Tuesday: The Reason for the Parables
Daily Lesson for Tuesday 23rd of July 2024
Read Mark 4:10-12. Why did Jesus teach in parables?
A surface reading of these verses gives the impression that Jesus taught in parables to keep outsiders in the dark. But such a perspective does not fit with Jesus’ actions elsewhere in Mark. In Mark 3:5-6, Jesus is grieved by the hard hearts of the religious leaders. In Mark 3:22-30, Jesus takes the arguments of the scribes seriously and explains in detail why they are mistaken.
Image © Jim Howard at Goodsalt.com
In Mark 12:1-12, the religious leaders understand that Jesus’ parable of the tenants is about them. It is actually a warning of where their plot against Him is heading and the terrible consequences to follow. If He had no concern for them, He would not warn them. Consequently, Jesus’ words here in Mark 4:1-41 need a closer look in order to recognize what His point is. Jesus is paraphrasing Isaiah 6:9-10.
Read Isaiah 6:1-13. What happens to Isaiah here, and what is the message he is given to take to Israel?
Isaiah sees a vision of God in the temple and is overwhelmed by God’s glory and his own uncleanness. God cleanses him and commissions him with a shocking message. Just like Mark, it sounds out of step with the rest of Isaiah where there is much comfort for God’s people.
In Isaiah 6:1-13 the message is meant to shock the people awake so they will turn from their evil ways. In Mark the key for understanding Jesus’ words is found in Mark 3:35. To understand Jesus’ words and teachings, one must do the will of God (Mark 3:35). This brings that person into the family of Jesus. Those who have already decided that Jesus is possessed by the devil will not listen.
The point of Jesus’ quotation from Isaiah 6:1-13 is not that God is keeping people out but that their own preconceived ideas and hardness of heart prevent them from accepting the saving truth.
This truth is the overarching concept of the parable of the sower. Each one chooses what type of soil to be. All decide for themselves whether or not they will surrender to Jesus. In the end, we each choose.
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I hesitate to use my health situation as an illustration but I think it is appropriate for this morning's study. As most of our readers know, I received a diagnosis that I have cancer. Interestingly, I am feeling fine. I can carry on my life as usual without any pain or tiredness. A standard screen test alerted my doctor that all was not well and it was not long after that that we learned I had cancer.
I could have ignored the message. I felt well, I could walk and photograph birds, and I could eat and enjoy my food. I could simply carry on as if nothing had happened. But it is my choice to listen to my doctors and put up with the pain of a major operation and a long recuperation period.
Jesus' message was essentially a warning that the cancer of sin was affecting his hearers. All would hear the words but some would say they felt fine and were not sick. Others would say they were tough and could look after themselves. It was their choice to act on the message of the parable.
Thank you, most appreciated.
Maurice, thank you for using your adversity to convey spiritual truth. Indeed we can choose how we relate to a poor outcome of a health evaluation. We can go into denial and ignore the warning, (much like many of the Pharisees did with Jesus's rebukes and warnings) or we can cooperate with the physician(s) to allow them to treat us and hopefully help us recover from a diagnosed condition. We must always remember that God does the healing, the doctors are actually Physician's Assistants to the Great Physician.
We will pray for your quick and complete healing and restoration. With Jehovah-Rapha as your primary "Physician ", you are in good hands Indeed. Shalom, my brother!
Many times this verse is hard to appreciate, but nevertheless it is true: Psalm 119:71
My paraphrase is “Problems are good for me bc they help me trust more in God”.
Good morning, I have a question on the book of Mark concerning the parables, is it possible some people's hearts are hardened by God like HE did to Pharaoh of Egypt??? Quick recovery man of God...Romans 8:28 says "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."
Freedom of choice: ultimately, we won't have the excuse that we did not have it.
"..if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve... But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Jos 24:15
"Parable-teaching was popular, commanded the respect and attention...No more effective method of instruction could He have employed. if His hearers had desired a knowledge of divine things they might have understood His words; for He was always willing to explain them to the honest inquirer." Christ's Object Lessons, page 21
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Have we allowed God to prepare our hearts to receive the Word? Yes, if we turn in prayerful communication with the One who can not only give us the desire to do His will but can also shock us out of complacency to His Word. "We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us." Philippians 2:13.
