SERMON OUTLINE 

Parables     

Matthew 13.10-17; 34-35; Mark 4.10-12; 33-34

Introduction

A parable is a story, proverb, riddle, comparison, contrast, that when told symbolizes a truth and in the case of the parables of Jesus the truths of the coming kingdom of God. The parables of Jesus are about the coming King, the kingdom of God, and behavior in the kingdom of God.

Circumstances Why Jesus Spoke in Parables

1) The Opposition of Jewish Leaders

-Mathew 9-12: Jesus forgives a man; eats with sinners; does not require fasting; does miracles; sends out the 12 with power to heal; breaks the Sabbath law; Matthew 12.14 “plotted how they might kill Jesus”. Mark 12.12

2) The Hard Hearts of the Crowds

-Hard hearts; ungodly leaders. Matthew 11.28-30

Explanation of the Parables Given to the Disciples

1) Given to them by God. Divine election. To those who have more, more is given. Matthew 13.11, 16-17

2) Mysteries revealed. Not secret knowledge but once unrevealed knowledge publicly revealed in God’s time. Ephesians 3.1-6 (Gentiles and Jews in one Church)

Reasons Why Jesus Spoke in Parables

1) To Conceal the Truth from Those who were Listening

-They did not recognize Jesus as the Messiah and could not understand the parables.

2) Because their Hearts were Hardened by Sin

-Principle of God allowing the sinful heart to be hardened by sin. Romans 1.18-32; 2 Thessalonian 2.9-12. A judgment on unbelief.

3) To challenge the crowds to think, having God’s Future Grace in Mind.

-Spoke in ways that they might one day understand.

-Did not force them to make a decision at that time

SERMON NOTES

Parables (1)     What are Parables and Why did Jesus Use Them? 

Matthew 13.10-17; 34-35; Mark 4.10-12; 33-34

-A parable is a story, proverb, riddle, comparison, contrast, that when told symbolizes a truth, and in the case of the parables of Jesus the truths of the coming kingdom of God. The parables of Jesus are about the coming King, the kingdom of God, and behavior in the kingdom of God.

-I want to begin this morning with Matthew 13.34-35. Here we are told that by this time in the ministry of Jesus, he is speaking and teaching the crowds using only parables. This was not always the case. In chapters 5 through 7 the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount was not given in parables but in plain direct teaching. It can be argued that the Sermon on the Mount was taught only to the disciples but it was taught in public among the crowds. Jesus had previously spoken parables but more as illustrations of what he was saying. By this time Jesus is publicly teaching the crowds only in parables and then explaining the parables to the disciples in private. So why the change in the teaching method of Jesus? Let me give you two reasons.

1) The opposition of the Jewish leaders to Jesus. In chapter 9 of Matthew we are told of a paralyzed man coming to Jesus for healing and how Jesus first forgives his sin before healing him to prove that he has the power to forgive sin. This was seen as blasphemy by the Jewish leaders. Then Jesus calls Matthew the tax collector to be a disciple and goes to his house to eat with tax collectors and sinners, which further angers the Jewish leaders. Then Jesus says that it is not necessary for the disciples to fast while Jesus is with them. Fasting was very important to the Jewish leaders who fasted twice a week. Jesus raises a girl from the dead, heals a woman who was bleeding for twelve years, heals two blind men, and casts the demon out of a mute man. By this time the Jewish leaders were saying that the power of Jesus was from the Devil and not from God. In chapter 10, Jesus sends out the twelve to preach in the surrounding towns with power to heal disease and cast out demons. Things are getting out of hand and the Jewish leaders are angry with Jesus. In chapter 12 we have two Sabbath incidents, the disciples eating grain while walking through grain fields and the healing of a man with a shriveled hand in the Synagogue. We are told in 12.14 that the Pharisees went out of the Synagogue and “plotted how they might kill Jesus”. So it was time for Jesus to start speaking in parables so that the Jewish leaders would no longer understand what he was teaching about himself and the kingdom of God. It was not time to fan the opposition that was growing towards him. The time would come when this opposition would lead to his crucifixion. Even by using the veiled language of parables the truth of what Jesus spoke was not completely hidden from the Jewish leaders for we are told in Mark 12.12 that in response to the parable of the Tenants, “They looked for a way to arrest Jesus because they knew he had spoken the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd; so they left him and went away”.

