Defining The Kingdom Of Heaven Series

DEFINING THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN

Series: The Parables Of Jesus

Mathew 13:11. And He replied to them, To you it has been given to know the secrets and mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.

A. INTRODUCTION

The parables of Jesus make up a crucial part of the Bible. Jesus had the wisdom to simplify the profound spiritual truths he needed to share with humanity in the form of relatable stories that are easy to understand.

The parables of Jesus are among the most beloved of all stories in the Bible, or ever told. In his parables, Jesus drew interesting verbal word pictures of the world around his listeners.

These colourful relatable stories, taken from everyday life, were used to teach simple yet powerful lessons. In his parables, the emphasis is usually placed at the end of the story – making a strong conclusion that led the listener to accept the message. The messages were so plain, and so simple, that only the most hardened could refuse or reject the teaching.

A parable "leaves the mind in sufficient doubt about its precise application to tease it into active thought." Parables often have more in common with probing, uncompromising, puzzling questions than they do with answers.

Of the four canonical gospels the parables are almost all in the three synoptic gospels. According to one count,

• The Gospel of Luke contains both the largest total number of parables (24) and the largest number of unique parables found nowhere else (10);

• The Gospel of Matthew contains 23 parables of which six are unique;

• The Gospel of Mark contains eight parables of which only one (the Parable of the Growing Seed, Mark 4:26-29) is unique.

John does not contain any parables; rather it contains metaphoric stories or allegories, such as The Shepherd (John 10:1-21) and The Vine (John 15:1-17) which some scholars argue is a parable, to much disagreement.

Although Jesus was not the first teacher to use parables, the number of parables and the impact of his parabolic teachings was without precedent. A famous and quite ancient Old Testament example is the parable of the ewe lamb which the prophet Nathan addressed to David. After the king had arranged the death of Bathsheba's husband on the battlefield so that he might himself marry Bathsheba, Nathan told him a story about a man who killed another man’s ewe in (2 Sam 12:1-4) When David condemned the man as deserving to die, Nathan revealed that the story was a parable, saying, "You are the man" (v.7).

B. TYPES OF PARABLES

1 True Parables – Stories based on true, visible scenes and events. For example, seeds growing, yeast at work, losing a coin... “Self evident truths”.

2 Story Parables – Do not rely on obvious “truths” but instead are based upon “experiences”. For example, the Parable of the tares, the rich man and Lazarus, etc.

3 Illustrations – Exhibit behaviors to be copied or avoided. For example, the Rich Fool, the Good Samaritan.

4 Parabolic Sayings – Short statements, such as; Jesus teachings on Salt and Light, “Physician heal thyself”, “No one sews a new patch on an old garment”, “No one puts new wine in an old wineskin”, “A pupil is not above his teacher” and “Can a blind man lead a blind man?” Many of these can be found in Luke chapters 4-7.

Many parables show traits of two of the above characteristics – not all can be neatly boxed into one category.

A parable is one of the simplest of narratives. It sketches a setting, describes an action, and shows the results. It often involves a character facing a moral dilemma, or making a questionable decision and then suffering the consequences. As with a fable, a parable generally relates a single, simple, consistent action, without extraneous detail or distracting circumstances.”

A parable is a tale about a simple, common subject to illustrate a deeper, valuable moral lesson. The source definition of the word “parable” means a placement side by side for the purpose of comparison.

C. THE GENERAL THEME OF THE PARABLES

1. In our introductory lesson, we observed that the general “theme” of Jesus’ parables was “the kingdom of heaven”

• Many of the parables start with “The kingdom of heaven is like...” - Mt 13:24,31,33,44, 45, 47

• In explaining why He spoke in parables, Jesus made reference to “the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven” - Mt 13:11

• We also noted that “the kingdom of heaven” was the theme of...

o Jesus’ itinerant ministry - Mt 4:17,23

o His sermon on the mount - Mt 5:3,10,19-20; 6:10,33; 7:21

• Because “the kingdom of heaven” is such a prominent subject in the parables of Jesus (as well as His overall preaching)... It might serve a good purpose to preface our study of the parables with a careful look at what “the kingdom of heaven” means