WHAT JESUS'       PARABLES
              REVEAL

About one third of the recorded teachings of Jesus are in the form of parables. What do they mean?

THE GOOD SAMARITAN. The pearl of great price. Counting the cost. The good shepherd. New wine old wineskin. The prodigal son. Sheep and goats. Who has not heard of at least a couple of these?

Jesus Christ's New Testament parables are among the most powerful teachings aids ever used! These lessons are at the core of Christ's teaching. Nearly 2,000 years after he gave them, his parables still sparkle with simple yet sublime insights about life - and startling yet comforting revelations about God's kingdom.

Sadly, many adults are no longer familiar with the parables of Jesus Christ. To most they are a foggy memory from childhood assemblies or Sunday school with little perceived relevance to the demands and problems of modern life.

Yet such a view could not be more mistaken. The virtue of the parables is their immediacy in our modern world. They reveal the true purpose of humanity - how men and women can have a lasting relationship with the God who made them.

This article will take a closer look a the parables of Jesus. Some parables will probably be familiar. Some may be totally new.

Understand the Genre

First, let us, understand that there are different kinds of writing or literary styles, produced by different authors for different audience. They also invite different responses. For example, you would not read a recipe as you would a letter from a depressed friend. A court summons is no comic strip. A love letter demands a different reading to an encyclopaedia article.

As we read and study the Bible, we should recognise each type of genre. Parables, or parabolic passages, concentrated in the Gospels, are one of those genres.

The Bible also contains legal codes, such as those you can read in the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament. You will find poetry in Psalms and elsewhere. There are also prophecies, histories, hymns, letters and speeches in the Bible. There are allegories, metaphors, similes, epics, riddles and wise sayings. Scholars of the Bible call other sections 'didactic', 'apocalyptic' or 'eschatological'.

Yes, they all inspired by God. They are 'God-breathed' and 'useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work' (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

However, we need to see these literary genres - parables included - for what they are, in their contexts. We need to learn as much as we can about who wrote them, and why, and to whom . Legal codes and delicate poetry are different. Sweeping epics are not meant to be read like scientific texts. letters may whisper personal details about their writers even as they defy being used to nail down historical or prophetic dates.

Metaphors are not meant literally. Failure to understand the literary style can lead to misunderstanding and misinterpretation. How, then, should we look at Jesus' parables?

The Background to the Parables

Jesus' parables have been called 'heavenly stories with earthly meanings'. Yet there is more to them than that. Both the Hebrew word masal and the Greek parabole are broadly used of proverbs, allegories, riddles, illustrations and stories. They can refer to any striking speech formulated to stimulate thought.

Interpreter C.H. Dodd, in his 1935 classic Parables of the Kingdom, defined a parable as 'a metaphor or simile drawn from nature or common life, arresting the hearer by its vividness or strangeness, and leaving the mind in sufficient doubt about its precise application to tease it into active thought' (page 16).

WERE PARABLES USED TO HIDE THE TRUTH? Mark 4:10-12 is one the most difficult passages for people to understand in the New Testament. These verses, with parallels in Matthew 13:10-15 and Luke 8:9-10, quote Jesus saying he wanted to hide truth as well as reveal it. Mark 4 opens: 'He taught them [a crowd] many things by parables' (verse 2). The chapter then relates the parable of the sower (verses 3-8). 'When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. He told them, "The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that, 'they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven' " ' (verses 10-12). Here Jesus quoted Isaiah 6:9-10). Is the kingdom of God a secret, given only to a chosen few? Did Jesus tell his parables, which seem so simple, so accessible and so timeless, to keep outsiders from grasping the truth? Does God not want to forgive sinners? Certainly, no one can come to Christ unless first drawn by God the Father (John 6:44). Yet the Bible also teaches that God does not want 'anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance' (2 Peter 3:9). God 'commands all people everywhere to repent' (Acts 17:30). There is the catch. Jesus directed the story of the sower to each listener 'who has ears to hear' (Mark 4:9). Jesus' message demands that we respond. 'This is the one I esteem,' God says, 'he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word' (Isaiah 66:2). Not everyone approaches the truth of God in the same manner though. Jesus intended that his people understand the parable of the sower. After all, he went right on to explain it (Mark 4:14-20). Different people respond differently when confronted with the truth. Some of the sown seed (the Word of God, in symbol) is eaten by birds (snatched away by Satan). Some falls on shallow soil and fails to survive in the hot sun (hearers not rooted in the truth). Some is choked by thorns (cares of this life). Only part falls on good soil and produces a crop (hearers who accept God's truth and produce spiritual fruit). The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia says: 'Jesus' teaching confronted people with radical demands, and not all were willing to comply. Some followed Him in discipleship, but others were actually driven further from the Kingdom.... It is not intellectual but volitional blindness and deafness that is in view' (Vol. 3, page 657). Jesus' listeners saw salvation personified in him, the Son of God. They heard the most important message ever preached. Yet most did not understand - they failed to believe and become converted! Matthew 13 incorporates this episode at the point when Jesus began to concentrate on private teaching of his disciples, rather than public preaching. Jesus' message was not well received by hard-hearted people. We need to ask ourselves, what kind of heart do we have?

