The Purpose for Parables

what in the world makes us so embarrassed about the gospel I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified [Music] [Music] there was a very special day in the ministry of jesus long into his earthly ministry one day in which he did something that he'd never done before he began to speak in parables that happened in one momentous day up to that point he had taught like all teachers teach a propositional truth biblical truth from the Old Testament what caused him to shift to telling stories some people have suggested well he finally figured out that people weren't getting it they they were rejecting him and so he decided to tell him stories because everybody loves the story not true the opposite he started telling stories to hide the truth they didn't accept it when it was clear he judged them he literally condemned them to their self-chosen ignorance and he began to tell stories to hide the truth from those who didn't believe but at the same time they became powerful ways to reveal truth to God's people to real believers it actually is a parable that Jesus told during the middle of his Passion Week that ignited the final fire or it could save poured gasoline on the fire and the telling of that parable that precipitated the human activity that led to his execution people don't understand parables there is a lot of very sloppy thinking about parables and a very very high degree of sloppy preaching about parables so I want you to understand parables I'm not not just in some kind of isolated way but they play a critical role in the rejection of Jesus Christ right up into the very final week of his life how are we to understand the parables of Jesus there are about 40 of them they're only in Matthew Mark and Luke no no parable is in John how are we to understand the role that parables play and what are we dealing with to help us get rid of the sloppy thinking about parables I want to go to the 13th chapter of Matthew Matthew chapter 13 that day Jesus went out of the house sitting by the sea the lake of Galilee and large crowds as always gathered to him so he got into a boat and sat down and the whole crowd was standing on the beach he did this because it allowed him to move back from the crowd that otherwise would crush him and make his voice a little better heard as it bounced off the water of the lake but then in verse 3 and he spoke many things to them in parables saying he spoke many things to them in parables on this day and by the way from this day on whenever he taught in public he spoke in parables from this day on this is a huge shift up to this day he did not speak in parables there are no parables in the Sermon on the Mount for example which is the most extensive illustration of his sermon there is an illustration at the end about the flood and houses built on sand and rock but there is no parable but from here on he always speaks in parables what is a parable it's a word picture it's an elongated simile or metaphor it can be relatively short or it can be relatively long para means to lay alongside so it is a story late as alongside a truth to demonstrate their parallel realities Jesus began this day to speak in parables that's a monumental change up to this time he has basically drawn from the Old Testament and given discourses based on Old Testament scripture he has propounded doctrines theological truths we would say propositional truth and by propositional I mean an absolute statement of fact he has been a theological preacher an expositional preacher but now all of a sudden he becomes a storyteller well we all understand the horrors of the history of Israel after they were given the law of God they virtually disobeyed it for centuries consequently they ran roughshod over the Sabbath they didn't rest they didn't delight in God they didn't use it really as a day of worship they broke the Sabbath they broke the Sabbath year they broke Sabbath's all the time why for money for apostasy for idolatry for apathy and indifference they violated the Sabbath well eventually the rabbi's started becoming concerned about the violations of the Sabbath so they wanted to protect the Sabbath so in order to kind of recover the Sabbath and insulate the Sabbath against violations they covered the Sabbath with endless rules they couldn't just leave it to worship God delight in God take a day off don't work because people didn't respond to that so they created a massive complex of Sabbath laws by Jesus time the Sabbath is the most dreaded day of the week every way you could cut it it is a pain it is not a day off it is a day of all kinds of ridiculous encumbrances and burdens the pendulum had swung from from complete abandonment of the Sabbath to the establishment of a legalistic system in fact the whole judaistic self-righteousness legal system found kind of its symbol in the Sabbath well Jesus loved to violate the Sabbath that was just another way that he attacked their self-righteous legalistic system so we find him in Chapter 12 let's go back on a Sabbath day so for they're after breakfasting by walking through the fields and plucking a little grain he went into a synagogue the man there with a withered hand they questioned Jesus saying is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath which of course in their system it wasn't so that they might accuse him he says what man