Why Did Jesus Teach in Parables?

Everyday Stories, Heavenly Truth

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Jesus could have taught only with lists and rules. Instead, again and again, He told stories. “Then He taught them many things by parables” (Mark 4:2).

What a parable is. A parable is a story from everyday life set beside a truth about God. The story helps us see the truth more clearly.

Things people knew. Jesus talked about seed and soil, lamps, lost sheep, lost coins, bread and yeast. Every listener had seen these things.

A tiny seed. Jesus said God's kingdom is “like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth” (Mark 4:31). Yet it grows so big that birds can nest in its shade (Mark 4:32).

A lost sheep. Jesus told about a shepherd who left ninety-nine sheep to look for one that was lost (Luke 15:4-6). Then He said, “There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:7).

Stories stay with you. You may forget a list, but you remember a story. Every time those farmers sowed seed, they could think of Jesus' words.

Stories make you think. A parable invites you to ask questions. What does this mean? Which person in the story am I like?

Taught at their pace. “And with many such parables He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it” (Mark 4:33). Jesus was patient with His listeners.

Explained to His friends. “And when they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples” (Mark 4:34). People who came close to Jesus got the meaning.

Promised long ago. Matthew shows that Jesus' parables fulfilled the words of a psalm: “I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 13:35).

A story for a king. Long before, the prophet Nathan told King David a story about a rich man who took a poor man's only lamb. David grew angry, and Nathan told him that he was that man (2 Samuel 12:1-7). The story helped David see his own sin.

Pointing to Jesus. Many of Jesus' parables show what He is like. He is like the shepherd who searches for the lost sheep. He is also like the sower who scatters God's Word.

What we learn. Jesus taught in a way that children and grown-ups could understand, and His stories carry real truth about God.

What to do. When you read a parable, ask two questions. What does this show me about God? What does Jesus want me to do?

Mark 4:34 says that when Jesus taught the crowds by the sea, “without a parable He did not speak to them.” Parables were one of the main ways Jesus taught.

Parabole. The Greek word parabole (say: pah-rah-boh-LAY) means something thrown beside. A parable sets an everyday picture beside a spiritual truth, so that one helps you see the other.

Not a fable. Fables usually have talking animals. Jesus' parables are about ordinary life, and they carry truth about God's kingdom and about Himself.

Things kept secret. Matthew 13:35 applies Psalm 78:2 to Jesus: “I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world.” God's plan to save people through His Son was not an afterthought.

Nathan's story (2 Samuel 12:1-7). Nathan's story of the stolen lamb got past David's guard. David condemned the rich man before he realized he was judging himself. A parable can reach a heart that would argue with a plain rebuke.

Pictures of the kingdom. In Mark 4 Jesus compares the kingdom to scattered seed, to seed that grows while the farmer sleeps, “he himself does not know how” (Mark 4:27), and to a mustard seed. Each picture shows a different side of how God works.

Small beginnings. The mustard seed is “smaller than all the seeds on earth,” yet it “becomes greater than all herbs” (Mark 4:31-32). Jesus' kingdom began with a few followers in Galilee, and now it reaches every nation.

As they were able to hear (Mark 4:33). Jesus fit His teaching to His listeners. He did not overwhelm them, and He did not water down the truth.

Explained in private (Mark 4:34). The crowd heard the story. The disciples heard the story and the explanation too.

God's heart in the stories. The parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin show how God feels about sinners who turn back: “There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10).

Reading parables well. Look for the main point. In the sower, Jesus Himself tells us what the seed and the soils mean, so we do not need to hunt for a hidden meaning in every small detail.

Application. Read one parable a week with your family. Ask what it shows about God, what it shows about you and how it points to Jesus.

Eyes That See, Ears That Hear

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When the disciples asked about the sower, Jesus told them something surprising. His parables would open the truth for some people and leave it closed for others.

Given to you. “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God” (Luke 8:10). In the Bible, a mystery is a secret that God now makes known.

But to the rest. Jesus said that to the rest it is given in parables, so that seeing they may not see. He was quoting the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 6:9).

Closed eyes. Matthew gives more of Isaiah's words: “Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed” (Matthew 13:15). These people had already shut their eyes to God.

God wants to heal. The same verse ends, “So that I should heal them” (Matthew 13:15). God's heart is to heal people who turn to Him.

Blessed eyes. Jesus told His disciples, “But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear” (Matthew 13:16).

Waited for. “Many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it” (Matthew 13:17). The disciples were looking at the Savior the prophets had waited for.

They asked. The disciples did not walk away confused. They asked, “What does this parable mean?” (Luke 8:9). Jesus gladly explained it.

Search for treasure. “If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; Then you will understand the fear of the Lord, And find the knowledge of God” (Proverbs 2:4-5).

Ask for wisdom. “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him” (James 1:5).

A light turned on. God “has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6).

The secret is Jesus. Paul speaks of “the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:2-3).

What we learn. Anyone who comes to Jesus wanting the truth will find it. Closed hearts stay in the dark, but open hearts are shown the light.

What to do. Before you read the Bible, ask the Lord to help you see and hear what He is saying to you.

Jesus answered the disciples' question with words from Isaiah 6:9 (Luke 8:10). His parables gave light to those who wanted it and left those who refused Him in the dark.

Mysterion. The Greek word mysterion (say: moos-TAY-ree-on) does not mean a puzzle no one can solve. In the New Testament it is a truth God kept hidden for a time and now reveals to His people.

Isaiah's call. Isaiah saw the Lord “sitting on a throne, high and lifted up” (Isaiah 6:1), and God sent him to a people who would hear and not understand. Their hearts had already turned away from God.

Who closed their eyes? Matthew 13:15 says, “their eyes they have closed.” Hard hearing followed a long refusal to listen. The parables did not blind honest seekers. They left those who rejected Jesus holding stories they would not try to understand.

A serious warning. John quotes the same passage about people who saw Jesus' signs and still did not believe: “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts” (John 12:40). Saying no to Jesus again and again is dangerous.

Mercy in the warning. Isaiah's words end with “turn, So that I should heal them” (Matthew 13:15). The Lord is “longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

An open invitation. Even while He spoke in parables, Jesus kept calling, “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear” (Mark 4:23). The door stayed open to anyone in the crowd.

Privileged eyes (Matthew 13:16-17). The disciples saw what “many prophets and righteous men desired to see.” They were looking at the Messiah the prophets had written about.

Coming close. The crowd went home with a story. “Those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable” (Mark 4:10), and He explained it. The difference was a willingness to come and ask.

Understanding is a gift. God “has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6). Seeing spiritual truth is something God does in us.

Seeking is our part. Proverbs 2:4-5 promises that the one who searches “as for hidden treasures” will “find the knowledge of God.” James 1:5 promises wisdom to anyone who asks God for it.

The mystery revealed. Colossians 2:2-3 speaks of Christ, “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” The secret of the kingdom is a Person.

Teachable hearts. The same story that hardened some opened the eyes of others. The difference was the heart of the hearer.

Application. If a part of the Bible confuses you, do what the disciples did and ask. Pray, read the passage once more and ask a parent or pastor to help.

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