Smoodock's Blog

Why not tell it like it is? Why does Jesus speak in parables? Well, this was also Jesus’ disciples’ question (Matthew 13:10)! The answer may be surprising, because many believe Jesus’ parables were used to unveil hidden truths, difficult to understand. That isn’t quite true, but a good picture of something difficult to understand is better than no picture at all. Without a clear picture to show us that we don’t understand what we need to know, would probably be enough for us to avoid the thought completely. An undirected mind is lazy, and if we don’t know the thing in question, or know enough about the thing we need to know the natural response is to think about better things we’d like to set our hearts on.

The picture, or the parable in the study before us, provokes our thoughts, causing wonder that invites us to look at something from a different perspective, vis-à-vis we think we understand, but we don’t. For example, the Jews of Jesus’ day were looking for a Messiah who would never die. They’d rather believe he was an awesome general, who would lead them to victory after victory against their enemies. Nevertheless, Jesus wasn’t that kind of Messiah. He taught others to love their enemies (Matthew 5:44), and he was a Messiah who could die. Thus, he was not the kind of Messiah the Jews prepared themselves to receive (cp. John 12:32-34). What we don’t know would generally not come to mind without a clear picture of our limitations that provokes both thought and discussion. Therefore, Jesus spoke in parables to show us we don’t know what we think we know.

Sometime after Jesus had taught the people through parables, his disciples came to him and asked why he chose to teach in parables (Matthew 13:10). They may as well had asked why Jesus began teaching them parables, because neither did they understand the Parable of the Sower, which means, if they didn’t understand its terms, they wouldn’t be able to understand the meaning of any other parable (Mark 4:13)! So, the Parable of the Sower may be the most important parable, because it is key to understanding most, if not all, other parables.

Jesus began by telling his disciples that he taught in parables, because it was given them to understand the Gospel, but it wasn’t given to everyone. Does this mean that Jesus chose to hide the message of the Gospel for certain folks? No, I don’t believe this was Jesus’ intent.

When folks become obsessed with a certain viewpoint, no other point of view will matter. For example, according to the terms of Biblical morality, for all intents and purposes Christians should not become politically allied with Donald Trump’s quest for the Presidency of the United States. He is not what the Bible concludes is a good man. So, why do so many Christians, good Christians, align themselves behind Trump’s quest for the presidency?[1] It is because of the issue of abortion. Once one allows himself to be obsessed with or ruled by a single issue, he or she is no longer able to see any other perspective. They are driven by an idea and will align themselves with anyone, even an evil person, if that person will promise to fulfill their obsession. Put another way, “the end justifies the means.” Many good Christians, today, have taken the “bribe” of a promise from Donald Trump to pack the Supreme Court with conservative judges, hoping they would strike down the previous judgment of Roe v. Wade.

Thus, it isn’t that Jesus’ purpose hid the Gospel from the Jews at large as it was the Jews who rejected Jesus and refused to consider his point of view of who the Messiah really is in terms of the Kingdom of Heaven/God. They “closed” their eyes to Jesus’ preaching, and interpreted everything he said through the lens of the “messiah” given them by their teachers, who in the first century AD were the scribes and Pharisees.

Therefore, there is a danger also for those who understand that Jesus is the Messiah, because their perspective will be taken away from them, if they don’t repent of aligning themselves with their religious leaders who draw them away from Jesus and the Gospel. Those who do repent will be given much more than they thought they understood (Matthew 13:12; cp. 12:30). Knowledge will increase 30, 60 and 100-fold (Matthew 13:8). In other words, Jesus spoke to the people in parables because they don’t realize the consequences of their actions, just as Isaiah had predicted (Matthew 13:13-14). The hearts of the people had become hard, like the wayside in the parable, whereby their obsessions won’t permit them to consider anything other than their present worldview (Matthew 13:15). However, parables will create an impetus for discussion in hope of repentance. Nevertheless, the eyes/hearts of the disciples are blessed, in that they do consider a different perspective than what they’ve been taught (Matthew 13:11, 16). Indeed, many righteous folks prior to Jesus’ birth had desired with a strong desire to see and hear what Jesus’ disciples see and hear, but they couldn’t, because it wasn’t given (Matthew 13:17; cp. 1Peter 1:10-13). Thus, there is inestimable value in receiving the Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven

[1] This study of Matthew’s Gospel, up to and including chapter 19, was completed prior to the Presidential election in November of 2024.