Why does Jesus speak in Parables?

[MatthewG]

no I’ve never been asked the question. Although I’ve been asked and wondered myself many times why everyone has a different revelation? How one verse or passage can be argued and debated countless different ways.

this is a lot of opinion but consider the “few there be that find the way” and how much it is debated “few” as being good “respectful”; yet in the same breath boasting “we are the light”…doesn’t light illuminate the way so how is it so few find the way? Because who hides their light under a bushel but instead sets it where others coming into the house can see the way? So my question is are we shooting ourselves in the foot in cheering few find it in the same breath as claiming to be that light?

John 16:22 Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one [will] take your joy away from you.
^interesting to me is the no one will take your joy from you. With the passage you quoted on they will have in abundance and those who don’t have …even what they do have will be taken away from them. To me, it seems like a condemnation on takers and givers “given to you is to know the mysteries of God” and who are those mysterious given to? The poor, the outcasts, the despised, the rejected…those excluded of men but received of God? Which seems to be the topic of John 16:22-33. “These things I have spoken in figurative language; an hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language but will tell you plainly of the Father. In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say that I will request of the Father on your behalf …for the Father Himself loves you because you have believed that I came forth from the Father.

then their declaration: now you speak plainly, we believe!

“do you now believe?” He asked them.
Then “behold an hour is coming, and has [already] come for you to be scattered.

that in Me you might have peace (reconciliation). All the above of “an hour is coming, and now is” makes me consider the woman by the well who was outcast and went off at odd times to draw water, and how he met her there in the way, to her surprise and astonishment “offering her Living water” but it is His words here that stand out:
John 4:23-24 But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship him. [24] God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Which leads back (Imo) to 1 Corinthians 2:12-14

Still I get that doesn’t answer why proverbs, or parables? except maybe so that blessed is “for flesh and blood has not revealed it unto you, but my Father which is in heaven” Matthew 16:15-17, 1 Corinthians 1:26-28.

That you your taking time to share your insights,

In Matthew 13 it seems to be the reason is because it was to fulfill the old testament scriptures that talk about the Lord.

And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: ‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, And seeing you will see and not perceive; For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.’ But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, 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.”

There is also a scripture that Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. Luke 18:31 that would indicate another reason why he would speak in parables.

Many times he spoke against that sinful and adulterous generation back then.

 

[Cassandra]

The use of figurative language such as parables and metaphors forces the listener to think about what the speaker says, which I have to conclude is what Jesus wants.

The power of Parables can open your eyes - and blind those who say they can see.

(Bonus points to anyone who identifies the song I’m alluding to.)

The song by Disturbed?

 

[Lambano]

The song by Disturbed?

Ooo, now you got me curious. Which song of their’s are you thinking of?

( I’d never heard of Disturbed, but I Googled them and see they did a cover of Simon and Garfunkel’s The Sound of Silence. Hmmm.)

 

[Ronald Nolette]

Though I have never been asked the question, or have asked the question other than today.

Google just lead me back to the Bible anyway.


“And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: ‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, And seeing you will see and not perceive; For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.’ But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, 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 ‭NKJV‬‬
Matthew 13:10-17 And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to t | New King James Version (NKJV) | Download The Bible App Now


Seems their is an answer for most questions founded in the Bible!

YOu hit the nail on the head! Jesus up to that point had spoken openly and clearly and without any parables. In Matt. 12 the nation was faced to answer "Who is Jesus". by doing all the miracles, and especially the three Messianic Miracles that was taught for generations that only Messiah could perform- The people asked the pharisees rhetorically- This is the Messiah isn't it? Because it was the very same pharisees who taught them when someone comes who heals Jewish lepers, heals a man born blind and casts a demon out of a deaf dumb man- that is the Messiah! The rulers openly rejected Jesus so Jesus revoked the kingdom to that generation, and then inpublic taught in parables.

 

[Davy]

Hello Davy,

To me because they were able to understand was that reason because of them being chosen by the Lord Jesus Christ? That after his death and resurrection, when afterward the holy spirit had dropped out, they learned from each other by reminding themselves of what they had seen and heard from the Lord? They did not understand right away, only when the holy spirit had become, with-in them?

Didn't Jesus something to the effect that the Kingdom of God is in your midst, or with-in you?

Christ's Apostles belonged to The Father originally, and The Father gave them to Jesus. You can read about that in Christ's prayer of John 17. Jesus 'sent' His Apostles, and said they were not of this world, like He was not of this world. The word Apostle is what the idea of a chosen sent one means. In John 17, Lord Jesus said He prayed not only for those, but also for those who would believe by their word (i.e, their preaching of The Gospel). So Lord Jesus revealed 2 groups in His Church, His chosen sent ones, and then those called who would believe. He prayed that both would become one in Him and The Father.

