Overheard on Christian Radio
Overheard on KFIA 4/08/02 about 6:00 p.m.
regarding Matthew 13:34 "All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in
parables, and He did
not
speak to them without a parable":
A scholarly gentleman with a soft British accent explains that Jesus spoke in parables in order to entertain the crowds with illustrative stories, mainly because they really had no other source of entertainment, and because without amplified sound systems, it’s hard to get your point across using heavy theological discourses. He feels that the church today has far too little stories. He feels that a good story takes time and practice to develop into a really engrossing and educational tool. First, you try it out on this crowd and see how they take it. Then you modify it based on their response, and try it on another crowd, and so on, until you have a smooth finished product capable of captivating any crowd. Jesus must have done the same, he figures. He certainly did not get these parables straight from God dictated, but developed them over a period of time as he felt out the hearers’ response. Certainly this is how Jesus developed his preaching methods…
There’s a parable that Jesus must have tried out on the crowds until they just ate it up:
Matthew 22:12 and he said to him, "Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?" And the man was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, "Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' For many are called, but few are chosen."
Actually, parables are to throw the wicked off track. They think they understand the story, but then when it is explained to them, they still don’t get it. They may perceive the story is about them and even get that the story is against them, but they do not think that the teaching of the Bible is appropriate for the situation. So Jesus clears up the dark saying by teaching the disciples privately. Matthew 13:10 And the disciples came and said to Him:
"Why do You speak to them in parables?" Jesus answered them, "To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. "For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. "Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. "In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, "YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE; FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL, WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES, OTHERWISE THEY WOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES, HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.'
- Chris Simonson
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