INTRODUCTION TO JESUS' PARABLES

Introduction

-{Matthew 13}

-I want you to listen to a teaching:

There were two roosters who were fiercely fighting to have mastery over the farmyard. One at last put the other rooster to flight. The rooster who was vanquished just skulked away and hid himself in a quiet corner, while the conqueror, flying up to a high wall, began to flap his wings and crowed loudly and exultingly with all his might. An eagle sailing through the air pounced on the conquering rooster and carried him off in his talons to become dinner. The vanquished rooster immediately came out of his corner, and ruled from then on with undisputed mastery.

~That is the end of the teaching

-So, what was the point of that teaching story? I obviously did NOT give that teaching to talk about roosters or eagles or farms. There was meaning behind the meaning. The overall point of that particular story was that pride comes before destruction (or, more biblically, pride comes before the fall).

-Why not just say that? Why tell the story? Because it got your attention, it was memorable, and it made its point in a way that you could relate to because everyone knows what a rooster is, everyone knows what a farm is, everyone knows what an eagle is, etc.

-In a similar way, Jesus would use certain stories and metaphors and pictures to make a point that would grab people’s attention, although the deeper meaning wasn’t always obvious so it took time to digest and think over before someone might fully grasp the meaning.

-We know these stories as parables. Jesus taught in parables as a ministry of teaching to convey certain spiritual truths. Parables are found throughout the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) and have many wonderful things to convey in ways that His original audience would have been familiar with.

-But these parables aren’t so outdated that there aren’t things we can learn as well. Us modern-day Christians can learn many spiritual truths by digging deep into Jesus’ parables.

-And so, today I want to start a new sermon series on Jesus’ parables, and specifically I want to use today’s lesson as an introduction to the parables before we begin to look at the individual stories themselves.

-In the passage that we are looking at today, Jesus explains His use of parables, so my prayer is it prepares us for those times Jesus used parables to tell us some truths, and that our hearts and minds would be open to learn at the feet of the Master as He teaches us some things about our spiritual life now and the life to come.

READ Matthew 13:10-17

Matthew 13:10–17 ESV

10 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11 And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 13 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. 14 Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: “ ‘ “You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.” 15 For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’ 16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17 For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

-There are just a few quick points to consider before we tackle the parables themselves. The first point to consider:

1) The place of parables in Jesus’ teaching

-Matthew placed the passage we are looking at today right after Jesus taught the crowds the parable of the sower/seeds/soil—one of the most well-known of Jesus’ proverbs.

~The disciples, who seem a little confused themselves, question Jesus why all of a sudden He has started teaching in parables. Up until this point, Jesus’ teachings have been pretty straight forward (although, we recognize that the gospels are not necessarily written in chronological format)

-But, in Matthew’s order, the most famous of Jesus’ teachings and sermons, the Sermon on the Mount, was given and Jesus pretty much lays it out there for everyone to understand—this is how to live as people of God’s Kingdom…blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are those who mourn, blessed are the meek, etc.----pretty straight-forward teaching about Kingdom living

-Now Jesus starts with a story “So, there was this farmer who went out to plant seeds…”—that seemed like a dramatic shift; but there were reasons for the shift that I will get into a little later. But parables were not something unheard of for teachers and preachers. Jesus was just using a teaching method that others used to convey the truths He wanted others to understand.

-There was a place for parables, and I want to consider what that place was, which is found in the concept of parables themselves.

-The word PARABLE literally means to place things side by side in order to compare them. One thing is placed next to another thing so that by the first thing you can explain the second thing.

~And so, you consider the cliched explanation of a parable, that it is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning, what you are doing is placing familiar things from earth alongside the mysterious things of heaven so that you can gain some understanding of heavenly things by pondering on these earthly examples that were set beside it.

-A more accurate and theologically rich definition is given by theologian C. H. Dodd who described parables as:

A metaphor or simile drawn from nature or common life, arresting the hearer by its vividness or strangeness, and leaving the mind in sufficient doubt about its application to tease it into active thought.

-While using common items and situations that the audience understood, it was obvious that the story or its subjects were not the point, but there was a deeper, spiritual meaning to what Jesus said. But it would take a little digging in order to get to the spiritual treasure that Jesus was pointing someone to find.

