To understand the parables Jesus taught, we first must go back earlier to Old Testament times. The prophet Isaiah, some seven hundred years before Christ, writes,
“Go and say to this people: “Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive” (Isaiah 6:9 ESV).
Time to growl? When we hear, wouldn’t we understand? When we see, wouldn’t we perceive? Surely we would be more perceptive – wouldn’t we have more sense?
Nestled between the parable of the sower and its explanation, Jesus gives us an insight and an answer. Why did Jesus speak in parables rather than just using straight-forward statements?
10 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11 And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:
‘You will indeed hear but never understand,
and you will indeed see but never perceive.
15 For this people’s heart has grown dull,
and with their ears they can barely hear,
and their eyes they have closed,
lest they should see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and understand with their heart
and turn, and I would heal them.’
16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17 For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it (Matthew 13:10-17 ESV).
Jesus uses the message of the prophet to craft an explanation to the disciples’ question, “Why do you speak in parables?” Our inclination is to define a parable as “an earthy story with a heavenly meaning.” We expect Jesus to reply that He teaches in parables to help us understand heavenly truths.
His response is much deeper than that. He speaks in parables because not everyone wants to hear. He used parables so that the hearts of those rejecting His words would not be hardened further. The same sun that softens the wax hardens the clay. The same gospel that humbles the heart of the honest seeker hardens the heart of the one who is clinging to their path of disobedience.
William Barclay wrote, “The parable conceals truth from those who are either too lazy or too blinded by prejudice to see. It reveals truth to him who desires truth; it conceals truth from him who does not wish to see the truth.” D.A. Carson states, “the parables spoke to the crowds do not simply convey information nor mask it, but challenge the hearers.”
Why do you speak in parables?
Because the secrets of the kingdom (τὰ μυστήρια τῆς βασιλείας) have been given to the disciples, but not to everyone. Μυστήρια (MYSTERIA) is the Greek word from which we derive the English “mystery.” Often the word contained a flavor of eschatology – what will God do in the future, how will He bring things on earth to an end?
But the Greek term can also reflect the idea of a secret. Something whispered, something shared but not equally. Ronald Dahl wrote, “And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places.” Benjamin Franklin said, “Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.” A secret is confidential speech.
The coming of the Messiah was not a secret to the Jewish people. All Jews looked forward to it. They longed for it. The longer their oppression the more vehement their passion. Who the Messiah would be was a Secret whispered by the prophets, insinuated by the inspired, hinted by preachers, referenced by rabbis.
In Psalm 94:9 the Psalmist writes, “Does he who fashioned the ear not hear?”
God crafted, fashioned the ear, both physically and spiritually. The physical inner ear is made up of what is called a hammer-and-anvil and a stirrup. When sound comes to the ear through the trumpet, the hammer starts tapping the anvil, and at once the nerves set to work and send the sounds down to the true ear, which is immersed in fluid. As soon as the ear-trumpet brings the sound to the drum, and the drum transmits it to the fluid, thousands of telephones are at work – in fact, in a rightly constructed ear there are as many telephones as there are sounds in the universe.
When these come into action, then the mind hears. All this happens before we become aware of a sound. It is not only a delicate instrument, but you must be very careful about what goes into the ear. What enters into the ear enters into the mind, the brain, and proceeds to the heart and the spirit.
When I was in high school, I played saxophone in a garage band. There were three guitars – a lead, an acoustic and a bass. There was a keyboardist. There was a percussionist. And there was me. Some sang lead at times. When I wasn’t making noise with the woodwind instrument, I would make noise with my voice. We played popular music of the day – the music of the early seventies.
We were a garage band because that was the only venue we ever played. A garage. His garage. My garage. No one paid us to play, though I am betting that a few would have paid us to stop playing.
I played my heart out on the saxophone.
And my ears.
I stood in front of amplifiers and speakers as we practiced in a garage that would house one car, occasionally two. Wailing guitar licks. Take your drum and beat it interludes. Blasting chords on the keys. Screaming voices through the microphones. We were making the music ring.
