Why Speak in Parables?
Mark 4:10-12
1) The Disciples’ Dilemma – v. 10
- Parables are like riddles – perplexing at first, but obvious once you know the meaning
- The disciples had difficulty understanding Jesus’ Parable of Soils and wondered why He taught people with this unusual method
2) The Rabbi’s Response – vv. 11-12
- Parables Reveal God’s Truth
- The ‘secret’ of God’s Kingdom, largely hidden in the Old Testament, has now been revealed to God’s elect people
- Jesus only provides the interpretation of this Parable to His disciples! (vv. 13-20)
- Parables Conceal God’s Truth
- Parables were an act of divine judgement against obstinate unbelief
- Quotation from Isaiah 6 – parallel between ministry of Isaiah and Jesus
- Jesus was unwilling to ‘cast pearls before swine’ – cf. Matt 7:6; John 9:39
- Gospel preaching reveals the true condition of the human heart – it will either reveal the regenerating work of the Spirit, or the hardness of unbelief caused by our sin.
- Parables were an act of divine judgement against obstinate unbelief
Application: We cannot understand or respond to truth about Christ apart from the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. Preaching about Christ and His Kingdom has a two-fold purpose – it either softens the heart or confirms the hardness that is already there. In either case God is glorified through the proclamation of His truth.
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