Bible Training Center
Section 3.0 – Parables: Fundamental Building Blocks Of The Bible
introduction & articles
introduction
the whole truth
To understand the Bible’s parables is critical to understanding the Bible. The fact that parables exist in the Bible, and that Jesus spoke with parables to the people (not some of the time, but all of the time) is actually a parable. When you understand why parables are employed in the Bible, you will have discovered the key to understanding the whole Bible for yourself.
When Jesus spoke to the people with parables, He knew most of them would not understand. In fact, His disciples didn’t understand the parables either. That form of teaching seems to us to be counter-intuitive. Our teaching plan would be to deliver our message as clearly and directly as possible so our students would understand. Jesus explains His rationale to the disciples when they asked Him the meaning of the parable of the sower.
10 And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”
11 Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted.
12 “For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.
13 “Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.
14 “In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, ‘YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT
UNDERSTAND; YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE;
15 FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL, WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES, OTHERWISE THEY WOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES, HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART [ we understand with our heart] AND RETURN, AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.’
16 “But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear.
17 “For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” (Matthew 13:10-17)
So we see that Jesus spoke in parables, no so they would not understand, but they did not understand because their hearts were not able to understand. Therefore, if we change the attitude of our heart our spiritual eyes and ears will be opened and we will understand the parables.
There is a parable in Jesus’ explanation of the parable to the disciples. Jesus is showing us how His disciples will come to understand the parables of the Bible. When Jesus explained this parable and the others to the disciples He did so in the role of the Holy Spirit. Just as Jesus explained the parables to the disciples, the Holy Spirit explains the meaning of the Bible to His disciples today. Understanding the parables of the Bible is to understand the Bible for yourself as it is revealed to you by the Holy Spirit.
Section 3.0 - Articles
A question I would very often ask of the Lord as I studied the Bible is, “Why were the stories of people and events that are recorded in the Bible chosen out of all the stories from the history of mankind?” The Chinese people were in existence at least as early as 3,500 BC. Other peoples also populated the earth during the time period covered in the Bible.
Cooking is one of my passions. I enjoy doing it, not just the time preparing a meal, but the whole process of cooking … meal planning … food shopping … all of it. While I’m not a gourmet chef, just a cook, I’m enticed by the creativity of cooking … and the immediate feedback. Even if I’m cooking only for my wife and myself, we eat it, and if it’s a new dish we decide if it is worth making again.
The principle of commonality says that the more common something is the less it is seen. Hiding something among a lot of similar objects is far better than trying to find an out-of-the-way place for safe keeping. Another principle, duality, tells us that the universe we live in is literally jam-packed with dual counterparts. Art, in all of its forms, incorporates both of these principles which would place it in a category that could be called Common Duality.
Everything Jesus said had an underlying spiritual meaning … a hidden moral message. This is a true statement because Jesus spoke in parables. It isn’t that He spoke in parables on some occasions and not on others, He actually spoke in parables all of the time.
Jesus’ teaching method most likely made little or no sense to the disciples, and even less to the average Israelite. The disciples may have recognized that the people did not understand what Jesus meant, because He always spoke to the people in parables. This man who did all kinds of spectacular miracles was obviously sent from God, but He talked about things that seemed to be unimportant … like a farmer sowing seed.
Parables are critically important to understanding the Bible. Understanding parables and understanding the Bible are inseparable. Saying that another way: To understand the Bible is to understand its parables, and visa versa.
Physical & Spiritual
Parables are two-sided stories. There is the story itself which is often a simple folk story.