Sermon 1
THE PARABLES OF JESUS
(Matt. 13:34-35; Mark 4:33-34)
“Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable. So it was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet: I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world!” (Matt. 13:34-35). “But when he was alone with his own disciples he explained everything.” (Mark 4:34).
Today we begin a study of the parables. In this introductory message I want us to think about two questions: (1) What Is A Parable? (2) Why Did Jesus Use Them?
I. WHAT IS A PARABLE?
(Matt. 13:34; Luke 4:23; John 10:6)
The Simile Parable:
Many years ago at the Southern Baptist Convention, a learned young preacher delivered a masterful argument as to why our local churches should have far less control over the workings of the various convention boards and agencies. He made a motion to that effect. A wise old country preacher stood up and said, “That all sounds pretty good, brother, and a lot of it makes sense, but you will never get Southern Baptists to ride a horse without a bridle.” He sat down. Then the motion was soundly defeated. One vivid word picture was far more powerful than debate.
The Story Parable:
One of Aesop’s Fables tells of a thirsty crow that wanted a drink of water from a pitcher. The water was too deep to reach. The crow thought of tipping it over but said the water would run out. He tried to punch a hole in the side but it was too hard. He fretted and fretted and almost flew away but he saw some stones and dropped them in the jar one by one until the water rose to the top. The lesson? There’s a way out of hard places if you have the wit to find them.
An Analogy From Daily Life:
These illustrations - one short and one long - tell us what a parable is. It is a picture from daily life. It is an illustration: it is an analogy, a comparison. The Greek word “PARA BOLE” literally means “to throw alongside”. You lay a good picture from daily life next to an abstract truth to make it come alive and to rivet it in the memory.
Illustration: For example, Jesus told the church at Sardis, “…you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead” (Rev. 3:1). The truth here is that activity in a church doesn’t always mean it is spiritually alive and helpful to the spiritual needs of people. One pastor put it this way - THE MOST ACTIVE THING IN A BARNYARD IS A CHICKEN WITH ITS HEAD CUT OFF. That’s a parable - a picture from daily life laid next to an abstract truth.
The Confusion Over Parables (Luke 4:23; 10:61):
This seems simple, and really it is, but nowhere have Bible scholars made the simple confusing more than in their teachings about Jesus’ parables. The confusion does begin with Scripture, however, because Scripture does not use the word parable in a precise way.
For example, the parable of the shepherd in John 10:1-6 is called a “parable” in the King James Version, but the word is “PAROIMIA”. What we call a PROVERB or SIMILE, like “Physician, heal yourself” (Luke 4:23), the Bible calls a parable.
The Allegory Parable (Matt. 13:3-23):
But scholars go far beyond this. They tell us a parable is NOT AN ALLEGORY. An allegory is a story where all the details have hidden meanings, like PILGRAM’S PROGRESS. Christians in the early centuries saw the parables primarily as allegories and came up with ridiculous interpretations. An example is THE GOOD SAMARITAN. Augustine made:
The Traveler - Lost man
Jerusalem - Heaven
The Thieves - Demons
The Passersby - The Old Testament
The Samaritan - Jesus
The Inn - The church
The Two Pence - The ordinances
You see how ridiculous this is. You miss the main question, “Who is my neighbor?” and you miss the answer, “Anyone in need.” But it is NOT right to say A PARABLE IS NEVER AN ALLEGORY. The parable of the sower and the four kinds of soil was just that (Matt. 13:3-23). And the same is true of the parable of the net (Matt. 13:47-50), the vineyard keeper (Mark 12:1-12), the marriage feast (Matt. 22:1-14) and the great supper (Luke 14:16-24). Explaining the parable of the sower Jesus called:
The Sower - A sharer of the word
The Seed - The Word of God
The Soils - Human hearts (People)
The Path - People with no interest
The Birds - Satan and his angels
The Rocks - People who can’t take persecution
The Weeds - People too busy for God
The Good Soil - People who accept the word
The Number of Truths:
This brings up another point. Scholars, afraid of the excesses of allegory, tell us A PARABLE HAS ONLY ONE TRUTH. We must keep the main truth in mind, but we all know a parable like The Prodigal Son has many truths…
Young people desire freedom.