One of the reasons for such strong arguments among brethren about the idea of election is because of how Jesus setup a chosen elect over His Church that He owns and can direct as He wills, and then those called only that believe by their preaching, but the called He will intercede in their lives only when asked. Apostle Paul is the strongest example of a chosen sent one, because before Jesus converted him on the road to Damascus, Paul had been a Pharisee persecuting the Church.

Christ's chosen in His service cannot... be deceived, not by the devil, nor by any man nor any thing. They are already owned. This is how Jesus could promise His Apostles they each would sit on a throne judging the 12 tribes of Israel in His future Kingdom. For the rest of us who believe but are called only, we must be tested through trials and tribulation.

Kingdom Within:

The future world to come will involve what kind of bodies, per Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 and 2 Corinthians 5? A "spiritual body". In Genesis 6:3, God said Adam was "also flesh", meaning also flesh and what else? In 1 Corinthians 5:5, Apostle Paul condemned the member of that Church that was sleeping with his own mother, and said to send him to Satan for the destruction of his flesh (cast out of the Church), so his 'spirit' may be saved in the day of The Lord Jesus (i.e., Christ's future "thousand years" reign of Rev.20).

In John 5:28-29, Lord Jesus showed that both the "resurrection of life" and the "resurrection of damnation" will happen on the day of His return.

And for those of us still on earth at Christ's 2nd coming, on the last trumpet (7th), Paul showed we all will be changed, at the twinkling of an eye. Paul was actually pulling from Isaiah 25 which 'hints' about this future event of being changed to the spiritual body on earth.

Well, here some news for those who haven't figured this out per Scripture yet. We already have... inside our flesh body, a spirit body. That is what Paul was talking about in 2 Corinthians 5, saying while in this body (flesh) we are absent from The Lord. And that if this flesh body were dissolved, we have another body not made with hands (i.e., not flesh), but eternal in the heavens (a spiritual body like the angels). It points to this present flesh world being only temporary, and that it is not our true home.

By Faith on The Father through His Son Jesus Christ's Blood shed upon His cross, our spirit inside our flesh is made anew, what Paul called a "new creature". That is by God's Spirit. And that is how Lord Jesus meant that the Kingdom is within us now, meaning for those who believe. But His coming literal Kingdom on earth won't come until it's time for Him to return and take literal reign over all... nations on earth. In that time, it will manifest in Spirit, but here on earth. If you are still alive, your flesh will simply be cast off at the twinkling of an eye, and the heavenly will be revealed right here on earth. That will to happen also for the wicked, they will 'see' it too here on earth.

Many struggle with understanding this difference between flesh and spirit, like Nicodemus did in John 3.

 

[amadeus]

Seems their is an answer for most questions found in the Bible!

I would hazard to say that there is an answer not just to most, but to all questions which according to God need an answer. Part of the understanding of this lies in who is asking and why he is asking.

"Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts." James 4:3

What is amiss [improper] to God? Certainly the old man of us asking for his own selfish reasons.
For God there is a time to be silent [Ecc3:1,7]. The use of parables by Jesus answers those who need an answer but remains silent to those who might ask amiss!

 

[Cassandra]

Ooo, now you got me curious. Which song of their’s are you thinking of?

( I’d never heard of Disturbed, but I Googled them and see they did a cover of Simon and Garfunkel’s The Sound of Silence. Hmmm.)

Called "Open My Eyes." They are pretty Goth. Used to listen to them back in the day. KoRn was my favorite group back then. Now I mostly listen to the standard hymns and Gregorian Chant, which I love. One of my favorites:

 

[farouk]

Called "Open My Eyes." They are pretty Goth. Used to listen to them back in the day. KoRn was my favorite. Now I mostly listen to the standard hymns and Gregorian Chant, which I love. I don't listen to any about Mary, but the other ones are wonderful/ One of my favorites:

Hi @Cassandra You might like the group Gregorian which did a lot of tracks with Amelia Brightman (if not all the words)...

 

[Pearl]

Have you ever been ask this question?

Cause I know I haven’t. How would you answer this question?

I think it might be because not everyone would 'get' it but only those who had there spiritual eyes opened would understand. Also it would give people something to think about and talk about when they went away. A story is more memorable than a lecture.

