The Jesus Bible Reading PlanSample

TEACHING IN PARABLES

In Matthew 13, Jesus used parables to explain the kingdom of God. In fact, he chose not to say much of anything to the gathered crowds in that passage without using parables. Though the purposes behind Jesus’ teaching style are more than can be enumerated here, it certainly fulfilled the psalmist’s words in Psalm 78:2: “I will open my mouth with a parable; I will utter hidden things, things from of old” (quoted in Mt 13:35).

The parables Jesus taught — the Good Samaritan, the Lost Son, etc. — rank as some of the best-known passages in all of Scripture. Rather than giving complicated teachings wrapped in theologically dense language, Jesus usually used simple, everyday realities to teach the intended truth. For example, he used a lost coin in Luke 15 and differing kinds of soil in Matthew 13.

A few times Jesus applied the parable to his audience by asking the crowd a question, as in the parable of the Good Samaritan: “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” (Lk 10:36). Other times he interpreted the parable himself (Mt 13:18 – 23). There were also times when the parable was told only to confirm unbelievers in their rejection of him (Mk 4:11 – 12). In such cases, the simplicity of the parable only highlighted their blindness.

While there might be a few characters in a parable that need to be interpreted, parables are not necessarily strict allegories where every detail demands an attached spiritual symbolism. In the parable of the Lost Son, for example, spiritual significance might wrongly be attached to details of the ring the father gives. Even so, parables do not need to be limited to only one application point. For example, the father in that parable represents God, but it is also clear that the older brother represents the self-righteous Pharisees to whom Jesus spoke.

Jesus’ teaching style shared many of the same aims of Psalm 78. Like the psalmist’s words long before, Jesus’ parables taught “the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done” (Ps 78:4).

Jesus, thank you for teaching us using simple yet multilayered truths. Please help me to communicate your truths to others in the same way, so that they will understand and want to know more. Amen.