The disciples came to him and asked, ‘Why do you speak to the people in parables?’ Matthew 13:10
Hello and welcome everybody! In this post, we will explore the deeper purpose behind the parables Jesus shared with the crowds that gathered around Him. Last week, I introduced a new series titled “The Sower’s Seed”. It covers two impactful parables told by Jesus in Matthew 13.
Today, I am excited to present the first post in this series: “The Sower’s Seed: Exploring the Purpose of Parables.” Join me as we explore the significance of Jesus’ teaching method. We will uncover the mysteries He revealed to those who truly listened.
Why did Jesus speak in parables?
To understand the scriptures, we will be examining in this 10-part series on “The Sower’s Seed,” we need to uncover the reasons why Jesus chose to speak in parables. What significance do parables hold? Why did Jesus use them to communicate with the people around Him?
Let’s start with some scripture references:
What is a Parable? Understanding Jesus’ Teaching Method
If you’ve ever wondered what a ‘parable’ is, it’s essentially a simple, yet powerful, story meant to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson. Parables are made-up story designed to teach us something important. While they can sometimes be hard to understand, what I love about parables is that they tell a story in a way that is easy to remember.
When Jesus shared a parable, He was usually addressing a question that was on the minds of the people or challenging an attitude they were presenting. Parables serve to answer questions or address issues. Even though Jesus spoke to the people in parables, the church—designed to understand the deeper truths of His message—often missed the point. The church, positioned within God’s covenant, has been entrusted with the understanding of the mysteries of God’s kingdom. They have been given Jesus. He is with them every day, yet many fail to grasp the full meaning.
The church, which has the word of God in its hand, cannot tell the time of the day. They should have the wisdom to recognize the spiritual times we are in, but often, they do not. They have been given the gift of understanding Jesus’ message and the mysteries of the kingdom, yet some still struggle. Even the disciples, who were closest to Jesus, sought clarification from Him when they didn’t fully understand a parable. This shows us that even as followers of Christ, His teachings can sometimes seem unclear. What does that make us as followers of His Word?
Why, then, does Jesus speak to the crowd in parables? This is a question the disciples asked Jesus in Matthew 13:10. In verse 13, He answers them, saying, “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear.” In other words, the people have eyes but cannot perceive, and ears but cannot comprehend.
So, what is the deeper purpose of the parable?
Understanding the Purpose of Parables
The purpose of Jesus’ parables was to keep those who did not believe (unbelievers) outside the covenant of God. By speaking in parables, He kept them in the dark, preventing them from fully understanding and finding their way out. They have eyes but cannot see, and ears but cannot hear. To be part of the inner circle of God’s covenant, one must believe in the message of Christ. But belief in Jesus requires the gift of understanding the mysteries He shares. When we begin to understand His message, it brings faith.
Reference – Deuteronomy 29:2-6; Ezekiel 12:2; Jeremiah 5:21-22
The secrets of God’s Kingdom remain hidden from those who do not believe in Jesus. They will remain blind to them until their land is desolate. The message of the Lord is within our reach. However, the condition of our hearts often prevents us from fully understanding it.
The Condition of the Heart and Understanding:
The crowds represent a generation of people with hardened hearts and dull ears. Though God’s word has been given to them, they struggle to hear and understand it. Their hearts are hardened towards Jesus. This is why His message is often wrapped in layers of cloths, requiring a future generation to fully understand it. This is part of the reason Jesus came to the world—to reveal and unravel the mysteries surrounding God’s message.
The people have eyes but cannot see, and ears but cannot hear. This is the result of the state of their hearts. Their hearts are hardened to God’s word and need to be transformed. This transformation is referred to as the circumcision of the heart, a concept found in Romans 2:25-29 and Deuteronomy 10:12-13.
Cultivating a Heart of Submission:
Having a pure heart, set apart for God, refers to an inner transformation. The crowd that Jesus spoke to in parables represented a generation of rebellious people. They had little faith in God and no understanding of His word. Their inability to grasp the message of God was rooted in the state of their hearts. Understanding is ultimately an issue of the heart.
To have faith in God, as stated in Romans 10:17, one must first hear and understand the message of Jesus to the world—the seed scattered by the farmer. Therefore, our hearts must be pure to truly understand the message of the Son of God. The seed must fall on good soil to take root. So, how can the crowd have faith if they are not hearing or understanding the message of Christ Jesus?
How can we share the message of Christ with those who do not understand Him? The message of Christ must be preached to the entire world. But how can people receive it when their hearts are closed to His message?
Challenges in Preaching the Message of Christ
The crowd around Jesus represents a generation of rebellious individuals. These are people who do not have Christ in their hearts. They are unbelievers. In Mark 4:13, Jesus said to His disciples and the others, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable?” A parable is meant to be understood, but understanding begins with the condition of the heart. If the heart is hardened or closed, the message of Christ cannot take root.
Thus, the challenge is not just in preaching the message. It is also in addressing the condition of the heart. This allows people to receive and understand the truth of Christ.