 

[MatthewG]

Christ's Apostles belonged to The Father originally, and The Father gave them to Jesus. You can read about that in Christ's prayer of John 17. Jesus 'sent' His Apostles, and said they were not of this world, like He was not of this world. The word Apostle is what the idea of a chosen sent one means. In John 17, Lord Jesus said He prayed not only for those, but also for those who would believe by their word (i.e, their preaching of The Gospel). So Lord Jesus revealed 2 groups in His Church, His chosen sent ones, and then those called who would believe. He prayed that both would become one in Him and The Father.

One of the reasons for such strong arguments among brethren about the idea of election is because of how Jesus setup a chosen elect over His Church that He owns and can direct as He wills, and then those called only that believe by their preaching, but the called He will intercede in their lives only when asked. Apostle Paul is the strongest example of a chosen sent one, because before Jesus converted him on the road to Damascus, Paul had been a Pharisee persecuting the Church.

Christ's chosen in His service cannot... be deceived, not by the devil, nor by any man nor any thing. They are already owned. This is how Jesus could promise His Apostles they each would sit on a throne judging the 12 tribes of Israel in His future Kingdom. For the rest of us who believe but are called only, we must be tested through trials and tribulation.

Kingdom Within:

The future world to come will involve what kind of bodies, per Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 and 2 Corinthians 5? A "spiritual body". In Genesis 6:3, God said Adam was "also flesh", meaning also flesh and what else? In 1 Corinthians 5:5, Apostle Paul condemned the member of that Church that was sleeping with his own mother, and said to send him to Satan for the destruction of his flesh (cast out of the Church), so his 'spirit' may be saved in the day of The Lord Jesus (i.e., Christ's future "thousand years" reign of Rev.20).

In John 5:28-29, Lord Jesus showed that both the "resurrection of life" and the "resurrection of damnation" will happen on the day of His return.

And for those of us still on earth at Christ's 2nd coming, on the last trumpet (7th), Paul showed we all will be changed, at the twinkling of an eye. Paul was actually pulling from Isaiah 25 which 'hints' about this future event of being changed to the spiritual body on earth.

Well, here some news for those who haven't figured this out per Scripture yet. We already have... inside our flesh body, a spirit body. That is what Paul was talking about in 2 Corinthians 5, saying while in this body (flesh) we are absent from The Lord. And that if this flesh body were dissolved, we have another body not made with hands (i.e., not flesh), but eternal in the heavens (a spiritual body like the angels). It points to this present flesh world being only temporary, and that it is not our true home.

By Faith on The Father through His Son Jesus Christ's Blood shed upon His cross, our spirit inside our flesh is made anew, what Paul called a "new creature". That is by God's Spirit. And that is how Lord Jesus meant that the Kingdom is within us now, meaning for those who believe. But His coming literal Kingdom on earth won't come until it's time for Him to return and take literal reign over all... nations on earth. In that time, it will manifest in Spirit, but here on earth. If you are still alive, your flesh will simply be cast off at the twinkling of an eye, and the heavenly will be revealed right here on earth. That will to happen also for the wicked, they will 'see' it too here on earth.

Many struggle with understanding this difference between flesh and spirit, like Nicodemus did in John 3.

Hello Davy,
I agree with a lot of things you had to offer from scripture. I would agree with you to that we now have a spiritual body, also the Holy Spirit and the spirit of Christ also. That one day when we leave this world we will go on to be resurrected in our new spiritual body which we built up while we are here on earth.

 

[MatthewG]

I think it might be because not everyone would 'get' it but only those who had there spiritual eyes opened would understand. Also it would give people something to think about and talk about when they went away. A story is more memorable than a lecture.

Thank you for sharing that Pearl, you are right, a story is always much more memorable than a lecture. Thought now you got me curious to know what the definition is to lecture. Maybe I’ll take a look when I get home in my Webster’s dictionary. Thank you again.

I would hazard to say that there is an answer not just to most, but to all questions which according to God need an answer. Part of the understanding of this lies in who is asking and why he is asking.

"Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts." James 4:3

What is amiss [improper] to God? Certainly the old man of us asking for his own selfish reasons.
For God there is a time to be silent [Ecc3:1,7]. The use of parables by Jesus answers those who need an answer but remains silent to those who might ask amiss!

Thank you for sharing your insights here Amadeus! You would be right the mysteries of God and answers are founded in the Bible indeed friend.

 

[MatthewG]

YOu hit the nail on the head! Jesus up to that point had spoken openly and clearly and without any parables. In Matt. 12 the nation was faced to answer "Who is Jesus". by doing all the miracles, and especially the three Messianic Miracles that was taught for generations that only Messiah could perform- The people asked the pharisees rhetorically- This is the Messiah isn't it? Because it was the very same pharisees who taught them when someone comes who heals Jewish lepers, heals a man born blind and casts a demon out of a deaf dumb man- that is the Messiah! The rulers openly rejected Jesus so Jesus revoked the kingdom to that generation, and then inpublic taught in parables.