is there among you as a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath do not take hold of it and lift it out how much more valuable then is a man than a sheep she said to the man stretch out your hand verse 14 the Pharisees went out and conspired against him as to how they might destroy him destroy him kill him for violating their ridiculous Sabbath rules yes because this was symbolic of his all-out wholesale assault on their self-righteous system they wanted to destroy him two years into his ministry the final conclusion of the Pharisees he does what he does by the powers of hell he's inspired by Satan himself that was their conclusion if that's your conclusion when you've had a full revelation of the Son of God you're hopeless you are hopeless and so verse 31 says therefore I say to you any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people but blasphemy against the spirit shall not be forgiven when you blaspheme the Holy Spirit by saying that that which he has done through the Son of God is from hell you're beyond the point of salvation you could speak a word against the Son of Man you could speak a word against him his his humaneness his his life that could be forgiven but if your conclusion is that what the Holy Spirit has done through him is from Hell you will not be forgiven divine condemnation then down in verse 37 by your words you will be justified on the other hand by your words you will be condemned condemnation fell on this Sabbath day toward the end of the second year of our Lord's ministry now I want you to turn to mark four and I want you to see what happened that day that was so dramatic in the Ministry of the Lord Jesus mark 4 33 with many such parables he was speaking the word to them so far as they were able to hear it and he did not speak to them without a parable but he was explaining everything privately to his own disciples that is the first time that's the ominous day when Jesus began to speak in parables incredibly dramatic why why does he speak in parables why the change why does he now give illustrations stories well there's a contemporary trend that wants to give you this answer because he realized after two years that he wasn't getting through that his propositional kind of teaching his doctrinal teaching his theological teaching his expositions of the Old Testament straightforward discourse was not connecting teaching truth straightforward in a clear fashion didn't work so he turned to stories he realized that he's going to have to tell stories because people love stories and who could tell a story better than Jesus Jesus then makes this huge shift in his ministry and becomes a storyteller and his stories have so much interest in so much pasen they give death and insight so this is how we need to approach our preaching this is the genre we must use we need to tell stories because they're accessible and they're clear and they're easy and they're familiar and oh by the way never did Jesus tell a story with any kind of a Fanta there was never a fantastic character a bizarre alien kind of form or reality or non reality every single story was real people real places doing real things that everybody does all the time so now what preachers have become is rather than expositors of scripture and preachers of doctrine they they have become storytellers declaring truth in the absolute propositional fact form is out and what is in vogue is is telling stories and that's so much more genteel than brute facts or unambiguous truth claims this perspective on preaching has gained wide acceptance and and now we're fighting against a very powerful trend in this direction another writer quote contrary to what some would have us believe story not doctrine is the Bible's main ingredient baubles a story book we do not have a doctrine of creation we have stories of creation we do not have a concept of the resurrection we have narratives of Easter there is relatively little in either the Old Testament or the New Testament doesn't rest on narrative or story in some form in quote first of all let me say he doesn't understand the difference between a story and history because the Bible is not a bunch of stories it is history but never mind that small oversight statements like these are dangerously misleading and it is sheer folly to say that doctrine is is a completely different and unacceptable genre to telling a story as if they are mutually exclusive I beg to differ we do have a doctrine of creation we do have a doctrine of resurrection you read the doctrine of creation everywhere you read in the old and the New Testament any definitive statements about God creating and you read the doctrine of resurrection in particular in first Corinthians 15 which is a prolonged doctrinal dissertation the resurrection trying to pit stories against doctrine is an impossibility biblically because wherever there's a story there's a doctrine there's always a doctrine separating Jesus stories from propositional doctrinal truth is the nonsense of postmodern language deconstruction well I would postmodernist want to deconstruct language because they don't like what the Bible says so they deconstruct the Bible to give room for their pet sins and tolerances so let's go back to our original question what was the original question why parables why on that day did Jesus shift to parables go back to Matthew 13 