Introduction to the Parables

By Gerry Watts

 

 Master Jesus was the greatest Teacher to have ever walked this earth. Yet so much of what He spoke about has, throughout the centuries, been misunderstood by many of His followers, besides numerous others within the religious academic community. The primary reason for this lack of understanding by ‘the Church’ is the failure to observe the context of His teaching; that is, He was the Messiah promised through Israel’s prophets ministering to the Jewish people in the land of Palestine in the First Century AD. He was not sent to any other people of the world or any other land at that time (although the amazing news of Christ’s sacrificial death and resurrection was to later go out to the nations of the world via the Apostle Paul); and He spoke in accordance with the writings of the Hebrew prophets contained in the Old Testament (the Hebrew Scriptures).

  The above explanation for this misapprehension of Christ’s teaching might sound very obvious and a little simplistic, but it is astounding how many teachers and preachers within the Church have not truly understood these plain facts, and therefore much of what Jesus was really saying has been lost to the masses, and conveniently ignored or reinterpreted by others. This is especially the case when it comes to the parables that Christ taught.

  Jesus was the Master at teaching others through parables. In the Keyword Concordance of the Concordant Literal New Testament, it says that the Greek word parabole means ‘beside-cast,’ “a statement which is ‘cast beside,’ or parallel to, its real spiritual significance, a figure of likeness in action.” That is to say, a parable is essentially a story or short narrative that uses familiar themes and objects to portray spiritual truths in a figurative manner. Nature or agriculture were common themes used by Jesus in His parables whereby the everyday working person could relate to the story, say, for example, that of a sower sowing seed in his field and the subsequent growth process of the seed.

  These same themes are also found throughout the writings of the Hebrew prophets, where Israel is often figuratively portrayed as a vine, an olive tree and a fig tree, amongst other things. God used these common fruit trees and the various produce of the Promised Land to put across important truths to His people, and He even established seven Feasts or festivals at the various times of harvest from springtime through to autumn. Even these seven Feasts reveal the plan of God for Israel and the world when they are viewed typically.

  Jesus, being the ultimate Hebrew Prophet, as well as being the promised Messiah and Son of God, continued with these nature themes in His teaching. The various laws and processes of nature that are all around us are full of spiritual meaning – and the reason for this is that, of course, God created it all, and sustains it all by His Spirit. But if we are to correctly understand the parables of Jesus, we need to keep the above in mind concerning the writings of the Hebrew Scriptures. The Greek Scriptures (the New Testament) is essentially a continuation of, and a fulfillment of, the Hebrew Scriptures. The key to understanding and correctly interpreting the Scriptures is to be aware of two things:

1)   God uses a pattern of sound, spiritual words to match spiritual things with spiritual words (1 Corinthians 2:12-13; 2 Timothy 1:13; Psalm 21:6).

2)   There is a correct way of cutting or dividing the word of truth, being aware of that which is natural (or terrestrial) and that which is supernatural (or celestial), and being aware of the fact that there are various Ages and Administrations within God’s Eonian Plan and Purpose (2 Timothy 2:15; Ephesians 3:9-11).

  If these principles are kept in mind and observed when studying Scripture, then, with the illumination of the Spirit, accurate deductions can be made in accordance with the truth that God is revealing through His Word.

The Secrets of the Kingdom

  Many of us are familiar with the classic parables that we learned in Sunday School or heard elsewhere, such as, The Good Samaritan, The Lost Sheep, The Wise and Foolish Builders, and many others. These parables were particularly concerned with teaching the people of Israel about the true nature of the Law of Moses, as well as showing them God’s love and mercy, while at the same time revealing the moral righteousness and wisdom that is intimately linked with true faith in God.

  These parables, and much of Jesus’ metaphorical teaching, was to enlighten the people as to the true function of the Law and to instruct them to live in a righteous manner before God, while at the same time exposing the hypocrisy and wickedness of the religious leaders in what had become their dead religion of Rabbinic Judaism.

