The greeting. Grace to you in the name of Christ, our Lord and our Savior and our Life.
The prayer. Let’s open our time this morning in prayer. Please pray with me – pray.
The subject. Today I want to begin a new series looking at the parables of the Lord Jesus.
Depending on how you divide or classify them that will dictate the total number of parables that Christ taught.
I have seen men give the list as high as 60, one fellow at 46, and then others at 36. I have come up with 33.
There is a well known list worth examining by David Brown of Jamieson (Robert – 1802-1880), Fausset (Andrew – 1821-1910) & Brown (David – 1803-1897) commentary on the whole Bible.
For my purposes I think we will study somewhere between twenty-one to twenty-four of Christ’s parables. Today will be an introduction to the idea of parables and Jesus’ use of them.
The learners. Let’s begin with few words of application regarding the use of commentaries on the Bible, as I just mentioned one such commentary.
Study the perfect word. First, we ought to read Scripture for ourselves. (Acts 17:11, Isa.8:20)
The Bible and the Bible alone are the inspired word of God, faultless and perfect. And the Bible and the Bible alone are our only rule for religious doctrine and religious or moral practice.
Listen to what Paul tells pastor Timothy about the holy Scripture.
2 Timothy 3:14. You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, 15 and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
Use sound teachers. However, this does not mean that as Bible believing Christians, we reject all Bible commentaries or Bible studies. In fact, I am teaching one such Bible study now. (side note: sola (alone) Scriptura does not mean solo (only) Scriptura, see article in Table Talk Magazine).
The Bible says that God has gifted certain men to understand and to teach the Scriptures.
Ephesians 4:7. But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore it says, “WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH, HE LED CAPTIVE A HOST OF CAPTIVES, AND HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN.” 9 (Now this expression, “He ascended,” what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.) 11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. (Titus 2:7-8, James 3:1-2, 2 Tim.2:15, Rom.12:6-7, Mt.28:20)
So, it is also helpful to make use of the wisdom of sound Bible teachers but check everything against the Bible for yourself.
But we should choose our Bible teachers with great care.
Use proven orthodox teachers. I like to go with the older men, like the English Puritans, or the magisterial reformers like Calvin and Zwingli and so on.
Use reformed confessional teachers. And I often like to go with men that are Reformed confessional Christian ministers, holding to the Westminster Standards or the Three Forms of Unity.
Use ordained ministers. And I stress the office of minister, because that means that these men are tested men, schooled men, and men under authority. And this is so to a greater degree I know what kind of teacher I am getting.
I myself don’t often read religious laymen as Bible guides. Not that a laymen can’t be correct or insightful, I just don’t have unlimited time to determine his level of soundness. So, for safety sake I go with the fellows that I have mentioned.
Understand the differences. Also, regarding the difference in parable count among different men, we learn that true Christians that equally study the word of God can and do differ on a great many doctrines and practices that they believe the Bible teaches.
The differences can be for a number of reasons.
Someone could be right, and the other person may be wrong.
And in the case of say one man saying there are 46 parables of Christ, and another man saying that there are 36 parables, often the difference will come down to how one defines a parable.
So, there may actually be very little difference ultimately on a given doctrine or practice.
Please the Master. Again, let’s test everything against the Scripture for ourselves.
And let’s be gracious to our brothers who differ. They may be correct, and we may be wrong.
And we might both really agree in substance. Let’s be Bereans. Let’s be gracious Bereans. Do all your Bible study to grow in Christ and thus to please Christ.
The scripture. Now to get into our subject, I have chosen Matthew chapter thirteen; here Jesus gives the purpose of why He (often) taught using parables.
Matthew 13:9. He who has ears, let him hear.” 10 And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” 11 Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. 12 “For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. 13 “Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 “In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, ‘YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE; 15 FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL, WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES, OTHERWISE THEY WOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES, HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.’ 16 “But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. 17 “For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
The doctrine. Today’s lesson will be an introduction into the subject of parables.
The definition of a parable. Let’s look at the definition of the word parable.
The Greek word is para-boh-lay. (παραβολή)
This word literally means placing besides, along the idea of placing two or more objects next to one another, usually in order to make a comparison.
The Hebrew word for parable is mashal, it means relatively the same thing, a non-literal saying, like a proverb that makes a comparison between two things.
Let me give an example from the book of Proverbs.
Proverbs 26:7. Like the legs which are useless to the lame, So is a proverb in the mouth of fools. 8 Like one who binds a stone in a sling, So is he who gives honor to a fool.
Usually, a parable is an imaginary or fictitious story, but taken from events that occur in everyday life, for the purpose of teaching and or illustrating higher spiritual truth.
