Jesus once told his disciples to neither give what is holy to dogs (irreligious people) nor to cast their pearls before swine (religious people with closed minds), because neither group would appreciate their offerings. Instead, they might use what was given them to hurt the disciples (Matthew 7:6). The fact is, this is exactly the position Jesus had taken when he began teaching in parables. The word of God wasn’t appreciated by either the Jewish authorities nor by the people. Both groups showed they had no real value for what Jesus’ preached, and on more than one occasion the religious authorities tried to do harm to Jesus, if not kill him (Luke 4:28-29; 6:11; Matthew 12:14-15). Moreover, since the people were easily intimidated by the Jewish authorities, they also refused to confess him (Matthew 12:23-24; cf. John 9:18-22).
In several earlier studies I have demonstrated that Jesus began speaking in parables to the people, because of their unbelief. They were spiritually blind, and Jesus didn’t wish to disturb that blindness for several reasons. First of all, God values human freedom, so he won’t impose himself upon man in a manner that takes away that freedom. He will judge us for our unbelief, but only after sending believers to call for repentance. Folks then have a choice, believe or don’t believe, but the choice is always theirs. Secondly, Jesus spoke in parables, because of an obvious threat to his life, if he didn’t curb his manner of preaching (Luke 4:28-29; 6:11; Matthew 12:14-15). Jesus came into the world to offer his life as a ransom for mankind (Matthew 20:28), but this was not to occur before its time. Jesus had a Gospel to preach to those who had “ears to hear” (Matthew 13:9), and he couldn’t do that, if he was prematurely put to death. Therefore, he spoke only in parables to those who would not receive him (Matthew 13:34).
Matthew gives us another reason for Jesus speaking in parables:
That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world. (Matthew 13:35)[1]
Matthew is quoting from Psalm 78:2, telling us that in Jesus’ parables are the secrets of the Kingdom of God that haven’t been told mankind since Adam’s rebellion. In other words, we have two bookends, which we discover in Matthew 13, and they tell us why Jesus spoke in parables. On the one hand he uttered parables to keep from disturbing the self-imposed spiritual blindness of the Jewish authorities and the masses. On the other hand, Jesus spoke in parables in order to utter the mysteries of the Kingdom of God, secrets now being revealed to those “who have ears to hear” that hadn’t been told, since man was in the Garden of Eden!
In other words the parables are the treasuries of God’s word, an inheritance for the saints who need to be careful in the use of their inheritance. When Jesus saw the people rejected the truth, he hid the truth from them (Matthew 13:3, 10-11, 34), because the treasure is only for those who have “ears to hear” (Matthew 13:9). When unbelievers began to speak evil of the Gospel, Paul left them to themselves and took the believers elsewhere (Acts 13:35-36; 18:6; 19:9). This seems to have some significance for how we work out the truth through apologetics, both in house and as an outreach. In proving the truth to others we need to be sensitive toward the sincerity of those who oppose us, while rejecting those who oppose us without reason or for the sake of being contrary.
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[1] The phrase “foundation of the world” seems to point to creation, but I believe this is a poor rendering of katabole (G2602) which is rendered foundation in most places where it is found in the New Testament. Rather I believe it refers to Adam’s rebellion, and should be rendered breakup or overthrow of the world. My reasoning can be found in a previous study, The Overthrow of the World. It is to this theocracy, before Adam’s rebellion, that Peter refers as the “restitution of all things” in Acts 3:21.
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