-It reminds me of those magic eye images that seemed to be big in the ‘90s, where you had a picture of some strange pattern, but you would have to look at it just right and see that there was an even deeper, hidden image. Sure, on the surface it looks like nothing but a bunch of pink and yellow and blue and purple swirls, but it you stare at it and look deeper, all of a sudden this 3D elephant pops out at you.

-It’s the same with the parables—Jesus says what He says and you hear the surface story, but the more you think about it and ponder on it all of a sudden the meaning pops out at you in 3D.

-And we find in the gospels, that there isn’t just one form of parable—Jesus used all different forms to arrest the attention of His hearers. He could use the narrative stories like the parable of the sower/seed/soil or the good Samaritan. Sometimes He used similes—this is like this, and that is like that. Sometimes he used aphorisms which are quick, pithy statements that state a truth or a principle (something similar to our saying: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it).

~There probably other forms—scholars all differ in what they include in the category, so it’s hard to determine exactly how many parables Jesus really used----it would seem to be in the 30-50 range.

-Something that all parables seem to have in common, though, is that there is a major point that Jesus is driving at. While there may be many allegorical connections within the parable, there is usually a main idea that Jesus attempts to get across to the listener.

-So, parables had a place in His ministry because it allowed Him to give deep truths through comparison with familiar objects. There were heavenly things could be experienced through these word pictures that He gave. But what were they depicting? Well, I want us to consider:

2) The principle object of Jesus’ parables

-What did the parables focus on? What subject did the parables teach about?

~According to v. 11 Jesus said He was speaking in parables so that people would understand the mysteries and secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven as both a present reality and a future hope. The parables would describe aspects of the Kingdom of God, the King who ruled the Kingdom, and the citizens who were part of the Kingdom.

~As one author stated it: the parables naturally reference a conceptual framework and values coherent with the kingdom that Jesus preaches and enacts

-The Kingdom of God/Heaven was a main subject of Jesus’ sermons and teachings, as it is tied closely with the gospel. In fact, in the first sermon of Jesus’ that is recorded, Jesus preached:

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:15 ESV)

-So, Jesus preached that the Kingdom was something that His presence and ministry and eventual death and resurrection inaugurated, and the entrance into the Kingdom was by repenting of sin and believing in the gospel message which is centered on Christ Himself.

-But what exactly is the Kingdom? That has been a subject of scholarly debate for 2000 years. We know that a kingdom is a territory over which a king reigns. To be simplistic, the kingdom of God is where God reigns. But there’s a little bit more to it than that.

-R.C. Sproul described it as:

a kingdom that will be ruled by God’s appointed Messiah, who will be not just the Redeemer of His people, but their King.

-The Kingdom of God is the rule and reign of God through Jesus Christ. There is both an already aspect to the Kingdom, and a not yet aspect to the Kingdom. Jesus already rules and reigns in the hearts of believers, but it is not fully realized until the new heaven and new earth when all of His enemies will be cast into the lake of fire and Jesus alone rules over His people in the new reality—a reborn Eden.

-Peter Gentry and Stan Norman further describe it this way:

The kingdom of God is “already” present but “not yet” fully completed, both a present and future reality. The kingdom was inaugurated in the incarnation, life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus. God’s kingdom blessings are in some measure possessed now. People presently find and enter God’s kingdom. God is now manifesting His authoritative rule in the lives of His people. God’s kingdom, however, awaits its complete realization. His people still endure sufferings and tribulations. When fully consummated, hardships will cease. Kingdom citizens currently dwell alongside inhabitants of the kingdom of darkness. God will eventually dispel all darkness. The final inheritance of the citizens of God’s kingdom is yet to be fully realized. The resurrection body for life in the eschatological kingdom is a blessing awaiting culmination.

-During the days of Jesus’ ministry, this kind of Kingdom concept was completely new because the first century Jews had their own ideas about what God’s Kingdom / Messiah’s Kingdom would be like, and it usually meant destroying the Romans and other oppressors, and Israel being the dominant nation in the world. Jesus had to try to get it across to people that this is not what the Kingdom of Heaven is about.