2) The hardness of the crowds who were listening to him. The people of Israel had rebelled against God for many years. Even the Babylonian captivity did not cure them of their rebellious sin against God even though it did cure them of idolatry. Also the people of Israel did not have godly and spiritual leaders to teach them how to have a relationship with God. The Jewish leaders led the people astray with many rituals and teachings of men which hardened men and women against God. That hard and difficult servitude to God taught by the Jewish leaders is what is behind the call of Jesus to “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light”. (Mathew 11.28-30) It was because of the hardness of the hearts of the crowds listening to Jesus that he spoke to them in parables. More about this later.

-So at this time in the ministry of Jesus he spoke to them in parables because of growing opposition from the Jewish leaders and also because of the hard hearts of the crowds who were listening to him.

-In Matthew 13.10 we see the disciples coming to Jesus, asking him, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?” The disciples did not understand why Jesus was speaking to the crowds only in parables and so they asked him to explain to them the reason why. Jesus’ answer is filled with insight into the Grace of God. His answer is found in verses 11 to 17.

-First of all Jesus tells the disciples that in spite of his public teaching in parables they will know what he is teaching. In verse 11 we read, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them”. This is a radical statement, a statement that many believers find hard to accept because it is saying that God decides who will know the secrets of the kingdom of God and who will not know the secrets of the kingdom of God. Here we come face to face with the teaching of Divine election. To the disciples that Jesus had chosen, God gave the privilege of knowing the secrets of the kingdom of God, but to the crowds God had not given that privilege.

-The word translated as “secrets” in the NIV is the Greek word “musteria” which is literally “mysteries”. In NT times the mystery religions were very popular. One of the most popular was Gnosticism. Those who were involved in the mystery religions received secret knowledge as they proceeded through the various levels of their religious training. A modern day equivalent would be the Masons with their secret knowledge and rituals only given to those initiated into the Masons with each rank receiving more secret knowledge. So the knowledge of the mystery religions was only for those who were initiated into that particular cult and not open to outsiders.

-This is not the meaning of what is called mysteries in the NT. A mystery in the NT is a truth of God that cannot not be known or reasoned out by man unless revealed to man by God. A mystery is a truth of God hidden for a time but which is to be eventually openly revealed to everyone when the time comes. Paul speaks in Ephesians 3.1-6 of a mystery that was revealed to him which he now teaches publicly for all to know, the mystery that the church is the joining together of Gentile and Jew into one body.

-In the case of the mystery revealed to the disciples it was that in the coming of Jesus, God was ushering into the world the promised kingdom of God. What was to one day come in Sovereign power and rule, what the Jews were looking for and expecting in the coming Messiah, was now quietly coming into the world among men. This mystery was slowly being revealed to the disciples who would be part of the process of ushering in the kingdom. To the crowds this mystery was revealed in parables which they would not grasp until God opened their minds and hearts to understand and believe. Let me remind you of the preaching of both John the Baptist and Jesus who said, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” The coming of the kingdom of God was the mystery of God now being revealed to the disciples.

-Jesus illustrates his statement in verse 11 with a short parabolic saying in verse 12, “Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him”. All that we have as believers comes from the Grace of God. Those who are under the Grace of God will be given more Grace as they come to God and receive from Him. “A man can receive only what is given him from heaven.” (John 3.27) Those who do not know the grace of God will end up with nothing but eternal separation from God. Eternal life, day to day blessings, power to live a holy life and love others, is a gift of God’s Grace and cannot be earned and is not deserved. Here is a warning to all of us. Use what God has given you and God will give you more. Neglect what you have and you will lose even what you already have.

-In verse 13-15 Jesus goes on to tell the disciples why he speaks to the crowds in parables. I want to put this under three headings.