verse 10 the disciples came and said to him why do you speak to them in parables there's the question I didn't invent the question that's the question why why are you doing this Lord why are you doing this listen to his answer verse 11 to you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven but to them it has not been granted what what are you saying I speak in parables so they cannot understand did you get that it's not given to them to understand if I keep speaking clear truth they will if I speak parables they won't do you know why Jesus taught in parables it was a judgment it was a judgment on willful hard-hearted unbelief for whoever has to him more shall be given and he will have an abundance that's you disciples but whoever doesn't have even what he has shall be taken away from him therefore I speak to them in parables because while seeing they do not see while hearing they do not hear do they understand this is a judgment listen when you hear somebody say we need to speak in parables to make things clear to unbelievers that is the opposite that Jesus intended when he gave the parables they were designed to hide the truth and by the way this is connected to Isaiah six Isaiah knows the judgment is coming he has a vision of God he feels inadequate he says I'm a man of unclean lips I'd dwell amidst people of unclean lips and an angel takes a tongue and his vision cleanses his tongue and he's purified and the Lord says who will go whom shall i send he says here am I send me and the Lord says okay you're the man you go and you preach judgment go preach judgment go preach judgment then God says this to him tell the people this keep on hearing but you will not understand keep on seeing but you will not perceive the heart of this people has become dull their ears is scarcely here their eyes they've closed otherwise they would see with their eyes hear with their ears understand with their heart return and I would heal them go tell the people this go tell the people judgments coming judgments coming and listen they will not understand so this is exact application of this in the first century Jesus is saying I am now speaking in terms that they cannot understand and by the way he extended that on the day of Pentecost first he spoke in stories they couldn't understand and then he spoke in a language they couldn't understand this is a judgment this is a judgment but to them verse 11 it has not been granted but to you it has been granted so the Lord had to explain the parables even to them what is an illustration without a point you don't know what it means unless you know the point you don't know the meaning of the illustrate it's a riddle and apart from such an explanation they wouldn't have had any idea what it meant either the parables do illustrate spiritual truth when they are explained by the giver of the parable but but in a sense they they have a primary role of judgment a primary role of judgment so for unbelievers they are not clear they are not clear they hide truth in riddles this is a judgment on final unbelief this is why Jesus taught in parables judgment on those who rejected his clear teaching now let me add a note parables were also mercy there there's a mercy element in this judgment because if he keeps speaking to the crowds in clear unmistakable terms and keeps explaining scripture and proclaiming objective doctrinal truths their culpability increases so there is within the judgment of speaking in riddles and parables both a curse and a mercy concealing truth is a judgment tempered with mercy so that he doesn't add guilt upon guilt upon guilt upon guilt upon guilt but for those who had ears to hear he explained the parables but even the disciples wouldn't know what they meant if our Lord didn't explain them how would they ever know but for the hard-hearted parables were a judgment they were a divine judgment on that day that day in Galilee that Sabbath day the Lord rendered a judgment and you remember don't you that the father had committed all judgment to the son and the son could drop the hammer of judgment when he knew it was appropriate to be dropped think about it there is not another parable in the entire New Testament told by anyone but Jesus because parables are for judgment and only Jesus can render that judgment you don't have the Apostle Paul going into a city and rendering a judgment on that city by speaking in things they can't understand because he is not the judge parables are confined there not even any of them in John there are forty parables there all Matthew Mark and Luke they are confined to the ministry of Jesus Christ because they are acts of divine judgment which only he can render his parables are the same today for believers they illustrate the truth because we understand them how do we understand them because they're explained to us and I'll even go beyond that because we understand the whole of scripture because we understand the whole gospel because we understand salvation even when we don't have a recorded explanation we understand the parables not because we've been given some mystical insight but because listen carefully all parables are about the gospel all 40 are about the gospel they're all about salvation and if you understand salvation in its fullness and its richness and by the way the more you understand the fullness and richness of salvation the more