INTRODUCING..... PARABLES The Pilgrim’s Guide to the Bible No. 58

What are Parables?

 There once was a young woman.

She had a message to share. She knew this message was important, and she longed to share it. But no-one would listen to her. Everywhere she went, she was laughed at, ignored, derided.

So her message went unheard.

She was in despair, and sat down in a lonely spot, and wept.

By and by, a stranger came by and asked her why she was so sad. She told him. “I have a message to share; a life-transforming message; a message that I long to get out. But no-one will listen to me.”

The stranger understood. For once, the women really felt that someone was on her side.

“Let me help you”, he said. “I will travel with you. With me by your side, maybe people will stop to listen.”

“What’s your name?” the stranger asked the woman.

“Oh, my name is Truth, because I have a message of truth to share with the world. And you?” she asked. “What’s your name?”

“Well,” said the stranger. “My name is Story.”

And with that, he wrapped her up in his huge, warm cloak, so that she felt safe and secure. And sure enough with this stranger beside her, people did begin to stop and listen to her, and take her seriously. She grew in confidence.

And together they travelled far and wide. They made a great team. And many people listened to the message that Truth had to tell.

And that’s why, to this very day, if ever you want to hear the message of Truth, you will quite often find it, wrapped in the mantle of Story.

People like stories. We can identify with stories. I’ve noticed, in the 41 years that I’ve been a preacher, that when I launch into sermons offering twenty points of systematic theology, people’s eyes begin to glaze over, and they quickly lose interest. But when I say, “Let me tell you a story”, people begin to listen, and they get engaged in what I’m saying.

And that’s what Jesus was so good at doing.

We call them parables. Simple little stories, drawn from everyday life. Stories about sheep getting lost; women losing coins; wayward sons spending their inheritance and coming home penniless; masters going away on long trips; or farmers sowing seed. And so often, Jesus didn’t even try to explain his stories. He simply told them, and then effectively said, “Think on. What do you make of it?”

And as we read these parables, we discover the truth. In short, God gave us brains and wants us to use them.

Some of the parables Jesus told are quite simple and direct, some of them require a little more thought and understanding. But as the old saying goes, “The more you put in, the more you get out.” It’s worth digging for truth. It’s worth taking it to a deeper level.

So a parable: an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.

Jesus frequently used parables as a way of illustrating profound, divine truths. Stories are easily remembered. They provide a coat peg that we hang the truth on.

The characters in parables are bold, and straightforward, and the symbolism in the stories is rich in meaning. Parables were a common form of teaching in the time of Jesus. A common form of writing in Jewish tradition was was to string a series of one-line concepts together, and just leave them to speak for themselves. Think of the Book of Proverbs in the OT, or the letter of James in the NT. Every verse offers its own little nugget of truth, and we’re invited to take those nuggets, one at a time, and dwell on them, rather like taking a chocolate from a box of Quality Street. Each one is different, and merits savouring on its own.

So when Jesus tells parables, he’s following in an ancient tradition. Parables are for savouring; taking in deep and allowing the Holy Spirit to speak to us. And of course, they’re not confined to the Bible. Names such as Aesop might come to mind, and some good moral lessons come from his writings – stories like the hare and the tortoise; the lion and the mouse; the boy who cried wolf.

Jesus used many graphic analogies, talking about everyday things that would be familiar to his audience (salt, bread, sheep, etc.) and their meaning was obvious.

But sometimes, parables require a bit more explanation. “Whoever has ears, let them hear,” is an often-repeated phrase in the teaching of Jesus. Parables do require a bit of thought and application.

Consider one of the best-known parables: the parable of the sower.

Jesus taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: ‘Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.  Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.’

Then Jesus said, ‘Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.’ (Mark 4: 2 - 9)

The Sower, with the four kinds of soil: a parable, which Jesus goes on to explain, likening human hearts to the four kinds of soil. So the obvious explanation – keep your heart clean, like the good soil, open and receptive to the word of God, ready to let God’s words take root, and grow within us.

So “What are parables?” Before Jesus gives us his explanation of the parable of the sower, he adds another comment, a comment that is not so easy to understand:

‘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!”’ (Mark 4: 10 – 12)

What on earth is Jesus saying? “Ever seeing but not perceiving, ever hearing but never understanding….” Is Jesus saying that he doesn’t want people to understand?

Jesus’ is quoting, directly from the Book of Isaiah chapter 6. Normally, when I preach on Isaiah 6, I stop at verse 8. Isaiah, in his great vision of God, hears the Lord saying, “Who will go for me? Who will speak up for me? And the young Isaiah can’t help himself from responding, “Here I am, send me.”

But the passage goes on and gives us this strange verse about seeing but not perceiving, hearing but not understanding, and failing to turn and be forgiven.  

I think what Jesus is saying here is that there are two possible responses to parables. There are those with ears to hear and they will get it. They will work it out. But, by contrast, there are people whose hearts and minds are totally closed. They won’t “get it” because they don’t want to get it. If we choose to close our minds, to reject Christ’s message, then we’ll be left in spiritual blindness. There is a clear distinction between those who have “ears to hear” and those who persist in unbelief. There are those who simply don’t want to hear God’s message – like the seed that falls on the path and gets eaten by birds, or amongst the thorns and gets choked out – if we choose to close our ears to God’s message, then nothing will get through.

So parables bring us to a decision point. Either we open our ears and listen to what God is saying to us, or else we close our minds and reject God.

That is the challenge: a willing heart, responding to God, or a closed heart, refusing even to hear God’s call.

The disciples had been given the gift of spiritual discernment, and they were willing to listen and respond. And because they accepted truth from Jesus, they were given more and more truth.

The same is true for believers today who have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit who will guide us into all truth (John 16:13). “He who has ears, let him listen to the word of God.” Pray that the Holy Spirit will work in your heart so that you will be open to hear what God has to say to you.

But Jesus knew that there are those who have neither interest in nor regard for the things of God. To those with a genuine hunger for God, the parables offer an effective and memorable vehicle for the conveying of divine truth. They contain volumes of truth in very few words— rich in imagery and not easily forgotten. So, then, the parable can be a blessing to those with willing ears. But to those with dull hearts and ears that are slow to hear, the parable is also an instrument of judgment.

Listen to the stories and discern the truth. “He who has ears, let him listen to what God is saying.”

A Prayer

Speak Lord, for your servant hears.

Grant us ears to hear, eyes to see, wills to obey, hearts to love;

then declare what you will, reveal what you will,

command what you will, demand what you will. Amen.  (Christina Rosetti)