but it is full.

‌There are many who are evangelized, but not all will be saved. Then what is the point, if only, according to this story Jesus told, 4 out of every 4 people will hear, but only 1 out of every 4 people will respond to the gospel with believing.

Luke 15:10

“Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

‌Isn’t it interesting that the disciples, after this seemingly easy story to follow, ask Jesus, “why do you speak to them in parables?”

And Jesus answers, “This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.”

The Parable of the Sower is perfectly positioned in Matthew’s Gospel to explain why only a few people respond and enter, while many others do not.

‌Although neither the parable nor its interpretation explain why people respond the way they do, the parable as explained by Jesus does “identify the source of the problem. The problem is bad soil which is summed in the rocks, road, and roses.

‌4 Responses to the Word of God

‌Human Hardness Shallowness Self-indulgence Humility of Heart

‌That is, identifying the problem in the soil’s hardness, shallowness, and self-indulgence, what James Montgomery Boice called the “hard heart, the shallow heart, and the strangled heart.”

Isaiah 6:9–10

And he said, “Go, and say to this people: “‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

‌Jesus loved everybody so much that he told the gospel story in these little bite-sized TED Talks if you will, so that they may not be overwhelmed by the vastness of the gospel narrative.

‌Deduction - why don’t you begin to tell little gospel stories, and people may respond to the stories you tell, they’ll come to love Jesus and they will follow Him all the way to Heaven.

The reason I am telling these stories is not to make it easier to understand but to make it harder for them to understand. This is what many people think about, that has the potential to keep them up all night, Luke 8:10

Luke 8:10

“he said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’

Let me try to unpack this for us:

Crowds are following Jesus. They are coming from all over the place. And they are coming with their pre-conceived ideas of who they THINK Jesus is, or through the grapevine, quite literally, they have heard this thing about this guy Jesus who heals and performs miracles.

This type of scene can be packed out in a stadium, Jesus won’t charge $1200 for a worship experience... But he will begin to speak into the crowd as to perplex them and to make them question what it REALLY means to follow Jesus.

The crowds are coming for all kinds of reasons, and with all kinds of expectations for showing up. They ideas are actually flawed, and therefore, Jesus rather than encouraging them in their mistaken notions about what it means to hear, and to believe, and to follow, he tells them these stories which act like a filtration system to distinguish between the genuine seeker, and the honest believer, and the superficial listener who come along for the ride.

‌Jesus is quoting Isaiah here, and we ask why would Jesus quote this particular passage from Isaiah? Understand Isaiah is speaking to a group of people who are infatuated with their own ideas, particularly about religion, and particularly about God and so God says if you continue to turn your back on me to close your minds to me, then I am going to speak to you people in such a way that will be judicial in its response.

‌In other words if that’s the way you want it that’s the way you can have it. To quote from Tupac early, “Only God can judge me.” Ok, be careful what you wish for.

‌We have a similar thing in Romans 1.‌ How will those who are the genuine seekers, be distinguished from the hundreds and thousands who follow him? When the crowds go, they will still be there.

‌So when an activist, and an influencer show up to this crowd, with their pre-conceived ideas of this fellow Jesus, they all see him in different light.

The Activist

‌Sees him as the promised candidate. He’s got my vote. He can overthrow the political system. He can turn Rome away from this place. Go get em Jesus. Give em hell!

‌The Influencer

Sees him as the fulfillment of their supposed influence. Look at how he draws a crowd. Look at how people are listening to him. If I begin to mimic Jesus’ supposed cultural reach, then I can have this many people follow me too.

‌They all see him in a different light, and never in the honest way he must be seen. They all see him for what they want and for what they deem as successful but never in what will last.

For the activist, there will be another political candidate with more grandeur and appeasement.

For the influencer, there will be another who draws more crowds, and has more influence.

Jesus then begins to tell a story about a farmer and some seed...

‌“This is not why I came Jesus.”

‌Where’s the political insurrection?

Where’s the influential, tweet-able quote?

‌Get on with it Jesus and if you do what I expect you to do, then I will follow you.

And Jesus says, “Bye!”

People come to Jesus with their own expectations. They aren’t necessarily looking for Christ to save them, they are looking to have Christ do what they want Him to do.

‌The Farmer - he comes bringing the precious seed which can transform the soil. The kingdom comes when the soil and the seed get together. Think about that for a moment...The Seed - the Word of God proclaimed by the Sower of God and the Kingdom begins to come in a life when the soil receives the seed of the word for itself. It begins to germinate and sprout.

For many who are evangelized, not all will be saved. Then what is the point, if only, according to this story Jesus told, 4 out of every 4 people will hear, but only 1 out of every 4 people will respond to the gospel with believing.

“You cannot get to grips with the message of Jesus from the safe distance of a detached curiosity.”

‌Questions may begin to surface in your heart on what this all means...

‌What is My Response?

Has the Word of God sank into my soil or has it just bounced off of me like it does on the road? Has the Word of God taken root in my soil or do I only have a surface level understanding of God? Has the Word of God digested into my system or will it lose its power because I care too much about the world’s perspective of my life?

Roadside - Hear it. Do nothing about it. Move on with their lives.

Rocks - Finds Jesus. Gets Saved. Follows Jesus. Takes the next steps to follow Jesus and to commit to him. Baptized, but they immediately see how difficult it is so they just stop following Jesus altogether.

Roses - Choked out by the world. I see the gospel, but I see so many other things I want to.

Rich - By grace, I’m not sure what that is yet, but I have received the Word of God, I believe in Jesus, I aim to honor God with my life. I want to follow Him and I want to lean into His understanding even though it doesn’t seem like the formula for success, I’m going to trust that it is.

It. Takes. Time.

‌The potential a seed has to become something greater.

The acorn can become an oak tree.

Growing grass in my backyard. I wanted immediate results, when that didn’t happen, I grew anxious. I started seeing little seedlings sprout, I got excited but I grew anxious because what if the rest of the yard doesn’t come in fully?

I had to trust the process.

Stay. Remain. Abide.

John 15…

Psalm 1:3

“He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.”

There’s the promise…being planted by streams (the source) will lead to prosperous life.