  This is why Jesus told the people

“Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

 

(Matthew 5:20 NIV)

  Notice here that there is such a thing as ‘righteousness that is of law,’ but the difference between this kind of outward law-righteousness and true faith-righteousness is that only faith-righteousness of the heart is acceptable to God (see also Paul’s words in Philippians 3:4-9). The parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector is a classic example of Jesus’ teaching on the subject, revealing the true righteousness of faith and humility that God accepts (represented in the attitude of the tax collector), while exposing and condemning the proud self-righteousness of faithless law-keeping (represented in the attitude of the Pharisee) (Luke 18:9-14).

  Now there is much that can be, and has been, gleaned from these aspects of Christ’s teaching that can be applied to anyone, anywhere in the world, at anytime. Christ taught truth, as He is The Truth, and therefore His words, as we have them recorded in the first four books of the New Testament known as ‘the Gospels,’ are loaded with spiritual and figurative meaning on many levels of truth.

  But if we are to gain an accurate understanding of the Master’s teaching, especially that which He called the secrets of the kingdom hidden in many of His parables, then we need to observe very closely the Hebraic background and context of these parables in the overall light of His ministry to Israel. This does not necessarily mean that we need to grasp the Rabbinical ideas that were prevalent at the time, although this kind of information can sometimes help to illuminate certain texts, but it means that we need a good understanding of the writings of the Hebrew prophets, and of God’s plan for Israel and the nations revealed within them. This includes having some knowledge of the two roles of the Messiah/King, as well as knowing something about the covenants that God has covenanted with Israel, particularly the New Covenant. (These subjects are treated in detail in the section The Great Prophetic Plan Revealed).

  One of the major reasons why the Jewish people had such a hard time understanding Jesus’ teaching, even the really simple stuff, was because they were quite ignorant of the truth contained within their own Scriptures. This ignorance was largely due to the teachings and traditions of the Rabbis, Scribes, and their various representative sects within Judaism (such as the Pharisees and the Sadducees) who were suffocating the truth with their own interpretations and philosophies. They also thought that their repetitive reading of the Scriptures, as their religious duty, along with all sorts of intricate rituals, would give them a ticket into the kingdom, but they were greatly mistaken.

  These were the very Scriptures that prophesied the coming of the Messiah, and yet He was the very One Whom they were now fiercely rejecting (John 5:39-40). This is why Jesus often sought to expose the religious leaders and to warn the people of their deceptive teaching, and He wasn’t afraid to show His anger at their detestable ways, calling down woes upon them (Luke 11:37-54; Matthew 16:5-12; 23:1-39).

Balance and the Bigger Picture

  In a similar way to the ignorance of Israel, the majority of the ‘secret kingdom’ parables have been, and are, largely unknown by the Church (apart from the Parable of the Sower and maybe a few others) – or at least, their true meaning is unknown to most because of the traditions and philosophies of the religious leaders of Christendom, who are often floundering in a quagmire of man-made thought and interpretation.

  This is true even within the new ‘evangelical, charismatic’ religion of Christianity that has arisen in more recent decades. A large percentage of preaching is focused on immature, fleshly things of the soul, masquerading as that which is ‘spiritual and biblical,’ - which is often delivered by the preacher in a way that whips up the crowd almost to an emotional frenzy, and could be better described as religious motivational speaking! – rather than on the mature, spiritual things of truth, accompanied by the real fruit of the Spirit, which includes meekness and self-control.

  I'm not saying that all preaching and motivational speaking is wrong or misleading, but it needs to be done under the true inspiration and anointing of the Holy Spirit, with the main goal being that of building up the people of God, remembering also that correction is often needed, as well as encouragement.

  On the other hand, there are those who focus solely on the spiritual aspects of the parables to be applied to us as individuals, and they neglect the other aspects of Christ’s teaching that relates to God’s plan for Israel and the nations. We need both aspects to truly appreciate and understand the bigger picture. Truth will always be balanced and will take into account both sides of the coin. Where this is not the case, and certain things are minimised or ignored for one reason or another, there is an imbalance and this inevitably leads to error.

