When we think back on our spiritual training as pertaining to parables, we all have a mindset developed in our mind from that which we have heard. This would be a good time to Pause and say out loud that which is in our mind as to why we think Jesus spoke in parables. Selah!
For many years and even now, we have heard our favorite Bible teachers who have explained that the word “parable” is a transliteration from the Greek word “parabole” into English.
This word is #3850 parabole (par-ab-ol-ay'); from 3846; a similitude ("parable"), i.e. (symbol.) fictitious narrative (of common life conveying a moral)
The KJV translates this word as: comparison, figure, parable, or proverb.
The root is #3846 paraballo (par-ab-al'-lo); from 3844 and 906; to throw alongside, i.e. (reflexively) to reach a place, or (figuratively) to liken:
Our teachers have given the definition of parable as: A story that one can easily understand with the natural mind, which is laid down alongside a more difficult to understand spiritual principal, which allows the spiritual truth to be conveyed into the mind and understanding through comparison to the natural story.
That definition seems to have stuck with us for many, many years and we have probably passed to others this definition, when discussing or teaching the scriptures.
We actually have this question posed to the Jesus by His disciples and the answer Jesus gave His disciples may not fit well into our understanding of why Jesus spoke in parables.
When Jesus first sent His disciples out He told them to go only to the house of Israel and not to go unto the Gentiles. This period of time is covered through chapter twelve of Matthew. Jesus and His disciples only preached to the children of Israel.
Matt 10:5 These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:
6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.
In Matthew twelve we see the end result of the house of Israel as they reject Jesus to the point of accusing Him of being in league with the Devil’s prince Beelzebub in His casting out demons.
Matt 12:22 Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spoke and saw.
23 And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David?
24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.
25 And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:
26 And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?
27 And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges.
28 But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.
This total rejection by the Pharisees caused Jesus to take a turn in His ministry. Matthew 13 starts off with a subtle but highly important statement. Jesus left the house of Israel and turned to the gentiles. This is the time when Jesus began to speak in parables and it even caught the disciples off guard.
Matt 13:1 The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.
2 And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.
3 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;
Up to this point in His ministry, Jesus had not used parables! After this point, Jesus only spoke in parables. This brought about the question of this writing.
Matt 13:10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
15 For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
Say What? Jesus came to His own and His own received Him not! After the children of Israel would not see with their eyes and hear with their ears and choose to understand with their heart all that Jesus taught them, Jesus cut them off from His ministry! From that time Jesus only spoke to them in public in parables so the children of Israel, who rejected His preaching, could not see with their eyes and could not hear with their ears and could not understand with their heart because if they did, then they would be converted and Jesus would heal them. This is heavy stuff!
Most likely this scripture is stating clearly just the opposite of that which we have heard in most churches and ministries. These are some very serious scriptures to which we should give our utmost attention. They rejected Jesus to the point that Jesus cut them off from His ministry.
Jesus quotes the OT scripture from Isaiah chapter 6. This is a double prophecy. The children of Israel did not listen to Isaiah in his day just as they did not listen to Jesus in His day.
Isa 6:8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.
9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.
We see that the children of Israel did not obey the prophecy of Isaiah in his day and they did not obey the preaching of Jesus and His disciples in the day of their visitation and Jesus cut them off from His ministry. This is serious!
From the scriptures, we also know that one of the last things Jesus did before going to the cross was to pronounce blindness upon the nation of Israel. As Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the donkey, Jesus held them accountable for not knowing the day of their visitation.
Luke 19:39 And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples.
40 And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.
41 And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it,
42 Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.
Jesus would have gathered them but they would not be gathered to Jesus.
Matt 23:37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
39 For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
In Romans 11 Paul mentions the blindness of Israel and we will notice that there will be a fullness to the time of the gentiles and then God will again work with the children of Israel. Jesus went from the children of Israel to the gentiles in Matthew 13. God moves from the end of the gentile period back to the children of Israel after the church age.
Rom 11:25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in.
In 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 Paul is explaining about the man of sin, who we call the Antichrist, but notice a couple of similarities with the scriptures we have examined in the above content.
II Th 2:6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
From the scriptures, we can see people in the Old Testament times and in the New Testament times and even in the times after the gentile times, being blinded or being sent strong delusion. Why did that happen? They received not the love of the Truth!
The real kicker here is who is doing the blinding and who sends the strong delusion? The Lord Jesus Christ and God the Father! Oh wow, does this challenge churchology!
If we have eyes to see this and ears to hear this and we gain true understanding in our heart, then we might need to reexamine the scripture in 2nd Corinthians 4.
2 Cor 4:3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
The scripture does not say that Satan is the god of this world. Most church teachings just insert the Devil into this passage.
After examining the above scriptures, should we conclude that Jesus Christ is the God of this world and He is the one that does the blinding of those who have rejected the light of the glorious gospel?
Grace and Peace multiplied in the name of Jesus.
Compiled by Jerry Thomas 01/11/23
All scripture references are (KJV) unless otherwise denoted.
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