And, "Be anxious for nothing, but in prayer and supplication, let all your requests be known to God. And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7.
I like the word shock the author uses. He shocks us into the awareness of our condition of sinfulness. We turn to Him, not out of fear, being fully awake, we serve Him because we love Him.
Now, being fully awake, the seed falls on nicely plowed fertile soil. Our hearts out of choice have become receptive to the Masters calling. We are born of the Spirit and the water. The seed grows healthy to maturity.
Jesus is the thief who can bind up the strong ‘man’ to raid his house. Satan is the ‘man’ bound and we currently exist in his ‘house’. (Mark 3:27) Only God can bind Satan and He is willing to work through us.
Christ is God and came to earth to demonstrate how God works. “… Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.“ (Zach 4:6) Even in the full armor of God, only the ‘sword’ is an offensive device. We are instructed that the sword is God’s word. (Eph 6: 13-16)
Christ overcame Satan by refusing to give into Satan’s temptations and snares. We need to choose Christ and give (to/through Him) up our sins, weaknesses and temptations that we might be transformed to His character. Then He can work through us and we would be able to help harvest His ‘plunder’ from the strong man’s house.
Jesus was a masterful teacher. He often used stories as "word pictures" in His sermons and teachings. It seems to me that the common, less educated, (or less indoctrinated) people responded well to His word picture parables. Possibly because they were more visual learners. Meanwhile it seems that the more educated Pharisees and Scribes were more verbal learners for that is primarily the way they were taught. Many of them didn't always get Jesus's parables, though at times they did because they knew that He was speaking of them. Jesus didn't speak over people's heads by using fancy theological terms, but rather spoke deep theological concepts in abstract form through parables.
It's almost like He's playing the "Riddler" and giving messages that are encoded. He specifically said why He taught this way;
"Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: “You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.” For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’ But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.
– Matthew 13:10-16
For those who believed that they were spiritually well but were not He reserved His strongest rebukes. He came to heal blind eyes and deaf ears not just physically but spirituality too. Those who realized their need of forgiveness and a greater understanding of the kingdom of God, they "got it". To those that hungered and thirsted for righteousness their needs were satisfied. Those that thought they had already attained and understood obviously "didn't get it".
It was almost as if Jesus was separating the sheep from the goats through His teachings. The sheep are revealed through their receptiveness to His teachings. The goats are revealed through their resistance to them.
Which side do we find ourselves on? That is a question we all can answer.
Lord, please make me a sheep in your pasture.
You find that most learned people ,let's take for example presidents of great nation fail to know the correct way of worship.They may have been taught on that but they lack spiritual guidance to accept and embrace the right day of worship.What do we do about them? Let them perish in their ignorance?
No way!!! We are to pray for them and give an answer for our belief when called upon!
1 Timothy 2:1-4; Daniel 4:27
Christ used parables in the context of their lives then. Should they have taken time to listen keenly they would correctly have understood the meaning with the help of the holy spirit.
Even today Jesus does not like to spoon feed us... he wants us to chew on his word. Only the interested to learn and grow will do this. Much like food. We need to chew and digest it for it to bring growth to our bodies.
May the Lord grant us hunger for his word
Amen! Not only does God want us to chew our physical food properly, but also the spiritual food, too. Matthew 4:4
Having read all your comments, it seems to me that God always is operating His active part in view of our decisions.Those who have chosen their own way, God gives them up to the consequences of their choice. (Romans 1:24) This would correspond to God`s active part in allowing hearts to harden, similar to a heart as troden trample path. (Mark 4:4.15) Those who are allowing God to create a new heart within (Ezekiel 36:26-27), He will allow that good soil to produce good harvest. (Mark 4:20; Galations 5:22) In co-operation with God we also have our active Part to play. (1 Corinthians 3:6)
The ground of operation is our family, our church and our neigbourhood. The whole world is the operative Ground of our world wide church.
Winfried Stolpmann