  Yet even so, this ignorance manifested by Israel and the Church shouldn’t be too surprising really as Jesus Himself stated that He spoke to the people in parables so as to hide the real meaning of His words from the masses so that only the spiritual ones among them could really understand what He was saying! (See Matthew 13:10-17). He revealed the secrets of the kingdom only to His immediate disciples who were later to become His apostles and administrators of His Kingship, and who later taught the believing congregation in the land during Christ’s absence. We have been given a glimpse of these secrets in the written accounts of the Gospels, and also in the teaching of the apostles contained within their letters.

  All of this was to fulfill the scripture that says,

“I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden from of old.” 

 

(Matthew 13:34-35 and Psalm 78:2).

  It also fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah concerning Israel’s partial blindness and deafness to the truth of God (Isaiah 6:9-10; see also Romans 11:7-10, 25). They would see and hear, yet they wouldn’t really spiritually see or hear or understand the words of wisdom and truth that came through Jesus’ parabolic teaching. It would be hidden from the majority of the nation, while only the remnant of the true Israel of God would hear, and they would be the ones to receive the long awaited kingdom promised through the ancient prophets.

  The purpose of this book is to therefore help bring some illumination to the reader in regard to this neglected subject. We shall be focusing on the parables that concern the kingdom of God as promised to Israel in the Prophets, and the secrets that are revealed in them in relation to God’s plan for this present age and the glorious age to come. For a detailed treatment of this Plan and the writings of the Hebrew prophets, see the section The Great Prophetic Plan Revealed.

  Before we go back in time and begin our journey through Jesus’ ministry to take a look at the kingdom parables that He taught, we need to keep the following in mind to help us avoid a lot of misunderstanding.

The Foundation: Justified Before God

In every administration of God, real faith in God's Word is the gracious ticket into the future kingdom of God. Yet it is also true to say that acts of righteousness are the standard whereby the true people of God will be accepted into the kingdom and be given eonian or age-abiding life (commonly mistranslated as eternal life. For further information see The Concordant Version).

It is always true that faith and works complement one another, and are two sides of the same coin, because without works, faith is dead. In other words, real faith in God's words will produce righteous acts. The whole letter of James, sent to the twelve tribes of Israel in the dispersion, is proclaiming this truth, especially in Chapter 2, and Paul is proclaiming the same thing in Romans 4. Paul and James may appear to be contradicting one another on the surface of things, but in truth they are both declaring that faith is the foundation for righteous acts.

The foundational truth revealed throughout Scripture though is that we can only be justified, or made righteous, before God by simply believing that God alone can make us right with Himself! For those of Israel under the Law, this meant that they should humbly acknowledge their mistakes (or sins) and accept the way of sacrifice that God had given them in accordance with the Old Covenant (Luke 18:9-14). Yet the rituals of the Old Covenant were only sufficient enough to cleanse the flesh. Only the institution of a New Covenant with a greater Sacrifice could fully cleanse the conscience in spirit (Hebrews 9).

Under the New Covenant, though, the sacrifice of the Messiah is the focal point of faith, and He is now the only Way to salvation or justification or becoming righteous before God, not only for Israel, but for all humanity (Acts 13:38-39; Galatians 3:1-14). But true faith in Christ Jesus will result in acts or works of righteousness, but the works themselves do not make us righteous. The ultimate truth is that it is God Himself Who is operating within His children to cause them to produce good works for His delight and their blessing (Philippians 2:13; Ephesians 2:8-10).

