Sermon Preached at Grace Community Church (EPC)
Sun City Grand, Surprise, AZ
Sunday, January 31, 2010
by the Reverend Cooper McWhirter
“In a Manner of Speaking” [Introduction]
Matthew 13:10-17
Did you ever wonder why Jesus spoke so often in parables? Why didn’t He just come right out and say what was on His mind? And why use such a clever ruse? Was it to keep things hidden from us? No, of course not! “” … “May it never be!” Jesus made frequent use of parables so that we might better understand “the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven” [Matthew 13:11]. But in the interest of fairness, Jesus’ disciples were also curious for they, too, asked: “Why do You speak to them (meaning the multitudes) in parables?” [Matthew 13:10; Mark 4:10].
Through the use of parables Jesus was able to explain difficult subject matters in plain, simple terms. By referring to common, every day occurrences people of all ages, from the youngest to the oldest, could readily grasp what Jesus was saying to them. Thus, they could identify themselves with the storyline. Concerns such as: health, wealth and relationships were of particular importance to His audiences. However, the Lord also emphasized matters of eternal significance such as: life and death, heaven and hell, forgiveness and condemnation.
The word “parable” in the Greek [ pronounced para-bu-lays] is a compound word which literally means “to put things side by side.” And so a parable is when one story is placed alongside that of another story in such a way that the two stories run “parallel” to each other. But the key to understanding all forty-four of Jesus parables, of which four are repetitious, is grasping the “hidden” message behind the story; “the message behind the message” as it were!
As one carefully reads these forty-four parables, it becomes evident that Jesus used heightened allegory to bring clarity not confusion; illumination not cloudiness to unveil the underlying meaning. In fact Jesus used this stratagem so effectively that the Synoptic Gospels make frequent references to them. For instance, “Fourteen percent of Matthew’s entire gospel narrative is composed of Jesus’ parables, Mark contains seven percent, and the parables in Luke comprise eighteen percent.”
In these few verses Jesus reveals why … “In a Manner of Speaking” … He spoke in this way: And the first reason has to do with THE FULFILLMENT
OF PROPHECY (repeat).
Jesus’ use of storytelling was perhaps due in part to His humble upbringing. For He, too, became familiar with the struggles of the common man. In a word, He spoke their language and [He] shared their burdens.
But that was not the only reason why Jesus used stories which people could relate with. It goes back to a fulfillment of prophecy at the time of Isaiah’s commissioning. Isaiah describes this vision he had of the Lord who sat on a throne lofty and exalted and the train of His robe filled the temple.
And angels, called Seraphim, stood above Him with six wings; one pair covering his face, and another pair covering his feet and with the third pair of wings he flew. One angel called out to another and said, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty. The whole earth is full of His glory!” And the very foundations of the temple trembled with the voice who called out and the temple was filled with smoke and burning incense.
Upon seeing this majestic site, with the heavenly hosts about the Lord’s throne, Isaiah shuttered and said: “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts” [Isaiah 6:1-5].
Then one of the seraphim flew to the prophet’s side bringing a hot burning ember from the altar and he singed Isaiah’s lips signifying that his iniquities were expunged and his sins forgiven.
Isaiah was being commissioned to speak to God’s people for although they listened they did not perceive, and though they saw with their own eyes they did not understand because their hearts had become hardened. In a word, they had become dull-minded and insensitive to God’s Word. This accurately described the spiritual condition of these ancient Jews both in Isaiah’s day as well as seven hundred years later at the time of Christ’s first advent. Thus, a kind of dual prophecy was fulfilled both at the time of Isaiah’s commissioning and at the time of Jesus’ ministry here on earth.
Which brings us to the second reason why Jesus spoke in this manner: SO THAT OUR EARS MIGHT HEAR AND OUR EYES MIGHT SEE (repeat).
When Jesus’ disciples asked Him why He made use of parables, He told them there are mysteries regarding the kingdom of heaven which are so esoteric, so mind-boggling, as to be far above man’s comprehension. In spite of Jesus’ disciples having been exposed to many of these revelations, they, too, found it difficult to understand who Jesus was, and why He had come to earth. But just because there are things shrouded in mystery, this should not deter us from learning all that we can about the world around us and its impact upon the “unseen” world.
Jesus spoke about things of the natural realm in correlation to those things of the heavenly or ethereal realm. Jesus speaks of this parallelism where He said, “Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” [Matthew 16:19].
And this is what Jesus meant in verse 12 where He refers to two kinds of people. On the one hand, there are those who truly desire to know more about the truths of God, wherein Jesus assures ones such as these that all truth will be unveiled in due time. But, for those who remain unmoved and detached what little knowledge they have will be taken away.
Such a person was Pontius Pilate who asked Jesus “Are you a king?” And Jesus replied, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth” [John 18:37] to which Pilate exclaimed, “What is truth?” But Pilate did not wait for Jesus’ answer. Pilate neither knew, nor did he care about what this Man standing before him had to say. For if the truth be known, Jesus came to earth to reveal divine truth, so that all men might see or, at the very least, have an opportunity to see.
This brings us to the third reason why Jesus spoke in this manner, so that: WE MIGHT BE RESTORED AND HEALED (repeat).
One eminent scholar said that the Bible is written in “baby talk” so that the feeblest of minds and the simplest of hearts could understand that God came to save; and not to deceive.
And this is what is meant in verse 13 where Jesus says that it is impossible for man to comprehend the greatness of God and the vastness of His truths without drawing parallels. Walter Elwell, professor, author and Bible commentator, on speaking about the parables of Jesus once wrote: “Its purpose was to reveal just enough truth to raise intense curiosity, promising more if listeners went along, but also concealing enough of the truth so that the complacent would walk away uninspired.”
Dear ones, the wonders of creation performed by the heavenly Father, the redemptive work accomplished by His Son and the revelatory truths illuminated by the Spirit are within our grasp. Tragically, however, many, if not most, people prefer to remain blissfully ignorant. Whoever said that “ignorance is bliss” was a liar. The words of Paul in Romans 1:19, 20 remind us that man’s willful ignorance is no excuse for refusing to believe in God even though there are profound truths shrouded in mystery. The truths of God are all together undeniable and irrefutable!
Verses 15 through 17 speak of the possibility of people turning away from ignorance and towards reconciliation, restoration and forgiveness of sin which then ushers in “healing in His wings.” A casual reading of this text might cause one to think that Jesus was unsympathetic with our human condition, but nothing could be further from the truth.
Jesus came to us, to be like us, so that He could talk to us in our own language; yes, even in storybook form. The bible is written in such a way that in spite of the use of allegory, we can truthfully say: “My eyes have seen, my ears have heard and my heart and mind understands.”
Let us pray …