Roland thank you so much for sharing your insights, thank you. You brought for a memory of when the Pharisees and Scribes in that generation considered Jesus the King of Demons. Could you imagine that type of mindset in seeing healings and miracles and yet considering the one who healing some type of monster?

 

[Davy]

Hello Davy,
I agree with a lot of things you had to offer from scripture. I would agree with you to that we now have a spiritual body, also the Holy Spirit and the spirit of Christ also. That one day when we leave this world we will go on to be resurrected in our new spiritual body which we built up while we are here on earth.

Keep studying, because the Heavenly dimension is going to be revealed right here, upon this earth, as it once was per Genesis 2.

Did you not realize in Genesis 2 that God walked in His Garden of Eden that was... upon this earth then? When Adam and Eve sinned, then He moved His Eden ('Paradise' in the Greek Old Testament Septuagint), to the Heavenly dimension where it is now, with Him (Genesis 3:24).

Per Isaiah 45:18, God said He create this earth to be inhabited. This is why in the Book of Isaiah He showed that in His future Kingdom here on earth, we will build houses and plant vineyards.

 

[Marymog]

Have you ever been ask this question?

Cause I know I haven’t. How would you answer this question?

Parables were a common method of teaching used by Rabbis and prophets in the ancient world (see 2 Sam. 12:1-9). It was a teaching style well known and accepted.

Jesus spoke in parables to make the Kingdom of God more easily understood by the people. Often times when trying to explain something using a story to illustrate the point is the most effective way to communicate the information. Parables invite the listener into the story. Which character do we identify with and why?

 

[Bob Carabbio]

Have you ever been ask this question?

Cause I know I haven’t. How would you answer this question?

Simple - He STARTED speaking in parables AFTER the Jewish leaders Accused Him of being SATAN'S AGENT, and speaking SATAN'S WORDS. HE spoke parables so as not to ADD TO THE GUILT of those who would reject Him - i.e. He stopped "Casting his pearls before swine", and spoke in a manner whereby only those enlightened by the Holy Spirit could appreciate the message.

 

[Waiting on him]

Parables were a common method of teaching used by Rabbis and prophets in the ancient world (see 2 Sam. 12:1-9). It was a teaching style well known and accepted.

Jesus spoke in parables to make the Kingdom of God more easily understood by the people. Often times when trying to explain something using a story to illustrate the point is the most effective way to communicate the information. Parables invite the listener into the story. Which character do we identify with and why?

It was also a very good way to insult the Pharisees without literally calling them by name.

 

[Pythagorean12]

Lambano, thank you for sharing some of your thoughts. The talent is a very difficult one to understand but I believe it has to deal with us simply sharing the good, and truthful things from the bible when it comes to the spirit, almost similarly the parable of the seeds. I could be wrong though.



Hello Pythagorean12, is there a way that we can understand them today even so now?

I would say, yes . Just as when Jesus spoke in parables. Those then who were meant to understand, see the connections in the parables to realize the gospel message, did so by God's will.
Remember, no one comes to Jesus unless the father leads them.

I think those not meant to understand are at a loss to. Remember? The natural person can't understand the bible because its message has to be spiritually discerned?

How are we called, led, to Jesus? By Holy Spirit God.

 

[Robert Gwin]

hey Robert that is a JW Bible translation? What is the version called, ty

Yes sir, It is called the New World Translation, and here is a link to it for download or to read if you wish.

https://www.jw.org/en/library/bible/

https://www.jw.org/en/library/bible/study-bible/books/

 

[Robert Gwin]

hey Robert that is a JW Bible translation? What is the version called, ty

Yes sir, it is the New World Translation, I tried to give you links to it, but think they were rejected. You can download or read a copy at JW.org

 

[Robert Gwin]

Hello Gary, you are right about the words he used are important and if one decides to seek and learn from the story they will learn about something that is truly profound with in those stories.



Hello Robert,

Thank you for sharing what your take is on it. Seeking after God is important, and those who seek will be rewarded for doing so. Hebrews 11:6



Hello Lambano,
What do you mean? Can you explain a bit more about this to me?



Hello Davy,

To me because they were able to understand was that reason because of them being chosen by the Lord Jesus Christ? That after his death and resurrection, when afterward the holy spirit had dropped out, they learned from each other by reminding themselves of what they had seen and heard from the Lord? They did not understand right away, only when the holy spirit had become, with-in them?



Didn't Jesus something to the effect that the Kingdom of God is in your midst, or with-in you?

You are very welcome Matt