The Standard Bible Encyclopaedia states that parables are 'almost always formulated to reveal and illustrate the kingdom of God' (Vol. 3, page 656). Parables are present, but not common, in the Old Testament. No Old Testament parable more closely resembles Jesus' parables than Nathan's story of the pet lamb, which moved King David repent of his adultery with Bathsheba and murder of Uriah (2 Samuel 12:1-13).

Judges 9:8-15 and 2 Kings 14:9 symbolise kings and nations as talking plants and a wild beast; these passages are more like fables.

Was Jesus thinking of Ezekiel 17:22-24 when he told the parable of the mustard seed (Mark 4:30-32 and parallel passages)? His parable of the wicked tenants (Mark 12:1-9) echoes Isaiah 5:1-7 (the song of the vineyard). Jesus' parables often referred to nature to picture the spectacular growth of God's kingdom from a small beginning.

Outside the Gospels, the Greek parabole appears in the New Testament only in Hebrews 9:9, where the New King James Version says the tabernacle (verse 8) and sacrifices were 'symbolic' for the present time, and in Hebrews 11:19, which says that Abraham, 'figuratively speaking', received Isaac back from death.

A Unique Teaching Method

Thus, Jesus' nature parables (for example, the mustard seed) showed how God's kingdom would start small, but become all-encompassing. The kingdom's present aspects would seem unspectacular, its ultimate realisation incredible.

His discovery parables (the hidden treasure, Matthew 13:44; or the pearl of great price, verses 45-46) show that God's kingdom is so valuable we can happily abandon all else for it. His contrast parables (the rich man and Lazarus, Luke 16:19-31; or the Pharisee and the tax collector, Luke 18:9-14 (illuminate how much God loves even the lost and dispossessed and welcomes them into fellowship with him.

The a fortiori parables - those that ask 'How much more...' (the friend at midnight, Luke 11:5-8; or the persistent widow, Luke 18:1-8) - show how much more than humans God can be trusted to act righteously. If even humans will not act in certain evil ways, Jesus asked: 'How much more will your father in heaven give...? (Luke 11:13).

'The parables focus on God and his kingdom and in doing so reveal what kind of God he is, by what principles he works, and what he expects of humanity,' comments the Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Vol.2, page 1609). Jesus' use of parables was so masterful, and the kingdom-centered message of his parables so revolutionary, that no other New Testament personality tried to copy this aspect of his teaching. The uniqueness of Jesus' parables bolsters their place at the core of our Saviour's message for humanity.

Even textual critics, some who discard much of the Gospels as fabrications by early Christians, believe that in the simple, moving and transcendently beautiful messages of the parables we come as close to the historical Jesus as we are likely to get.

The Meaning of the Message

Jesus was a master storyteller. His parables contain striking images, dramatic action and bold character development, all built around universal themes that have touched people for two millennia. Yet the parables offer minimal detail. Often Jesus provided no clear explanation for the stories, leaving them open to multiple interpretations through the ages.

So how can we know what the parables of Jesus mean?

Some interpreters make the mistake of reading more into some parables than Jesus Christ ever intended. In the other ditch are those who fail to catch what some parables clearly emphasise. Until this century (article was written in 1993), most interpreters allegorised the parables. This means they looked for symbolic import in as many details in the stories as possible.

PARABLES IN THE SYNOPTIC GOSPELS When reading the four Gospels, it is easy to notice the similarities of the accounts by Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Their books are called the Synoptic Gospels - meaning 'from the same perspective'. On the other hand, John's account is obviously written from a different perspective. The authors of the first three Gospels probably used some of the same source material for their accounts. For example, Luke, in the introduction to his account, freely states he used several sources for his research. Lamp on a stand Wise and foolish Builders New Cloth on an Old Garment New Wine in Old Wineskins The sower Wheat and Tares (Weeds) Mustard Seed Leaven (Yeast) Hidden Treasure Pearl of Great Price Fish in the Net Lost sheep Unmerciful Servant Workers in the Vineyard Two Sons Wicked Tenants (Absent Landlord) The Wedding Banquet Fig Tree The Thief Absent Householder Ten Virgins Talents (Matthew); Minas (Luke) Sheep and Goats Growing Seed Moneylender and Two Debtors Good Samaritan Friend at Midnight Rich Fool Watchful Servants Faithful Servant Barren Fig Tree Places of Honour at Wedding Great Banquet Counting the Cost Lost Coin Lost Son Shrewd Manager Rich Man and Lazarus Unworthy Servants Persistent Widow Pharisee and the Tax Collector Matthew 5:14-15 7:24-27 9:16 9:17 13:3-8 13:24-30 13:31-32 13:33 13:44 13:45-46 13:47-50 18:12-14 18:23-35 20:1-16 21:28-32 21:33-41 22:2-14 24:32-34 24:43 25:1-13 25:14-30 25:31-46 Mark 4:21-22 2:21 2:22 4:3-8 4:30-32 12:1-9 13:28-30 13:32-37 4:26-29 Luke 8:16-17;11:33 6:47-49 5:36 5:37-38 8:5-8 13:18-19 13:20-21 15:4-7 20:9-16 21:29-32 12:39 19:11-27 7:41-43 10:30-37 11:5-8 12:16-21 12:35-40 12:42-48 13:6-9 14:7-14 14:16-24 14:28-33 15:8-10 15:11-32 16:1-9 16:19-31 17:7-10 18:1-8 18:9-14