Sinners despise authority.
Freedom often leads to bondage.
Fair-weather friends will leave us.
God welcomes us home.
God rejoices over repentance.
Duty Christianity alone is worthless.
Common Sense:
It may sound trite and simplistic but I believe we can handle the parables with common sense as we compare Scripture with Scripture and this will keep us from excess. For example, true Liberals, who reject the idea of Jesus having to die for us to be saved, as Paul teaches, use The Prodigal Son to prove Paul wrong.
All the Prodigal had to do, they say, was come home and ask for forgiveness. This misuse of the parable, which sets aside the other Bible teachings on HOW we come home to God, through Calvary, is indefensible. If we study the parables in their context and not allegorize them to prove our pet doctrines and not use them to tear down doctrines we don’t like, we will understand most of them and be blessed by them.
What is a parable? It is a simile (Proverb) or a story, taken from everyday life, laid next to an abstract truth to picture it so we can UNDERSTAND it better and REMEMBER it longer. Now for the second question - far more difficult than the first….
II. WHY DID JESUS USE PARABLES?
1. To Clarify (Matt. 13:34-35; Psalms 78:1-4):
Why did Jesus use parables? For the obvious reason - to make the truth crystal clear so people like you and me can understand it, believe it and obey it. Matthew says Jesus’ use of parables fulfilled Psalms 78:2. He quotes verse TWO but listen to its context:
O my people, hear my teachings; Listen to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter hidden things; things from of old. We will NOT HIDE them from their children, we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done. (Psalms 78: 1-2;4)
Good teachers use illustrations and Jesus was a master at it. Lord Tennyson’s son tells how his father and Robert Browning called Jesus’ parables, “Perfection beyond compare.” He took weddings, lost money, flowers, rain, snobbish people, selfish people, and even crooks, and made them windows into the heart of God.
2. To Condemn (Luke 8:10; Mark 4:34; Isaiah 6: 9-10):
But there is another reason He did it, a negative and ominous reason - to show us the closed minds and hearts of people who do not want to believe. When Jesus gave the allegory parable of the four soils (Matt. 13:3-23; Mark 4:3-25; Luke 8:5-18), the disciples were confused and asked him why he spoke in parables (Matt. 13:10) and what this parable meant (Luke 8:9). His answer was startling:
“The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that (He quotes Isaiah 6:9-10)… ‘though seeing they may not see; though hearing they may NOT UNDERSTAND.’ ” (Luke 8:10; See also Matt. 3:13f; Mark 4:11f).
Does this mean Jesus deliberately hid the truth? No. It means people have hardened , “calloused” hearts and minds (Matt. 13:15). Isaiah 6:10 says Isaiah closed the peoples’ eyes to the truth, but Matthew translated it “THEY have closed their eyes”.
Illustration:
If you and I look directly into the sun for a long period of time; the radiation can blind us. We can say, “God blinded us!” because He made radiation and He made the human eye susceptible to it. But we all know, by violating His laws we blinded ourselves.
The same is true of His spiritual laws. The Jews looked for signs and Jesus gave them sign after sign but they wouldn’t believe and Jesus quoted the Isaiah passage in John 12:40. Paul quoted it when the Jews wouldn’t believe his preaching (Acts 28:26-27). In both cases Paul and Jesus were trying to make the truth KNOWN.
Illustration:
If an artist criticizes the color tones of a sunset or a rose he condemns himself, not the sunset and not the rose. When men reject the plain truth they reveal the blind, rotten nature of their hearts. Just this week a national survey revealed that 60% of scientists in America do not believe in a Creator.
Illustration: An atheist told a little boy on his way to church “Son, I’ll give you five dollars if you show me where God is.” The little boy smiled and said, “Mister, I’ll give you fifty dollars if you show me where God AIN’T.” If you ever meet an atheist take him to a restaurant, buy him a good meal and then ask him if he believes there is a cook in the kitchen.
Billy Graham once he has met very few true atheists. Most who claimed this simply do not want God or anybody else telling them what they can and cannot do.