-The parables present Kingdom truths—for the original audience it was to reshape their thinking about the subject. Now, for us, the parables tell us what it truly means to be a Christian, one of God’s people. It describes the spiritual reality that we truly live in despite the fact that we are still on this earth.

-The parables for us make us kingdom-focused and kingdom-minded people. They force us to consider what our identity is and how that plays out on our actions and attitudes and choices while on this earth.

~Our understanding of the Kingdom of God and our place in it absolutely ought to affect every aspect of our lives.

~Understanding the Kingdom will make us kingdom-minded spouses, kingdom-minded parents, kingdom-minded kids, kingdom-minded workers, kingdom-minded students, kingdom-minded friends, kingdom-minded neighbors, kingdom-minded church members…

-So, I want to consider one last quick point:

3) The purpose of Jesus’ parables

-One purpose is obviously to reveal the Kingdom of God and the truths of its existence. Jesus said that for some people it was given to know these truths about the kingdom, and those who have this understanding, even more will be given to them.

~Look, if your spiritual hearts are open to receive Kingdom truths, then you will receive those Kingdom truths, and even more understanding will be given to you.

~That right there is not shocking.

-What is shocking is that Jesus says that for other people these truths have not been given, and even then what little understanding they have will be taken from them.

~Jesus says that He gives parables to reveal the Kingdom

~But Jesus is also saying that He gives parables in order to CONCEAL the Kingdom.

-Jesus says that there are people who pretend to be religious and seeking truth, but in reality they aren’t because they only want to see what they want to see and hear what they want to hear and believe what they want to believe. Their hearts are too hard and stubborn to hear the truth, see the truth, or believe the truth, then He isn’t going to bother giving them the truth.

~I believe that this is what Jesus means when He tells the disciples:

Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you. (Matthew 7:6 ESV)

-These are people who want God their way, heaven their way, the way to heaven their way, and it all has to do with catering to their lusts and desires in the here and now.

-In the chapter before this one Jesus had conflict with the religious leaders of the day. They didn’t like the fact that Jesus wasn’t playing by their rules. They heard Jesus, they knew what Jesus was claiming for Himself, and they didn’t like it.

~They didn’t like the fact that having compassion was more important their following manmade rules when Jesus would heal people on the Sabbath.

~They didn’t like the fact that Jesus called out their hypocrisy.

~They didn’t like the fact that Jesus gave Himself prerogatives that only belong to God, thinking Him nothing more than a mere man.

-Because of all of this and so much more, they rejected Jesus as Messiah, they did not believe in Him, and they didn’t want to listen to anything He had to say about God, heaven, or the Kingdom. Their hearts were hard and stubborn.

~So, Jesus says HAVE IT YOUR WAY! I will speak in parables so that you will hear but not understand, you will see but never perceive.

-There are people today that put on the façade of Christianity, but they want it their way. They want Jesus to bend to their wills and they don’t really want to hear the truth. They go to church out of habit or expectation, but they don’t really get anything out of it because the sermon didn’t speak to their feelings or felt needs…. Because, you know, the sermon is supposed to be about me.

~Then, when the sermon speaks the truth about being a Kingdom-focused, Kingdom-minded, Kingdom-centered person, it doesn’t connect, because they hear and don’t understand and they see and not perceive because their hearts have grown dull.

~For them, a Kingdom-minded message sounds no different than the teacher on the Charlie Brown cartoons (wah wah wah….)

-If you’re like that, you aren’t going to get it. Your heart has to be right with Jesus. You need to believe that He is the Messiah, you need to believe that He died for your sins and rose again, and you need to believe that He is the King to whom all your loyalty and devotion is due.

-But even Christians need the right mindset to hear Kingdom truths. If you don’t want to submit to the King, then you can’t really live like a part of the Kingdom.

~We say things like: Well, I think this…and…I think that—it doesn’t matter what we think, what matters is what the King has said and have we submitted ourselves to it.

-If we want to understand the parables and the Kingdom that they speak of, we need to come with the mindset that we are going to submit to the King.

Conclusion

-So, Christian, come pray at the altar and submit yourself to your King

-But if you have never trusted the King…