Today my ears are doing the ringing.
We spend our lives standing in front of the amplifiers and speakers of the world.
The world is not a friend to grace. A person making a commitment to Christ is the salmon swimming upstream. The river flows antagonistic to the flow of grace. Self-centered thoughts stream on the left. Harsh and bitter attitudes are on the right. The current gushes, the temperature chills and churns. Pelted with unforgiveness, gossip, malice, mayhem, our swim becomes treacherous, tiring, and treasonable.
The noise of every generation is a new noise, a new sound, a new form. Different beats. Changing rhythms. Ordinarily the world is not openly hostile to faith. But the sound does not go away. It does not cease. Puzzled disapproval. Attitudes of indifference. Accusations of intolerance. Constant. Formidable. Surprising.
The clash of contemporary ugliness with timeless beauty is deafening.
Spend time on the way, but don’t make it The Way. Don’t go too fast. Convenient rest stops. Plenty of places to eat. Sights to see. Places to sleep. Don’t try to drive too far tonight. Satan doesn’t have to convince you to disown your faith. All he needs to do is convince you that choosing to follow God is no different than choosing where you go to eat after church.
Italian today. Burgers next week. It’s just a choice.
Follow God today. But when a different choice comes along – a choice with a little pizzazz, a little excitement, a little adventure, a little pleasure – well, you can’t eat spaghetti for every meal, right? He who has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches. No matter how hard we try, we cannot escape the world’s ringing in our ears. And somehow we are drawn to stand as close to the speakers as we possibly can.
“Oh I hear God fine. I just can’t always make out what He’s saying.”
That’s why Jesus told parables.
Here is a chronological table of the parables of Jesus. The parables are primarily found in the synoptic Gospels. The gospel of John contains extended allegories, but no specific parables.
| Parable | Matthew | Mark | Luke |
| Two debtors | Luke 7:40-43 | ||
| Strong man | Matthew 12:29 | Mark 3:27 | Luke 11:21-22 |
| Unclean spirit | Matthew 12:43-45 | Luke 11:24-26 | |
| Sower | Matthew 13:3-9, 18-23 | Mark 4:3-9, 14-20 | Luke 8:5-8, 11-15 |
| Tares & wheat | Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 | ||
| Mustard seed | Matthew 13:31-32 | Mark 4:30-32 | Luke 13:18-19 |
| Seed growing | Mark 4:26-29 | ||
| Leaven | Matthew 13:33 | Luke 13:20-21 | |
| Hid treasure | Matthew 13:44 | ||
| Pearl | Matthew 13:45-46 | ||
| Draw net | Matthew 13:47-50 | ||
| Servant | Matthew 18:21-35 | ||
| Good Samaritan | Luke 10:29-37 | ||
| Friend at midnight | Luke 11:5-8 | ||
| Rich fool | Luke 12:16-21 | ||
| Fig tree | Luke 13:6-9 | ||
| Great supper | Luke 14:15-24 | ||
| Lost sheep | Matthew 18:12-14 | Luke 15:3-7 | |
| Lost coin | Luke 15:8-10 | ||
| Prodigal son | Luke 15:11-32 | ||
| Unjust steward | Luke 16:1-8 | ||
| Rich man & Lazarus | Luke 16:19-31 | ||
| Profitable servants | Luke 17:7-10 | ||
| Widow | Luke 18:1-8 | ||
| Pharisees & publicans | Luke 18:9-14 | ||
| Laborers | Matthew 20:1-16 | ||
| Pounds | Luke 19:11-27 | ||
| Two sons | Matthew 21:28-32 | ||
| Wicked servants | Matthew 21:33-44 | Mark 12:1-12 | Luke 20:9-18 |
| Marriage | Matthew 22:1-14 | ||
| Ten virgins | Matthew 25:1-13 | ||
| Talents | Matthew 25:14-30 |