Friday, March 28, 2025
Speaking in Parables
“O my people, listen to my instructions. Open your ears to what I am saying, for I will speak to you in a parable. I will teach you hidden lessons from our past.” (Psalm 78:1-2 NLT)
Jesus’ twelve disciples had front-row seats to the most amazing three years in human history—the years of Jesus’ public ministry. They witnessed miracles that defied explanation. They heard the most profound truths ever spoken. They experienced life with the Son of God. They had access to the wisdom of the ages.
But it wasn’t all fish and loaves. Discipleship had its challenges, too. The constant crowd control. The sneering contempt of the Jewish religious establishment. The threat of arrest by Roman authorities.
One of the biggest challenges, though, had to be understanding Jesus’ parables. Often the disciples were the liaisons between Jesus and the people who came to hear Him speak. After one of His sermons or teaching sessions, those who couldn’t talk to Jesus Himself sought out His disciples. And it’s likely that one of the most frequently asked questions they fielded was, “What did Jesus mean by that parable?”
That may explain why, in Matthew 13:10, they asked Him the question that many people still ask today: “Why do you use parables when you talk to the people?” (NLT).
So why did Jesus speak in parables?
You can make the case that He understood the power of imagery and analogy. The story of a wayward son, a lost coin, or even a mustard seed is more memorable than a three-point presentation.
You can make the case that He wanted to open the eyes of His followers and help them see the world around them in a different way. To help them understand that there are spiritual truths to be found everywhere, even in things as mundane as a lost sheep or a barren fig tree.
Or you can search Jesus’ reply in Matthew 13:10-17. Jesus spoke in parables to give people with a spiritual hunger something to feed on—and to make it harder for those whose ears had grown dull—and whose hearts had grown hard—to understand His message.
But there’s another truth we can’t overlook. Jesus spoke in parables to fulfill the prophecy of Psalm 78. That’s why we read these words in Matthew 13:35: “This fulfilled what God had spoken through the prophet: ‘I will speak to you in parables. I will explain things hidden since the creation of the world’” (NLT).
The more Jesus obscured certain parts of His message, the more clearly He revealed His identity. Anyone who had searched Scripture for prophecies of the Anointed One would have picked up on Jesus’ use of parables. And it stands to reason that those same people would have had “the ears to hear” the spiritual wisdom in those parables. That’s who Jesus was targeting. He spoke in parables because He wanted people to recognize Him as the Messiah.
Jesus’ principal adversaries were looking for a different kind of Messiah. They were looking for someone who would support their religious system and their chosen way of living, someone who would cater to their whims and conform to their wishes.
A lot of people today want Jesus, but they want Him on their own terms. They want the kind of Jesus who will not challenge them. So they do nothing to meet the living Savior. Don’t make that mistake. Embrace the challenge that Jesus offers. There is life in His words.
Reflection question: Which of Jesus’ parables speaks most loudly to you and why?
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