Jesus used parables to illustrate heavenly truths in ways that we can understand on earth. His teachings reveal hidden truths that would otherwise remain beyond our understanding. When Jesus speaks in parables, He shields the truth from unbelievers. At the same time, He reveals it to believers. This allows those who have faith in Him to grasp what He is saying. This means that unbelievers are kept blind to the mysteries of God’s kingdom.
Their hearts are hardened, and they are unable to understand God’s word. This blindness prevents them from truly hearing the message. Those who reject Christ belittle His words before even hearing them. If unbelief resides in your heart, you will struggle to hear and understand the parables of Jesus. What will the unbelievers lose because of their unbelief? What do unbelievers stand to lose because of their lack of faith? They lose access to the Kingdom of God. But what is the Kingdom of God, and who will inherit it?
As Matthew 21:43 states, “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.” This passage reveals that those who do not believe and bear fruit will be excluded from the Kingdom. Those who embrace and live according to God’s word will inherit it.
So, how do you explain the word of God to someone who lacks faith? And what does John 3:16 say about our faith in Him as followers? John 3:16 provides a fundamental basis for our faith. It states, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” This passage speaks to the essence of salvation. We are promised eternal life through belief in Jesus, the Son of God.
Do we believe in Jesus? To truly believe in Jesus means to place our faith in His message and His person. We must believe in His word to have true faith in Jesus. To achieve this, we must understand the position of His message. If we are struggling to understand His message, it means we are full of unbelief.
The struggle to understand His message often highlights a deeper issue. We might find it hard to understand His teachings. This could suggest that our faith is not as deep as it could be. Understanding the message of Jesus is tied to the state of our hearts and our openness to God’s wisdom.
As believers in Christ, if we are struggling to understand His message, it’s an opportunity. We should use this opportunity to reflect on our own faith.
Revealing the Mysteries of the Kingdom of God
One of the primary purposes of Jesus’ parables was to reveal deeper truths about the Kingdom of God. What do we make of God’s word? How do we understand the profound message that Jesus came to share?
In Mark 4:10-13, we see a key moment when Jesus explains the purpose of His parables to His disciples:
"When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. He told them, 'The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside, everything is said in parables so that, ‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise, they might turn and be forgiven!’ Then Jesus said to them, 'Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable?'"
In this passage, Jesus makes it clear. The mysteries of the Kingdom of God are revealed to those who are part of His covenant—His followers. For those outside, the parables remain veiled, leaving them unable to fully perceive or comprehend the truth. The reason for this is that understanding God’s message requires a transformed heart, a willingness to seek and embrace the truth
Mark 4:34 further clarifies this, saying, “He did not say anything to them without using a parable.” When Jesus was alone with His disciples, He would explain the meaning of His parables. This provided them with a deeper understanding. This shows that those who were in covenant with Him were granted the privilege of understanding His message more fully. Others, however, remained in the dark. The disciples and the other people had to work on their hearts to understand the message Jesus carried. To truly understand God’s word, we must work on our hearts, allowing them to be shaped by the Holy Spirit.
How Parables Challenge Our Faith and Understanding
This is the most challenging part of Jesus’ mission—the world understanding His purpose. This idea of understanding is also part of the mystery surrounding Jesus’ birth, death, and resurrection. Jesus’ entire life was a living parable. It was a message wrapped in mystery. It intended to reveal the secrets of the Kingdom of God to those who were willing to listen, learn, and believe.
Jesus’ purpose on earth was to bring God’s word to a world that is in desperate need of His love. This is His purpose—to bring us His love. This mission sometimes feels impossible because the world struggles to understand who He is and what He represents. Yet, God sent His Son to us in the name of love. His mission was to restore the message of love that we have lost.
The Struggle to Understand Jesus’ Message:
The core of Jesus’ message is to help us understand the profound love of God. But even as followers of Christ, we struggle to fully understand His message. We may not have a natural inclination to love God, yet His message comes with love. So, what do we do as followers of Christ when we are faced with His love?
What do we do with the love that God sends us in the form of His word? This is a critical question we must ask ourselves. What do we do with Christ now that He is with us? What do we do with Him to achieve salvation? He came to us, and now we must respond to His love in a way that leads to salvation. We must understand the message that Jesus carries. And how do we do that?
To truly understand the message that Jesus carries, we must first open our hearts to it. We need to allow His love to transform us. To achieve salvation, we must not only hear His message but also embrace it fully. We should allow His love to guide every aspect of our lives.
Why Faith Is Essential to Understanding God’s Word:
How Do We Understand God’s Word? We understand God’s word by first understanding who Jesus is and what He represents. To truly comprehend His message, we must recognize the depth of His identity and the purpose behind His life. When we come to know who Jesus is, we begin to cherish His words in our hearts. We see them not just as teachings but as the expression of God’s love for us.
The purpose of God’s word is to bring us enlightenment in our darkened places. It sheds light on our misunderstandings and provides clarity in moments of confusion. His word lifts us from the weight of depression and despair, offering us hope and renewal.