1)  To conceal the truth from those who were listening. As we read in verse 11 the truth of the kingdom of God was to be concealed from the crowds through Jesus speaking to them in parables. Only to the disciples whom Jesus revealed himself did he explain the parables. The mystery revealed in the parables was that Jesus was the King and was bringing to earth the kingdom of God. Understanding the parables depended on recognizing Jesus as the Messiah and understanding that the kingdom of God was coming with Jesus. In the parables Jesus was speaking about himself and that he was coming to set up the kingdom of God. The crowds could not understand the parables until they recognized Jesus as the Messiah. In recognizing Jesus as the Messiah they would also understand that the parables taught about the coming of the kingdom of God. Knowing Jesus as the Messiah was the key to understanding the parables and the crowds were at this time blinded to that truth and the parables concealed for a time the teaching about Jesus as King and the coming of the kingdom of God.

-In the same way, Christianity can only be truly understood and experienced by the person who is born again and has spiritual life in Christ. With spiritual life comes insight into the truths of God. That spiritual life had not yet come to the crowds and so Jesus veiled his teaching of the kingdom by teaching them in parables.

2) Because their hearts were hardened by their own sin and rebellion. They hear but do not hear, and they see but do not see, and the reason is that their hearts have become calloused. (verse 15) Because of sin and disobedience to God the crowds have become insensitive to spiritual truth. Their hearts are hardened with calluses and they no longer have the ability to understand spiritual truth.

-I have met some wonderful, moral-living, lively people that when I began to speak to them about salvation in Jesus Christ lost all capacity to understand and became deaf and blind to God’s truth as I spoke to them. So were the crowds that Jesus spoke to.

-There is a principle in Scripture that God allows those who turn away from Him to be hardened by their sin. It is a judgment that men and women bring upon themselves by turning from God. When they turn away from God, God turns away from them and allows their sin to harden them and destroy them. We see this principle worked out in Romans 1 where men who can know the power and divine nature of God by looking at creation refuse to glorify and give thanks to God. As a result their thinking becomes futile and their foolish heart is darkened and they choose to serve gods of their own creation. We are told that as a result God gives them over to the desires of their heart to sexual impurity and perversions, and to all kinds of lies and a depraved mind. (1.18-32)

-In 2 Thessalonians 2.9-12, we have a description of the last days and the coming of the lawless one, the antichrist. “The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.” This verse tells us that it is God who sends them a powerful delusion so that they believe the lie because they did not believe the truth but delighted in wickedness.

-In veiling the truth of the coming kingdom by speaking to the crowds in parables, Jesus was pronouncing a judgment on their unbelief, a judgment that was brought upon them by their unbelief. Only the Grace of God could take away the callousness from their hearts and allow their eyes to see and their ears to hear, so they would understand and be saved.

3) To challenge the crowds to think, having God’s future Grace in mind. Not only are the parables a sign of God’s judgment upon a sin hardened people but they are also a sign of God’s mercy to them as well. Jesus spoke to the crowds in a way that they might one day understand, even though at present they did not understand. Jesus left the crowds with something they could think about and try to figure out so that in the future God might reveal to them who Jesus was and why Jesus came and they would then understand the teaching of Jesus in the parables. Had Jesus spoken to them in direct language they would have been forced to make a decision and reject Him as the Messiah. But speaking in parables gave the crowds time for reflection and possible future repentance and belief in Jesus. So we read in Mark 4.33, “With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand”. The parables were intended to reveal truth but did not reveal truth because their hearts were not in right relationship to God and they did not recognize Jesus as the Messiah. Here the parables provoked thinking with future hope in mind. For the moment the parables were interesting but pointless stories with no revelation of divine truth but the hope was that in the future after the resurrection of Jesus, God might soften their hearts and enable them to see and hear and understand who Jesus was and why He came.

–Verses 16 and 17 conclude Jesus’ explanation of why he speaks to the crowds in parables. Jesus renews his affirmation to the disciples that God has given them a great Grace and privilege in knowing the truth that he is the Messiah and that the kingdom of God is coming. The disciples did not understand the truth all at once but gradually as they continued to walk with Jesus they learned that Jesus was the Messiah and that he was ushering in the kingdom of God. [Mark 8.16-21 on the slow learning process of the disciples]

-Next week we will begin our study of some of the parables with a look at the parable of the Sower/Soils.