Introduction
Jesus was the best teacher the world has ever known; and his parables are amazing. The story can interest children quite young in years, and on the other hand the finest intellect cannot plumb all the depths of them. They cover a wide range, varying from the domestic scenes such as baking bread or patching clothes, to weddings and funerals; from the farmer sowing his seed to the enemy planting darnel; from the shepherd and his sheep to the fisherman with his catch. The figures used were understandable by all, and were based on familiar scenes. The question naturally arises as to why Jesus used this method of teaching. Why did he not express everything in plain language understandable by all? A careful study shows that it was about the end of the second year of his ministry that Jesus began to teach in this way. And why the second?
The first year of his ministry was spent almost entirely in Judea. It was a supreme appeal to the rulers, and at the end of this first year, speaking generally, the rulers were antagonistic to him and regarded him as an impostor. Because of this rejection, Jesus then spent the next year in Galilee.
It is very probable that this was a sabbatical year, and consequently the people had time to come and listen to Jesus, which they did in thousands. On one occasion, there were five thousand and Jesus miraculously fed them all.
They were looking for a Messiah who could give them bread, and here he was! Jesus then gave them the discourse on the bread of life. He told them bluntly that “Ye seek me because ye did eat of the loaves and were filled”. As a result of this discourse, we read … many went back and walked no more with him… ” This was the turning point. Henceforward Jesus spoke to them in parables.
His disciples asked, “Why speakest thou unto them in parables?” Jesus answered (Matt. 13:13-17) “Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them in fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: for this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you, that many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.”
Seeing the Bible is wholly inspired and consequently infallible, we can expect that the parables are of a much higher order than ordinary literature, and this is indeed the case.
The more we study them, the more we become satisfied that each detail has its meaning in contributing to the meaning of the whole. This is fully illustrated when Jesus explained the parables of the sower, and the parable of the wheat and the tares. It is doubtful if there is any ‘drapery’ in any of the parables, and this is fully borne out the more we study them. We must not, however, expect to realise this all at once.
Sometimes it may take years before anything approaching a complete understanding of any particular parable is achieved. This, for example, is very evident when dealing with the parables of the unjust steward and the labourers in the vineyard. In the last of these two, what is the penny intended to represent? Or, in the first one, what is meant by “make to yourselves friends with the mammon of unrighteousness”? Finally, however, the meaning becomes clear if we are patient and persistent.
To realise to whom a parable was spoken is vital to the understanding of it. This is brought out particularly in the parables in Luke, chapters 11 to 18 inclusive. Some were given direct to the disciples, sometimes being given to them before giving them to the multitude (see Luke 12:1, “to his disciples first of all”).
Sometimes they were addressed to those who were criticising his actions. Sometimes the lawyers and Pharisees were the immediate ones to whom they applied; and sometimes, although it would not appear to be too frequent, “. they perceived that this parable was spoken against them…”, whoever the `them’ happened to be. Unless it is realised to whom the parable was being given, then much of its force and teaching is inevitably lost.
Several of the parables are based on historical happenings. Archelaus rushing off to Rome to secure the kingdom when his father died, is the basis of the parables of the talents and the pounds. Herod’s divorce of the daughter of the king of Petra and his marriage to his brother Philip’s wife gives us the parable on estimating whether an army of 10,000 could overcome an army of 20,000. Herod found it could not and did not. Pilate’s inability to finish the tower he had commenced gives us another parable on “counting the cost” from a different angle.
In our endeavour to understand the parables, let us remember what Jesus said on one occasion — “Others have laboured and we have entered into their labours”. Let us never forget that prayer can be an amazing help, and, to quote James’ words, “God giveth to all men liberally… “; and while James is talking about wisdom, the same thoughts apply to understanding the parables.
Have a discussion with others who, like yourself, are interested in the parables. Do not hesitate to use what books in the Truth we have to help us. They are there, and to read what they say can put us on the right track.
Shall we study them individually, or shall we group them? Or shall we not rather group them and then study them individually? Take the parables on “The Lost”. Initially these are three delightful little cameos of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son. But what a rich harvest they yield when we realise that Jesus was talking about the publicans and sinners, whom the Scribes and Pharisees regarded as “lost”.
This attitude is underlined in the parable of the Pharisee and the publican praying in the temple. To group together all the parables on weddings helps in our understanding of them individually, and the same remarks apply to the parables of the good shepherd, the sheep and the sheepfold. Quite a number of parables commence “For the kingdom of heaven is like… “
It is also desirable to realise that there can be what we might term “parables of action”. The cursing of the barren fig tree is in this category. Israel was that fig tree, and while the pretensions (the leaves) were there in abundance, the fruit which they ought to have produced was non-existent. Jesus does not draw direct attention to the parabolic meaning of what he has done — he leaves it to us to find out and make the application.
Some have been disturbed because of the apparent contradictions in the records in different gospels of what is basically the same parable. Let us realise, however, that what we have recorded in the gospels is only a very small fraction of the actual time he spent teaching the people.
He must have given the same parable on many occasions, with obviously small differences, because of either the place, or the occasion, or those to whom he was speaking. Jesus was teaching and preaching for from three to three-and-a-half years, and he was working hard all the time. In Patterson-Smith’s “People’s Life of Christ” he gives what Jesus accomplished in a typical 24 hours, and it is truly colossal. “Never man spake like this man… ” His teaching so fascinated those who were sent to arrest him that they forgot what they had come for and returned without him!
We have some very rich studies ahead of us, and they can make us humbler and wiser men, for having plumbed some of the depths of the teaching of the greatest man who ever lived. He spake “gracious words” and he spake “with authority, and not as the scribes”.
We have records of about 80 parables which Jesus gave at different times, but we must never forget the statement which John makes that if all was written concerning the work of Jesus, the world could not contain the books thus produced. While this is a gross hyperbole, it is certainly true that we have only records of a fraction of what Jesus spake.
Only Matthew, Mark and Luke give details of the parables. There are none in John’s gospel. Some parables are common to all three, while others are given in either one or two. A study of the table opposite will give at once exactly how they are all disposed.
Speaking generally, Matthew deals with the kingship aspect of Jesus’ work, Mark depicts him as the servant, while Jesus is shown as the Son of Man in Luke (and the Son of God aspect is emphasised in John). The parables which are unique to one writer are in line with these different aspects.
While we recommend the use of the Authorised Version, when necessary other versions can profitably be consulted, such as the Revised Version, and the Revised Standard Version. This writer is not enamoured with the New English Bible, but often writers like J. B. Phillips can put one on the right track, although their work is more of a paraphrase than a direct translation. In our next issue we propose to start where Jesus did, with the parable of the sower.
Reflections on the Potter and the Clay