Now Jesus taught that the righteous law of the King must be obeyed, and the nation of Israel is still to serve Him under a yoke, although compared to the Old Covenant and the laws of men, His yoke is kindly and His burden is light (Matthew 11:28-30), but nevertheless, there is still a yoke and a burden. So plain obedience to the Law of the Messiah is commanded, which can be summed up in the command to love one another, as love is the complement of the law (John 15:9-17; Matthew 22:37-40; Romans 13:8-10). Nevertheless, there must be clear continuing evidence (or fruit) that one is a believer and a follower of the Messiah, otherwise entrance into the kingdom will be forbidden. Paul and the Twelve also taught this same truth (1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Galatians 5:19-21; 2 Peter 1:10-11; 1 John 3:4-10).

In light of this, many are called, but few are chosen (Matthew 22:14); and small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life, and only few find it, like searching for a secret passageway that is not that obvious (Matthew 7:13-14) – but the chosen ones are cleansed and regenerated as the true children of God, and they shall be granted entrance into the kingdom of the heavens at Messiah’s return (John 10:27-29; 15:3, 15-16; 1 Peter 1:3-9, 22-23; 2 Peter 1:3-11; The whole letter of 1 John should be read in light of the above). This is the faithful remnant of the spiritual Israel of God.

Paul’s Ministry

  Now Paul was chosen by God to proclaim a number of new truths or secrets through his evangel, the primary one being the revelation of the present secret Administration of Grace concerning the spiritual Body of Christ, where believing Jew and Gentile are at one in Christ (Ephesians 1-3). In this era of conciliation, there is abundant grace as God holds out His hand of friendship to all nations. There is much emphasis on salvation by the unadulterated grace of God, granted to us solely through faith alone and not from works of law. There are no specific rituals to be observed now in order for us to be saved. This message is especially for the nations, the Uncircumcision, who no longer need to go through Israel to draw near to God.

These new truths do not negate the teaching of Christ or the other apostles, and they are not a direct contrast either. Paul’s calling and evangel were unique, and his teachings contain things that not even Peter and the other apostles were given to proclaim, but this does not mean (as some teach) that Peter, John and the others of the Circumcision didn't understand Paul's teaching, or that none of it applied to them as well, only that it wasn't for them to proclaim it. They were set apart for the Circumcision believers, while Paul was set apart for the nations (Galatians 2:8-10).

Peter says that Paul had written to the dispersed Jewish believers in Asia Minor (the letter to the Galatians was probably the one) and Peter admits that Paul's letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which the unlearned and unstable are twisting, as they do the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction (2 Peter 3:15-16). The Circumcision apostles were not among these unlearned ones, so they therefore understood most of what Paul was talking about, if not all of it.

Nevertheless, Paul reveals things that are only found in his letters, and these revelations were given to him through personal appearances of Christ. These secrets and his additional details of prophecy, along with specific instructions for believers of the nations, were an extension of what Jesus and the Twelve had previously revealed, and was not something separate from them. Instead, they complement one another.

The primary secret that Paul revealed was the Administration of Grace (Ephesians 3:2), which would occur during Israel's national rejection and partial blindness, in which God is calling out a people from all nations to complement the remnant of Israel chosen by grace, to co-rule with Christ in the future ages (Romans 11). This 'Body of Christ' is a Firstfruit of the ultimate destiny of ALL humanity, the Ecclesia of the Firstborn, the celestial Sons of God (James 1:18; Romans 8:23; Hebrews 12:23; Revelation 14:4).

So the teaching of Christ and the other apostles needs to be viewed in the light of this further revelation, including the parables of Jesus. We shall find that the secrets of the kingdom that Christ spoke of dovetail perfectly into the secrets that were given to Paul. Paul’s evangel gives us the bigger picture and fills up what was previously lacking. 

This is why Jesus said the following to His disciples.

"I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come."

(John 16:12-13 NIV)

So there needs to be an adjustment in relation to any previous teaching by Christ and the Twelve to accord with the further revelation through Paul. They all complement one another and together they give us the full picture.