So, the elements of a parable are not mythological or fantastical, but things agreeable to the ordinary events of life, ordinary secondary means. (see WCF 5)
For example, lost sheep in the place of lost people. A shepherd goes seeking the lost sheep, just like Jesus goes seeking lost people. (Mt.18:10-14, Lk.15:1-7)
In this way a parable is similar to a simile or a similitude.
A simile is a comparison of two things that are ordinarily dissimilar, using the words like or as. For example, as a Christian you are like salt and like light to a dying and dark world. (Mt.5:13-16)
Now a metaphor is another figurative expression comparing two things, where one thing stands for the other thing. The Pearl of Great Price stands for Christ. (Mt.13:45-46)
Admittedly these two figures of speech to my mind are very close to one another. And we get the general idea.
For my purposes in this study, I am not concerned about being so precise regarding the classification of the figurative language. But I thought it might be helpful to touch on this a little bit at the beginning of our series.
So, a parable is a short metaphorical narrative or a story, not literal. Though the earthly figures are meant to teach a literal or a specific religious truth.
For example, the kingdom of God has wheat and tares growing side by side, only separated when the harvest comes. (Mt.13:24-30) The literal spiritual truth is that true Believers and false professors live in the same church, and we will only be perfectly (and eternally) separated by Christ in the eternal estate.
This is where we get that common definition of a parable as an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. And this is exactly correct.
The Old Testament use of parables. Obviously, Jesus Christ did not invent the use of parabolic language to convey religious truth.
There were parables used in the Old Testament, though not often. I think parabolic teaching was employed eleven to twelve times in the Old Testament. I will list eleven places in my notes. Again, the precise number is based on what you count as a parable.
(Balaam – Num.23:24, Jotham – Jdg.9:7-15, Samson – Jdg.14:14, Nathan – 2 Sam.12:1-4, Woman of Tekoah – 2 Sam.14:1, a prophet – I Kg.20:35-40, Jehoash – 2 Kg.14:9, Isaiah – 5:1-6, Ezekiel – Ezek.17:3-10, 19:2-9, 24:3-5)
But let’s read just one of them, from Isaiah, very well known.
Isaiah 5:1. Let me sing now for my well-beloved A song of my beloved concerning His vineyard. My well-beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill. 2 He dug it all around, removed its stones, And planted it with the choicest vine. And He built a tower in the middle of it And also hewed out a wine vat in it; Then He expected it to produce good grapes, But it produced only worthless ones. 3 “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, Judge between Me and My vineyard. 4 “What more was there to do for My vineyard that I have not done in it? Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes did it produce worthless ones? 5 “So now let Me tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard: I will remove its hedge and it will be consumed; I will break down its wall and it will become trampled ground. 6 “I will lay it waste; It will not be pruned or hoed, But briars and thorns will come up. I will also charge the clouds to rain no rain on it.”24 Does the farmer plow continually to plant seed? Does he continually turn and harrow the ground? (maybe also Isaiah 28:25-29)
Notice with Isaiah he uses agricultural figures to teach spiritual truths to agricultural people. Christ often does the same.
The New Testament usage of parables.
Who – Only Christ uses parables. Interestingly, the only person in the New Testament to use parabolical language to teach is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
Though some of the epistles do contain use of similes. And certainly, John uses symbolic language in the book of Revelation, though no parables.
Where – Only used in the Synoptic gospels. Another interesting note about the use of parables is that they are only contained in the synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. There are no parables in the gospel according to John.
Most parables are recorded in Matthew and in Luke, Mark has the fewest.
Matthew contains 23 parables, 11 of these parables are only found in Matthew.
Luke records 24 parables, 16 to 18 are unique to Luke, depending how you count. I will give the 16 unique list.
1) The two debtors (Luke 7:41), 2) The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30–37), 3) The three loaves (Luke 11:5–8), 4) The rich man’s meditation (Luke 12:16–21), 5) The watching servants (Luke 12:36–38), 6) The barren fig tree (Luke 13:6–9), 7) The guests (Luke 14:7–11), 8) The tower (Luke 14:28–30), 9) The king going to war (Luke 14:31), 10) The lost coin (Luke 15:8–9), 11) The prodigal son (Luke 15:11–32), 12) The unjust steward (Luke 16:1–9), 13) The rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19–31), 14) The servant’s duty (Luke 17:7–10), 15) The importunate widow (Luke 18:2–5), 16) The Pharisee and tax-gatherer (Luke 18:10–14).
Mark contains 6 to 8 parables, I believe only one is unique to Mark, the parable of the growing seed. (Mk.4:26-29, 13:32-37)
When – Only after Israelitish rejection. There are some theologians that argue that Jesus preached most of His parables after the religious leaders of Israel rejected Him. (Mt.12:22-45) Though I have read some men that debate this idea.