you will understand the parables and you could take any aspect of salvation any aspect of the gospel and whatever aspect of the gospel is relate in a parable if you know the Word of God your understanding of the gospel truth far outstrips the parable the simplicity of the parable listen there are 40 parables they're all about the gospel and nothing but the gospel not about parenting so what about the Good Samaritan the Good Samaritan what about the Good Samaritan lookup any website on social justice I care what it is let's go down the list anybody advocating reallocation of wealth helping the poor doing whatever is under the category of social justice and you will inevitably find the parable on the Good Samaritan who was walking down the road and even though he was an alien in terms of social relations he saw this guy beaten up and bloodied that the priest and the Levite had passed and he went over bound up his wounds and took care of him put him in an inn paid for it said he'd come back and pay more this is this is what we need to do we need to go down the road and find the people bruised and bleeding the arrived and and we need to give them some help and that's that's what that's about well one of them more noteworthy treatments of that I read on the on the website was look he was a he was a very superficial Good Samaritan if he really was a real good Samaritan he'd be back on the road every day this would be his life he would be a road guide he would stay there he would get up in the morning go to the road and just try to find people who were lying around beaten up by the robbers on the road this wouldn't have been a one-time thing a one-time thing doesn't cut it that's not a good Samaritan that's a good start but that if he doesn't keep going the and and they extrapolate there that this one went on to say by the way and that isn't even enough you you can't be on the road all the time the very fact that that stuff goes on the road means there's the problem in Jerusalem so if you really are a good Samaritan you get into power of system of Jerusalem and you start lobbying the Sanhedrin and you get in there and you you make sure that they get some protection on that road and you make sure that they get some food to the people who are beating up other people to steal their money and that if you really follow the Good Samaritan and you want to be a complete Good Samaritan you change the entire economics of the culture the social culture and then there's no need for a good Samaritan let me tell you some that parable has nothing to do with helping poor people get on their economic feet that parable is about self righteous damnation it's a salvation story it's a story of what is what is true salvation and how does it manifest itself but again sloppy thinking and sloppy preaching and writing about the parables is is legion all parables are gospel illustrations and of course the non-believer who doesn't understand salvation who reject salvation doesn't get the meaning of the parable so they get turned into some kind of sentimental stories some kind of other perspective all parables are doctrinal theological soteriological propositional truth all of them to those who understand them all parables are more than propositional truth but nevertheless all truth is understood by logic and no truth is understood by emotion no truth is understood by sentiment no truth is understood by feeling all truth is apprehended by a rational grasp of facts that are put together in a reasonable argument leading to an ultimate truth what this is what we do every sermon is an argument I've been arguing with you today I've been presenting an argument I've been making a defense of how to understand parables based on facts we've gone through the fact the facts are all coming out of the scripture right we've gone to Matthew 13 we've gone to mark 4 we look to Luke 12 and we said here are the facts that lead to this inescapable conclusion about parables all preaching is rational all preaching demands logical process and propositions or facts are the building blocks of logic and the tools of reason and if you're a Bible teacher the facts come out of the text simply stated assertions of reality in a progressive combination coming to a final conclusion and the final conclusion that I want to leave you with is that what nobody in the world understands you do understand listen to first Corinthians 2:7 we speak God's wisdom in a mystery the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood if they understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory they didn't understand it but they couldn't understand it and God desired that they crucify his son for our Redemption just as it is written things which eye has not seen ear has not heard have not entered the heart of man all that God has prepared for those who what who what who love him we love him and he opens all the truth to us [Music] to order your copy of Jon's new book parables the mysteries of God's kingdom revealed through the stories Jesus told contact grace to you by calling 888 five seven grace or visiting our website gty org you

Channel: Grace to You

Views: 30,697

Keywords: John MacArthur, Bible, Preaching, Christianity, Expository, Exposition, Sermon, Jesus, Christ

Id: 2jffkuOU6FU

Length: 28min 30sec (1710 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 22 2018