“Why did Jesus teach in parables? The First Reason”
Sermon Title: Why did Jesus teach in parables? The First Reason
Scripture: Mark 4:1-13 ESV
Introduction
Is there significance to understanding why Jesus taught in parables? Clearly there is because the Holy Spirit, through the authorship of Mark, records and preserves a conversation between Jesus and his disciples around that very question. Understanding this question will allow us to peek into the intricacies of God’s ways.
Understanding God’s Ways
Mark records Jesus’ disciples approaching him when he was alone asking about the parables (Mark 4:10) while Matthew compliments Mark’s account by recording that the disciples ask more pointedly, "Why do you speak to them in parables (Matt. 13:10)?" It showed both their own lack of understanding and a concern for this method that Jesus chose to teach.
· Prior, Jesus taught the Parable of the Sower, but gave no explanation. Contrary to the worries of the disciples for their master’s public image and reputation, this was our Lord’s purposeful strategy with richness in his method.
· We too, like Jesus’ disciples who questioned their master’s methods, question God and ask “why” when we don’t understand God’s ways. We question God and presume our wisdom and methods above God’s wisdom and methods. The amazing thing is that God allows us the freedom to ask, and He is willing to give us revelation for the things we seek as He says, “Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known (Jer 33:3).”
· Oftentimes, the answer is not given immediately, but over time, through providence, as we live our lives, much like Joseph – sold into slavery by his brothers, wrongfully imprisoned, later rose to power in Egypt – looking back in retrospect saw the purpose of God’s ways.
· We may not receive an answer in this side of eternity, but we must be willing to accept that God does not owe us an answer. Similarly, the prophet Habakkuk, who lamented over the evil he saw in the world and questioned how God could allow evil to continue to exist (Hab. 1:2-4) received no direct answer, and God replied, “Look around at the nations; look and be amazed! For I am doing something in your own day, something you wouldn’t believe even if someone told you about it (Hab. 1:5).” God assured Habakkuk and all of us that He was, and always is, at work.
· God tells Habakkuk that He is doing something beyond his imagination. It may not cross our minds that even if God told us everything, we may not believe Him. Many of us have had moments where we say, “I never would have believed even if someone had told me.” Do we not sometimes have trouble believing the things God tells us in His word?
· Sometimes, we are not prepared to receive the answer. God’s judgements are unsearchable and inscrutable (Rom. 11:33), which means there are deep waters in the ways of God that we are not prepared to dive into. There are depths of God’s ways that we simply cannot search, but this should give us more cause to worship! The unsearchable and inscrutable aspect of God the Apostle Paul’s expression of worship of God’s greatness! Paul rejoices in a God who cannot be fully understood by the finite human mind. To attempt to understand everything about God on our terms is to bring God down to our limited level – that is not God.
Why did Jesus teach in parables?
There are two reasons why Jesus taught in parables (the second will be covered in next week’s sermon)
The First Reason: Parables as instrument of God’s judgement
· The common understanding is that parables were engaging illustrative stories that contain spiritual truths, but Jesus reveals to his disciples a shocking truth that using parables without explanations is to conceal the truth and keep certain people in the dark. How do we reconcile this with Jesus who came as light to save and redeem and restore the world?
· Jesus’ teachings had been, but something caused him to adopt this new teaching method. The key is in Mark 3:22, “And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” This was a blasphemous and dangerous (to the state of their own souls) accusation made against Jesus (that Jesus was in league with Satan) by the religious leaders during a time when Jesus had powerfully and clearly demonstrated his messiahship. It demonstrated the severity of their hardened hearts.
· This was the turning point of his teaching. Those who remained stubborn and callous in their unbelief (despite amazing evidence of Jesus’ identity) would not only receive a warning against blaspheming the Holy Spirit but teachings that were concealed and hidden. The parables were a response to their gross lack of faith (Cf. Isa. 6:10; Matt 13:15 – “For this people’s heart has grown dull…”). Time after time, sermon after sermon, and miracle after miracle they resisted and reject Jesus, and they crossed the line. It was tossing pearls to swine, only for the swine to trample them (Cf. Matt. 7:6).
· Jesus is gracious, loving, and kind, but understand that his judgments are not just reserved for the final judgement day, which means there are other judgments that precede the final one. Christ can judge today. Christ has been judging until today. Christ will judge to some extent until the final day. And one of his judgments is finalize and crystalize your hardened heart which has been resisting and rejecting Christ persistent attempt to persuade your heart. Revelation 22:11 makes this sobering truth very clear: "Let the evil doer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.” God will not force you to do anything you don’t want to do. If you want to sin, do evil, and live in spiritual filth? Do it. If you want to be holy, be holy.
· God is not encouraging sin nor rebellion or anything contrary to repentance. Revelation 22:10 shows us God’s intent to reveal to all the truth of who Jesus is and what will come to pass and what must be done to be saved. Revelation 22;11, in light of verse 10, reveals the hardened and calloused heart that refuses to repent – let them live in their sin (and condemn themselves).
· Our God is patient and slow to anger, but He will not be patient forever. Those who have heard and/or experienced the truth of God’s grace and the message of the gospel have a greater responsibility to respond to it. God has the right to move on from those who continue to resist and reject Him. God seeks the heart that seeks truth and longs to be saved.
· This is not teaching that there are people who are undeserving of the Gospel. The Great Commission mandates us to preach the Gospel to all, but the reality is that some are more calloused, more aggressive, and more blasphemous than others. And therefore, you and I are called to have a level of discernment to know whether or not we continue reaching out to that person or whether we reserve the pearls of God’s revelation and bring it before someone who sees the value of them.
· Jesus’ answer to the disciples’ question is in the form of a quote from Isaiah 6:12, "So that they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven." Isaiah was sent to preach to a people who persisted in rejecting God’s message, and Jesus’ answer echoes the time of Isaiah who spoke these same words. The parables were a message of hope and truth that led to the kingdom of God, but it was judgement to those who were determined to deny Christ.
Conclusion
Even after experiencing Jesus’ power firsthand, the religious leaders stubbornly rejected Christ and turned their backs on him and the truth. Even though God concealed the truth in the parables, there is still a trace of God’s mercy and grace.
· Luke 12:48 says, “Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.” What this means is that there will be various degrees of responsibility and punishment that are in direct proportion to the acquirement of revelation. The more light of the truth an unbeliever has been exposed to, the more their judgment will increase if they deny it. So, by speaking in parables, Jesus is deliberately dimming the light, so that by dimming the light of the revelation, he is also diminishing their judgment. By putting layers on the truth, he's also, in a sense, limiting the judgement that will be heaped on them.
· It is the heart of God that longs to save and takes no pleasure in the death and punishment of the wicked. He wants all of you and all of your family, friends, colleagues, and neighbors to come to Him and delight in the privilege of being His sons and daughters in His heavenly kingdom! However, salvation is for those who are willing to receive it gladly.
Reflection and Response
What is the condition of your heart as the truth of the gospel is revealed to you? Is your heart too dull and hardened to receive His word? Or is your heart soft and humble for the Word to penetrate deep into it?
When you read a passage in the Bible or hear a sermon, does your heart harden with resistance and rejection, or do you accept it as God’s word even though it may be hard to accept or understand?
What part of the gospel or any part in Scripture did you experience a hardening of your heart? What was your response? Humble submission to God, resist/reject in disagreement, or agree to disagree with God?