If this is accurate it could help us understand Jesus when He tells His disciples that He uses parables as a form of judicial hardening against unbelieving and unrepentant Israel. (Mt.13:10) More on this later.
The interpretation of parables. Let’s mention a few basic principles for the interpretation of the parables.
Look for the ordinary. First, this may seem a bit oxymoronic, but one of the key things with a parable is that they do not (really) need interpretation or much interpretation.
The very idea of a parable is that the ordinary language and events in the narrative are so readily understood that the meaning should be grasped.
Look for the heavenly. Also, the people hearing Christ teach them in parables also understood that He as a religious Teacher was teaching them religious truth.
So, they knew (or should have known) that Christ wants His audience to see the connection of the ordinary physical things to the spiritual truths.
In other words, the hearers are to look for the spiritual meaning.
Look for the scriptural language. Related to this, when Christ gave parables to a Jewish audience, and spoke for example about the vineyard and the owner of the vineyard looking for good fruits, the Jewish audience should have recognized the common agricultural figures already used by God in the Old Testament. (Isa.5:1-6)
And thus applied the spiritual symbolism used in the Old Testament to Christ’s parabolic language.
Look for the context. Obviously, the context of each parable is going to determine the basic idea of the parable.
And for context we mean who are the people that Christ is speaking to when He delivers the parable, what is the time or the occasion, are they at the sea or the mountainside, or at the temple at a feast.
Look for the directive. And often Jesus Himself and or the divine inspired writer of the gospel account will give interpretive directives in the parable itself.
Let me use one famous parable to see if we can find where the Bible itself gives us directions on how to discover the spiritual meaning. Let’s read Luke 18:9-14.
Luke 18:9. And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and viewed others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 “The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 ‘I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ 13 “But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ 14 “I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Look for the central point. Another rule of interpreting parables that I was taught in seminary was to try to understand the main elements of the parable and not to try to give spiritual significance to each and every physical element of the story.
Usually, a parable has one central point, but this does not mean that each parable only teaches one truth. There may be two or three related truths associated with the one central idea.
Look for the contrasts. Now related to this one main point idea is that Jesus usually makes a contrast between two people and related to the two people, two spiritual truths.
For example, Christ in Luke 15 contrasts two types of lost sinners, the younger brother is the libertine, and the older brother is the legalist.
So, when we study the parables, we are trying to find out the two contrasting persons and principles, the righteous, the sinner, the good and the evil, that kind of an idea.
The purpose of parables. Now let’s consider why Jesus sometimes taught in parables. And it is helpful for us to acknowledge the “sometimes” part. Jesus did not always preach or teach via parables.
But there are a number of purposes to Christ’s use of parables.
To fulfill prophecy. The first use of parables is to fulfill Scripture prophecy that Jesus is the Christ.
Matthew 13:33. He spoke another parable to them, “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until it was all leavened.” 34 All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and He did not speak to them without a parable. 35 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: “I WILL OPEN MY MOUTH IN PARABLES; I WILL UTTER THINGS HIDDEN SINCE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD.”
This is a quote from Psalm 78:2.
Psalm 78:1. A Maskil of Asaph. Listen, O my people, to my instruction; Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. 2 I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old, 3 Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us. 4 We will not conceal them from their children, But tell to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, And His strength and His wondrous works that He has done.
To conceal truth from the non-elect unbeliever and to reveal truth to the elect Believer. The next stated reason why Jesus teaches in parables is a bit harder for us to understand and I would argue perhaps even to receive.
Jesus has two different purposes for His parabolic teaching for two different persons.
Matthew 13:9. He who has ears, let him hear.” 10 And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” 11 Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. 12 “For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. 13 “Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 “In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, ‘YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE; 15 FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL, WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES, OTHERWISE THEY WOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES, HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.’ (Lk.8:9-10, Mk.4:10-12)
Matthew 15:11. After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, “Hear and understand. 11 “It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.” 12 Then the disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?” 13 But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted. 14 “Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
Thus, Christ uses parables as divine concealing from some and a divine revealing to others. (see WCF 3.1-8)
Parables teach the truth of election for some and reprobation for the rest. (Rom.9:6-29, I Pt.2:6-10)
Paul says the same gospel of salvation is to one person the stench of death, and to another person it is the aroma of life. (2 Cor.2:15-17)
Like that, Jesus uses the parables to draw in the elect, and He uses the parables to judge the non-elect.
