WHY PARABLES? TO DIVIDE INTO TWO
(Message by Tanny Keng)
1. Why Parables?
a) Jesus was a Master of the parable. In his teaching, Jesus used parables often and to great effect. Parables were a good way to teach and Jesus was good at telling them. However there were more reasons than that for Jesus’s use of parables.
2. To Divide Into Two
a) After telling the parable of the sower, Jesus was asked by his disciples the question from which our present lesson takes its title. They asked, "Why do you speak to them in parables?" (Matthew 13:10).
b) Jesus answered by quoting Isaiah, concerning people who have eyes but do not see, and have ears but do not hear (Matthew 13:11-17, Isaiah 6:8-10). In telling the parables, Jesus was bringing pressure to bear upon his listeners, to either open their spiritual eyes and ears and be enlightened, or to shut their eyes and ears tighter and be condemned.
c) The parables not only make people think, they also make people choose. They bring people out of the grey area into the clearly black or white. The parables were a winnowing fork for Jesus, by which he was able to separate the wheat from the chaff.
d) The parable of the sheep and the goats has this intention (Matthew 25:31-46). All who hear this story are forced to choose whether they will be among the sheep or the goats, and to be accountable for their decision.
The End ...
1. Why Parables?a) Jesus was a Master of the parable. In his teaching, Jesus used parables often and to great effect. Parables were a good way to teach and Jesus was good at telling them. However there were more reasons than that for Jesus’s use of parables.
2. To Divide Into Two
a) After telling the parable of the sower, Jesus was asked by his disciples the question from which our present lesson takes its title. They asked, "Why do you speak to them in parables?" (Matthew 13:10).
b) Jesus answered by quoting Isaiah, concerning people who have eyes but do not see, and have ears but do not hear (Matthew 13:11-17, Isaiah 6:8-10). In telling the parables, Jesus was bringing pressure to bear upon his listeners, to either open their spiritual eyes and ears and be enlightened, or to shut their eyes and ears tighter and be condemned.
c) The parables not only make people think, they also make people choose. They bring people out of the grey area into the clearly black or white. The parables were a winnowing fork for Jesus, by which he was able to separate the wheat from the chaff.
d) The parable of the sheep and the goats has this intention (Matthew 25:31-46). All who hear this story are forced to choose whether they will be among the sheep or the goats, and to be accountable for their decision.
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