Introduction to the Parables

Intro

Good morning gents!

I hope that you had a wonderful Christmas and have had a great start to the new year.

To keep the celebrations rolling, today is actually Epiphany.

It’s always overshadowed, and I understand, why.

But it’s the day in the church calendar that we remember the wise men coming to Bethlehem to see Christ.

It holds special and specific importance to us because we remember that Jesus came for the nations, for the Gentiles.

Which, I’m pretty sure that just applies to all of us in this room.

All in all, I’m excited to kick off another year of men’s breakfast.

We’re going to start by working through John MacArthur’s book on the parables.

If you don’t have a book yet, I have 6 more copies that I can hand out today.

I can also order more if necessary.

Also, I have a breakdown of what chapters we will be covering when right here.

Because this is not a topical book that takes Scripture and applies it to a specific doctrine or application, I encourage you to read the parables discussed in each chapter in your Bible.

Also, bring it with you on Tuesday morning!

Today is going to very introductory, simply meant to set up our study.

No prior reading necessary, this morning!

It is our goal to answer 2 simple questions in our time together.

What is a parable?

And why did Jesus speak in parables?

So...

What is a parable?

At heart, a parable is an ingeniously simple word picture illuminating a profound spiritual lesson.

The word “parable” come from 2 Greek roots: para (beside) and ballo (throw)

It literally means “to place alongside” and suggests a comparison between two things that are alike in some way.

Jesus’ shortest parable is found in Matthew 13:33.

Matthew 13:33 ESV

He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.”

In the original Greek, there are only 19 words used.

In these few words, Jesus describes the kingdom of heaven in seemingly simple terms.

This highlights how masterful a teacher and a story-teller Jesus was.

To take us back to poetry, grammar, and writing, a parable is an elongated simile or metaphor with a distinctly spiritual lesson.

For a reminder of what those terms mean, I would say that we’re familiar with similes.

You use them all the time whether you know it or not.

It is comparing something with another something using the term “as” or “like”

“Quick as lightening.”

“Fits like a glove.”

“Silent as the grave.”

“Life is like a box of chocolates.”

A metaphor, similarly, applies a word or phrase to something to which it is not literally applicable.

Shakespeare’s, “All the world is a stage.”

“Time is money.”

Jesus employed this kind of communication in order to convey spiritual realities.

That brings us to our next question… Why?

Why did Jesus speak in parables?

There are a LOT of takes on why He did this.

One of the most pervasive, yet flawed, reasonings is that Jesus told parables to make His teaching as easy, accessible, and comfortable as possible for His audience.

Parables are full of familiar, everyday features.

Because of this thinking, many would like to push every teaching into this mold of story.

And that’s where you get the “story time with pastor” that many churches attempt to pass off for the sermon portion of their worship services.

However, there is some truth to this take.

But it’s only one side of the coin and not the most prominent side.

Jesus spoke in parables in order to conceal as well as reveal.

The parables hid the truth from self-righteous or self-satisfied people.

People who had no desire to find the truth.

While at the same time, they revealed truth to eager souls.

Those who wanted to hear of God and His kingdom were intrigued and brought in.

Parables rooted truth in their hearts.

It takes careful and faithful hearing and reading to understand the truth.

It takes the Holy Spirit illuminating the parable for believers to understand.

And this leaves unbelievers completely and utterly bewildered to the true application of a parable.

Now...

What we do know (and what we should, and shouldn’t, do about it)

First what we know.

Parables have fixed, objective meanings.

There is a moral to the story and it is not open to interpretation.

Jesus made it abundantly clear that He had specific truths in mind for each parable.

It is not a matter of interpretation and “what is this passage/story/parable mean to me?”.

We should take them at the value Christ has put on them.

So here’s what we don’t do (and you will hear some teachers attempt to do this...)

We don’t need to assign a spiritual meaning to every single little detail found in a parable.

The oil and wine that the Samaritan used to bandage the man who fell among thieves don’t mean anything special.

They simply show the intentionality and care that the Samaritan provided.

The pods that the pigs at in the prodigal son are likewise not something to dissect.

It’s just a picture of the poverty the son found himself in.

Conclusion

Jesus didn’t always employ parables in His teaching.

For much of His early ministry He taught using pretty straight forward sermons.

Think the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew 5.

John records some of His longest teachings and these are classic examples of sermons containing doctrine, correction, and instruction in righteousness.

It wasn’t until the final year of His ministry that Jesus made the shift to teaching in parables.

And that shift is what we will cover next week.

When was it?

What predicated it?

There are questions on your table.

Let’s move our discussion to around our tables and we will close in prayer shortly!