Parables: The Power of Jesus’ Stories
Mark Roberts
“Once upon a time....” Those four words immediately
captivate children, transporting them to the fascinating
and wonderful land of story. For adults the
words are a little different. “I remember once” or “That
reminds me of something that happened to me a while
ago” or even “Let me tell you what just happened!” The
terminology is slightly altered but the effect is the same:
we are immediately interested in the story.
If you don’t believe in
the power of story watch an
audience at church the moment
the preacher says “Let
me illustrate this point with a
little story.” Folks who were
restless stop fidgeting and
listen. Even kids suddenly
tune in. An audience that
may have drifted away suddenly
comes right back to
the speaker and sits attentively
at his feet. The entire
audience is galvanized by
even a simple story.
Is there a place for story telling when one is trying
to convey spiritual truth? Jesus certainly thought so!
While He was known for masterful discourse that was
heavy on doctrine and even scriptural exegesis (see
Matthew 5-7; John 6), Jesus was a master story-teller.
We call Jesus’ stories “parables,” a term that we define
in small children’s Bible classes as being “an earthly
story with a heavenly meaning.”
Before diving into these purposeful tales of our
Lord’s, we do well to understand Jesus’ purposes with
parables and what we should do with them. Jesus told
parables for several reasons. First, and perhaps
foremost, He used parables because they were
memorable and powerful ways to convey the truths
Jesus wished His audiences to know. Which do you
remember better: an analytical discussion of grace,
atonement and forgiveness or the picture of a father
running to meet his prodigal son? As songs capture the
feelings of our hearts so Jesus’ parables illustrate truth
by putting it in real life situations full of emotion, trouble
and conflict. By doing that Jesus makes truth real,
practical, and very unforgettable. Remember, Jesus
did not answer the man’s question “Who is my neighbor?”
(Luke 10:29) with a discourse on the Greek root
for “neighbor” or even a
quotation of Scripture on
neighborliness. Instead
He told a story about a
man who acted as a neighbor,
and gave us a picture
of being a neighbor we
cannot deny or forget.
Second, Jesus told
parables to conceal the
truth. That may seem to
be contradictory but it is
not. “And the disciples
came and said to Him,
‘Why do You speak to them in parables? He answered
and said to them, ‘Because it has been given to you to
know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to
them it has not been given. For whoever has, to him
more will be given, and he will have abundance; but
whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken
away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables,
because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do
not hear, nor do they understand’” (Matthew 13:10-13).
It is important that we do not misunderstand Jesus
here. He did not mean that He wanted some to fail to
grasp spiritual truth. Jesus wanted all people to come
to Him and hear the words of eternal life. But He knew
that not all would, that not all were kingdom material.
Some were hard-hearted and were not interested in the
things of God. Thus, the puzzle of a parable was an
effective sifting tool. To those determined not to
understand Jesus the parable provided an easy excuse to
decide He was just a babbler with nothing to say.
For those seeking the Lord, however, the parable provided
an opportunity to think deeper, to ponder, and
even to ask Jesus for clarification. To those who wanted
something more, who were determined to find the
golden truths in His words, Jesus was always ready to
provide explanation and guidance (see Matt 13:18ff).
So at one and the same time the parables of Christ
baffled and revealed. It was (and is) the heart of the
hearer that determines the parables’ ultimate effect.
It is vital that we not make more of Jesus’ simple
stories than He would have us to make. The Parable of
the Sower well illustrates how the story serves as an
analogy for greater truth, each kind of response to the
word revealing something about people’s response to
the Gospel message. Yet we must not decide to make
everything in a parable analogous to something, so that
the parable “walks on all fours.” Robert Turner tells of
a Bible class where the parable of the woman searching
for the coin (Luke 15:8ff) was explained by saying that
the broom she swept with represented the church seeking
the lost, with each straw in the broom being an
individual Christian! That is a lot of meaning contained
in something Jesus doesn’t even mention specifically
and fails to reckon with how New Testament brooms (if
that is what she used) differ from brooms in our day!
Some are sure that the more comparisons they can
come up with for various items in Jesus’ story to our day
means they are finding “deeper” meanings but when we
remember that these were first orally told stories we
realize few could analyze the parable with the kind of
scrutiny we can give a written text. Thus it seems best
to be satisfied with the large meanings and obvious
parallels that Jesus clearly points us to.
Jesus’ parables are a wonderful way for us to learn.
Further, in a time when people’s minds seemed dulled
to hearing discourses about anything, we may need to
rediscover how to cloak spiritual teaching in good stories.
Naturally, like Jesus, we would not do so to
entertain hearers but instead to forcefully use a means
that easily opens the mind and heart so that truth can
powerfully enter in. Let us watch Jesus do just that in this
special double issue of Abundant Life and the four
parables that are discussed in these pages. Let us learn
for our own benefit, and learn as well from the Master
Teacher how to teach others. “He who has ears to hear,
let him hear!”