His love for us is shown as the light thrown on our path to provide understanding, guidance, and hope. God’s love came to the world in the form of a man. He was born to us as a child and given to us as a Son. Jesus is the Son of God, and in Him is love.
At the core of this is God’s love for us, which is revealed through His word. It is like a light shining on our path, guiding us through life with understanding, guidance, and hope. God’s love entered the world through Jesus—He was born to us as a child, a son given for our salvation. Jesus, the Son of God, embodies that love. In Him, we find not only salvation. We also experience the fullness of God’s love. This love is the foundation for everything He teaches.
Understanding the Kingdom of God
The parables of Jesus reveal profound truths about the Kingdom of God. But what is God’s Kingdom really like? It is often likened to the hearts of men. In other words, the Kingdom of God resides within us and can only be accessed through a heart that is open to His Word. To enter God’s Kingdom, we must have an understanding of His message, which means we must be receptive to it. If our hearts are hardened to His Word, we will not enter His Kingdom.
To enter the Kingdom of God, we must first recognize Jesus as the Messiah. This recognition goes beyond just acknowledging His name—it involves truly understanding who He is and what He represents. To fully embrace Jesus and His message, we must open our hearts to His words, with a spirit of submission. This means surrendering ourselves to His teachings and allowing them to transform us.
But how do we cultivate this heart of submission? The answer lies in understanding the Gospel of Jesus.
We can only share what we truly know. For many, the knowledge we possess is often limited to the basic existence of the Kingdom of God. It is not a true understanding of its nature and depth. To speak of the Kingdom with authority, we must first seek to understand it fully.
So, what is the Kingdom of God and what does it entail? This is the very essence of the message Jesus conveys through His parables. Jesus uses parables to teach us about the nature of this Kingdom. He explains how it operates and who will inherit it. He also teaches what it means to live in accordance with God’s will.
The Importance of Having a Receptive Heart:
The key to entering the Kingdom of God is the readiness of our hearts to receive His Word. Our willingness to accept and understand what Jesus teaches determines our access to this Kingdom. This is where Jesus plays a pivotal role.
To reject the Word of God is essentially to reject Jesus. And rejecting Jesus means rejecting God’s presence in our lives. God sent His Son to the world to address the deepest needs of humanity, to offer us salvation and reconciliation. So, when we reject Jesus, we are rejecting God’s loving offer of deliverance.
It is illogical and hypocritical to claim we seek God’s presence while rejecting His Son and disregarding His Word. If we do not listen to the teachings of Jesus, how can we truly say we are pursuing a relationship with God? To truly invite God’s presence, we must first welcome Jesus. He is the way, the truth, and the life. We must also embrace the message He brought to us.
The Inseparable Nature of God’s Word and His Kingdom:
You cannot reject God’s Word and simultaneously ask for His presence, because His Word is His presence. How can we reject the word of God and still ask for His presence? The message that Jesus carries is not merely words—it is God Himself among us. Jesus is the embodiment of God’s message, and through Him, we are brought into the understanding of God’s Kingdom. To seek the Kingdom of God without embracing His Word is impossible, because the Kingdom and the message are inseparable. The message of Jesus comes with the Kingdom; you cannot separate them. It is not a matter of picking and choosing what parts of God we want to accept. We are either with God, embracing His Word and His Kingdom, or we are not.
This is why Jesus concluded the parable in Matthew 13:1-9 with the phrase, “Whoever has ears, let them hear.” It takes hearing with our ears to understand with our hearts. True understanding comes when we listen deeply and respond to God’s message with a receptive and humble heart.
Jesus emphasized this in Matthew 5:3, where He said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Those who recognize their spiritual need and are open to receiving God’s Word are the ones who enter the Kingdom.
In Mark 4:16-17, Jesus affirms the blessedness of those who can see and hear His message: “But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. Truly, I tell you, many prophets and righteous individuals longed to see what you see and hear what you hear, but they did not.” This passage highlights the unique privilege of those who can understand the truths of the Kingdom of God. They do this through the teachings of Jesus. It emphasizes that the revelation of God’s Kingdom is not just a matter of physical sight and hearing. It requires spiritual insight and understanding.
So, what do we truly know about the Kingdom of God?
To grasp the essence of the Kingdom of God, we must first understand the nature of the seed. The Sower scattered this seed in the field.
Conclusion: Embracing God’s Word and Entering the Kingdom
Understanding the message of Jesus and the profound love of God requires an open heart. It also needs a willingness to embrace His teachings. The parables of Jesus reveal the nature of God’s Kingdom. They emphasize that it resides within us and can only be accessed through a receptive heart. To truly follow God, we must recognize Jesus as the Messiah. We need to embrace His message, and allow His love to transform our lives. By doing so, we invite God’s presence and guidance, leading us to salvation and a deeper relationship with Him.
Call-to-Action
Do you have ears to hear and eyes to see the truths of God’s Kingdom? Reflect on how the message of Jesus is impacting your life today. Next week, we’ll dig deeper into The Scattered Seed—I encourage you to come back and continue this journey of understanding.
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Written by Eunice Forson
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The seed 