Thus Augustine (354-430 AD), an early church father, explained the parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37) this way: The man going down from Jerusalem pictured Adam leaving the peaceful place that was Eden. The robbers who beat him were the devil and his demons, who persuaded Adam to sin. The priest and the Levite (the Law and the Prophets) offered the victim no help, but the Samaritan (Christ) rescued him, pouring oil and wine (comfort and exhortation) onto the man's wounds. The donkey on which the Samaritan, or Christ, placed the man symbolised the church; the apostle Paul was the innkeeper.

This is almost certainly going too far, reading into the parable far more detail than Jesus intended.

By contrast, many 20th-century interpreters have abandoned the allegorical approach. They try to reject the temptation to read their own ideas into the parables, which they believe has led to centuries of abuse of Jesus' message. These interpreters believe that each parable has only one main point. This was the case, they point out, with parables in classical Greek literature and this is how Jesus' listeners, in the culture of his day, would have looked at his parables.

This view sees the parable of the good Samaritan simply as an exhortation to imitate the Samaritan's outgoing concern for his neighbour. this interpretation seems consistent with the explanation Jesus himself gave for this parable (verse 37).

The story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) is another example. It is hard to wrench from this parable exact detail about the afterlife. Jesus was drawing on images from Jewish and Egyptian folklore, which his listeners would have realised, to show the gulf between the haughty of this world and those who, by their humble submission to God, come to inhabit the kingdom of God.

No question in parable interpretation has been more contested than the allegorical method vs. the one-point approach. Many modern Bible students come down somewhere in the middle: They try not to over-interpret the parables. Nevertheless, they believe Jesus gave some details not just to add spice to his stories, but to make important points.

Letting the parables speak to our day with the vigour and import that drove them originally seems a sound approach if we are truly to understand God's Word.

Let the Parables Speak to You

'Parables require their hearers to pass judgment on the events of the story and having done so to realize that they must make a similar judgement in their own lives,' states the Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Vol. 2, page 1609).

How can you judge your own life by hearing the messages of Jesus' parables? Study each parable thoroughly, laying aside any preconceived idea of what you think it says - or that you would like it to say. Look at the context in which you find the parable. Doing so may offer clues as to its meaning. (Yet understand that the Gospels often record Jesus' parables with out telling exactly when he gave them, or to whom, or why.)

Take note of the 'rule of end stress'. The climax - and point of most parables comes at the end. Look for principles that reveal what God is like. what his kingdom is all about, how he wants to relate to humanity - and how he expects us to respond to him.

What does the parable tell you about your relationship with God? The answers you find to this question are the most important points of truth in the Bible, for as Jesus said: 'This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent' (John 17:3).

How does God want a citizen of his kingdom to behave? All of Jesus' parables contain parts of the answer to this question, for the present and future realities of the kingdom of God are what Christ's life, work, message, death, resurrection and High Priesthood are really all about.

What is your attitude towards that kingdom? 'Again, Jesus said in a parable, 'the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it' (Matthew 13:45-46).

'PARABLES' IN JOHN The Gospel of John does not contain the word parable. But John 10:6, following verses 1-5, Jesus' story of the Good Shepherd, and John 16:25, 29, following verses 20-24, about the woman in travail, translate as 'figure' the Greek paroimia meaning 'wise saying or 'riddle'. More than once, the Septuagint uses paroimia for the Hebrew masal. The Good Shepherd and the woman in travail are similar to the shorter similitudes in Matthew, Mark and Luke. A.M. Hunter, author of According to john, identifies the following 'parables' in the book of John: Blowing Wind Bridegroom's Attendant Fields Ripe for Harvest Father and Son The slave and the Son Good Shepherd Twelve Hours of Daylight Kernel of Wheat Walking in the Light Preparing a Place The Vine and the Branches Woman in Travail 3:8 3:29 4:35-38 5:19-20 8:35 10:1-5 11:9-10 12:24 12:35-36 14:2-4 15:1-8 16:20-24 None of these 'parables' takes the same form as the longer parables in Matthew, Mark and Luke. Yet Jesus' unique style of teaching is still apparent. Thus these 'parables' help establish the historical continuity between the fourth Gospel and the Synoptic Gospels.

Article by Norman L. Shoaf
Illustrations by artist Jody Eastman