The Nearness of the Kingdom

Yet in relation to the nearness of the kingdom and the return of the King, God’s power and righteousness was manifested more powerfully. This occurred in the first century during the Acts era, even though, during that time, the nearness of the kingdom was gradually receding. Yet the time is coming (and I believe that it has already begun) when the kingdom will draw near again as the Administration of Grace draws to a close. Therefore the power of the Lord will gradually become more effective in His people again.

Now throughout Scripture, there are warnings given to the believing community in relation to how we should behave in accordance with God’s will within any given administration, but these warnings are really for those who are identified with God’s people, whether it be ancient Israel or the Christian Church, yet who are really the hypocrites amongst the people, for not all who are Israel are truly Israel, and the same applies to the Church (Romans 9:6). These are the ones who should truly fear the judgments of God and the possibility of ‘falling aside’ and ‘of not receiving eonian life.’

The following words of Jesus are very revealing,

“Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognise them. Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your Name, and in your Name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers (‘workers of lawlessness’ CV)!’ ” 

 

(Matthew 7:19-23 NIV)

Now this is especially applicable to Israel, who received the blessings of the Holy Spirit in accordance with the New Covenant promised to them, and who were given the authority of operating under the banner of Christ’s Name to herald the kingdom.

Many of them (which even included one of the Twelve Apostles, Judas Iscariot, who eventually betrayed Jesus) had been anointed to perform these signs in the Name of Jesus but they eventually proved by the fruit of their heart that they were unbelievers! They were unfruitful trees that were to be cut down and burned, that is, they will be severely judged, and will perish, and will be shut out of the kingdom in the ages to come. (Hebrews 6:4-12 is saying that these apostates, who have fallen aside after tasting the blessings of the Spirit and have returned to the Old Covenant, are the ones who cannot be brought back to repentance again in this age).

Now take note of Jesus’ words in the above text. He says that these unbelievers call Him ‘Lord,’ and He doesn’t deny their claims that they prophesied and drove out demons and performed miracles in His Name. Yet He says to them, ‘I don’t know you’ or in other words, ‘You have nothing to do with Me,’ and then He calls them ‘workers of lawlessness’ and sends them away, basically denying them access to the kingdom. Now this also applies to the Church, amongst those who claim to be Christians, operating under the umbrella of Christ’s Name, claiming to be a part of His Ecclesia (the out-called company), particularly as the end of the age draws near, when the heralding of the kingdom shall occur again in power with accompanying signs.

It has been the failure of the Church to distinguish between Paul’s message and the Administration of Grace, and that of the Twelve and the heralding of the kingdom (with some even over-emphasising this distinction, causing division), that has tragically led to so much error and confusion amongst Christians, giving rise to all sorts of different teachings.

Some of these teachings, for example, are that a believer can lose their salvation and go to ‘hell’ if they do not remain obedient enough; or there’s the teachings of the Word of Faith Movement and others that tell us that we can appropriate all the promises of Jesus so that we can pray for virtually anything, including healings and miracles, and it will be done, using Scripture like some kind of magic formula! This is divination and witchcraft! This promotes the almighty self rather than the true power of the Almighty God. There is only One Supreme Will in the whole universe, and He cannot be manipulated by man! (There maybe much truth being proclaimed through the Word of Faith teachers, but the emphasis of many of them, I believe, is incorrect).

Now the majority of the Church is ignorant of the fact that much of what Jesus said, He said to His chosen Apostles and disciples of Israel in accordance with God’s original plan for that nation. They were commissioned for this purpose. Then later on, Christ chose Paul and gave him a unique message for all the nations in accordance with a new Administration of Grace. Nevertheless, the ultimate focus of all the Apostles is the Gospel of the Kingdom, and the New Covenant in Christ Jesus.

So with this in mind, let us now begin our journey through the kingdom parables of Jesus, which were spoken in accordance with the evangel of the kingdom as it was originally proclaimed to Israel, the Circumcision. Nevertheless, we shall also interpret these parables in light of Paul’s teaching as well, and the whole of the New Testament.

 

Copyright © G Watts 2004; revised 2007

 

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