9/15/13 Justin about 30
Why
did Jesus teach with parables so often?
I brought a parable – the one about the wheat and the weeds from Matthew
13 – to our local coffee shop to see what people thought of it. There I found a man named Justin, an
accountant, who was reading a novel. “I
don’t mean to bother you but I’m from a local church and I’d like to get your
reaction to this parable of Jesus” “Uh, I’m
not really sure what a parable is.” he said. Justin told me that he really didn’t have any
religious background growing up and hadn’t really cared enough to learn more
about religion as an adult, so I responded, “No problem! It’s just a story about everyday
things designed to make a point about spiritual things, so I’ll read it to you
and just tell me what you think it means.
Justin agreed, so I read it and then he read it on his own before
venturing an opinion. “I think the wheat
represents us and the weeds represent the bad influences around us that we need
to guard against.” was his answer. Then he asked “How about you, what do you
think it means?” “Well, it’s interesting
that this is one of the few parables in the Bible where Jesus actually gives
His intended meaning. His disciples later
asked Him what it meant so He explained it here” – and I read His reply: “The one
who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is
the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds
are the people of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The
harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. As the weeds are pulled up and
burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The
Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out
of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will
throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing
of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun
in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.”
This led to a longer conversation about
how sinful people can actually be made “righteous” in God’s eyes – and I also
had the chance to explain what I believe to be one of Jesus’ purposes for
parables. “Not everyone who hears Jesus’
parables care enough to stick around long enough to figure out what they mean. The people Jesus explained it to were his
disciples, because they asked him about it later. It’s a way of giving the truth only to those
who really want to hear it.” Justin
received all this graciously along with some extra gospel literature I gave
him, but as I walked away I could see him turning back to his novel. “Whoever
has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have,
even what they have will be taken from them. This is why
I speak to them in parables: “Though seeing, they do not see; though
hearing, they do not hear or understand.”
(Matt 13:12-13)
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