Now God does not have to do anything to the unbeliever to make them an unbeliever. All natural men are born fallen in Adam. God can just leave a person in their unbelief, and then they will always reject God in Christ. (Rom.8:7)
God then judges some that already do not want to believe in Christ. Remember these parables are actually not that hard to figure out. Sometimes we see that even the enemies of Christ that rejected the parable, they actually understood the parable. (Mk.12:12, Lk.20:19)
Matthew 21:43. Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it. 44 “And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.” 45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them. 46 When they sought to seize Him, they feared the people, because they considered Him to be a prophet.
So, this parable rejection by these Jesus rejecters is moral hardness and not intellectual dullness.
The (rejected) parable becomes God’s means of further hardening these hard-hearted sinners. (Exod.4:14, 7:3-4, 9:12)
Their rejection of Christ’s parables will add to their just condemnation. (Mt.13:13-15, Rom.9:19-24)
One man says this can be seen not as a hardening of purpose, but a hardening of consequence.
In other words, the parable does not “make” the unbeliever into an unbeliever. But the rejected parable does make the non-elect Jesus-rejecter even harder in their enmity against God.
Calvin says,
When the word of God blinds and hardens the reprobate, as this takes place through their own depravity, it belongs truly and naturally to themselves, but is accidental, as respects the word.
The lesson here is that divine truth unimproved hardens. (Lk.12:48, WLC 151)
To make our calling and election certain. Then God blesses others that He desires to know Him, and the parable (received) is God’s means of enlightening and drawing and strengthening. (Acts 13:48, Acts 16:14, Phil.1:29)
God through the apostle Paul puts this truth this way,
Romans 9:6. But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; 7 nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants, but: “THROUGH ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS WILL BE NAMED.” 8 That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants. 9 For this is the word of promise: “AT THIS TIME I WILL COME, AND SARAH SHALL HAVE A SON.” 10 And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac; 11 for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls, 12 it was said to her, “THE OLDER WILL SERVE THE YOUNGER.” 13 Just as it is written, “JACOB I LOVED, BUT ESAU I HATED.” 14 What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be! 15 For He says to Moses, “I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION.” 16 So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH.” 18 So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.
Thus, understanding Christ’s parables is one way that a person has his or her election made sure to them, or not. (2 Pt.1:10-11, read WCF 3.1-8) This works to our assurance of being in an estate of grace, or of salvation.
That concludes our introductory study.
Next time together we will look at the parable of the two debtors in Luke 7:39-50.
Let’s close in prayer – pray.
Study Questions.
- For a Christian what is our sole authoritative rule or guide for religious truth and practice? Why is this our sole rule? What does having this sole rule require of us? (2 Tim.3:14-17, Jn.17:17, I Pt.2:2, James 1:21-22, I Thess.2:13, WCF 1.1)
- Can we use commentaries on the Bible and or Bible studies to help us understand the Bible? Why or why not. (Eph.4:7-13, Titus 2:7-8, James 3:1-2, 2 Tim.2:15, Rom.12:6-7, Mt.28:20, I Tim.3:1-2)
- If God does approve of us using Bible studies by Bible teachers what are some practical things we should look for in a Bible teacher and or some things for which we should avoid? Hint: what is a proven orthodox teacher, what is a reformed confessional teacher, what is an ordained minister-teacher? (2 Tim.1:13, James 3:1-2, I Tim.2:12, 2 Tim.4:1-5, see WLC 158-160)
- What does the word parable mean? Give an example of a parable in the Scripture and identify the parabolic term(s) and then give the intended teaching of it. (Mt.18:10-14, Lk.15:1-7)
- What is a simile and what is a metaphor? Give examples. (Mt.5:13-16, Mt.13:45-46)
- How many times do we find parabolic language in the Old Testament? Give some examples. (Balaam – Num.23:24, Jotham – Jdg.9:7-15, Samson – Jdg.14:14, Nathan – 2 Sam.12:1-4, Woman of Tekoah – 2 Sam.14:1, a prophet – I Kg.20:35-40, Jehoash – 2 Kg.14:9, Isaiah – 5:1-6, Ezekiel – Ezek.17:3-10, 19:2-9, 24:3-5)
- In the New Testament who is the only person to teach with parables? What does this imply regarding the teacher of the parables? (Jn.1:1,14, Dt.18:15-19, Mt.13:13-14)
- In what books of the New Testament do we find the parables? Which book has the most parables? Which book has the least parables?
- What are seven things to look for in order to rightly interpret the parables?
- What are the four purposes of the parables? Explain each purpose in your own words or with a Scripture quote. (Mt.13:33-35, Psalm 78:1-4, Mt.13:9-15, Lk.8:9-10, Mk.4:10-12, Mt.15:11-14, Rom.9:6-29, I Pt.2:6-10, 2 Pt.1:10-11, read WCF 3.1-8)
Comments are closed