In Matthew 13, Jesus started to speak to the Jewish people in parables. When the disciples ask him about this, Jesus responded in verses 11-15 , "He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them."
Basically, they rejected the plain truth, and so Jesus started to speak with them in story form. These parables are not just fables or myths. Jesus, being God, could look throughout all the years of history and find a scenario in someone's life that would work for the teaching that He was trying to convey.
Mark 3:22-27 And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils. And he called them unto him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan? And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end. No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.
Not only did they ignore His plain teachings, but they accused Him of being the AntiChrist! Isn't that interesting? When the Messiah came, they didn't accept Him and accused Him of being sent by Satan, but when the AntiChrist comes, they will accept him as their Messiah. Christ knew this; He called them out on this!
John 5:43- I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.
So, Jesus spoke things in a way that those who wouldn't believe couldn't understand, but those who would believe would be able to grasp!
Matthew 13:34-35- All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.
The first thing to remember is that not every analogy that Jesus gave was a parable. Peter got confused with this in Matthew 15.
Matthew 15:15-20- Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable. And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding? Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.
Jesus never said that He was giving a parable, yet Peter assumed that He was because He didn't understand the meaning of what Jesus said. So, all the parables that we will go through are going to be stated as being a parable.
Another thing to bear in mind is that there are two different kingdoms- the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of God is Spiritual, and the kingdom of heaven is physical. How do we know this? Because Scripture tells us.
John 3:5- Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Your first birth into this world is a physical birth. The woman's water breaks and then you are born. The second birth is into a spiritual world where you are adopted by God. This kingdom of God will only be a literal, physical kingdom when Christ is reigning on the throne in Jerusalem during the Millenium.
Romans 14:17- For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
I Corinthians 15:50- Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
The only way to gain entrance to the Kingdom of God is by accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior.
The kingdom of heaven is the physical kingdoms of this world.
Matthew 11:12- And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
When Christ is reigning in Jerusalem, then both kingdoms will be present on earth at the same time. If the Jews had accepted Christ as their Messiah, they could have already had both kingdoms, but since they rejected Him, they lost the opportunity to gain entrance to that Millenial kingdom during their lifetimes.
Another thing to note is that the parables are not sweet stories. They have a negative connotation to them. They are a warning to be heeded. The religious leaders of Jesus days knew this.
Matthew 21:45-46- And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them. But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet.
Those who take the parables as something positive aren't studying the Scriptures like Jesus commanded them! The only way to know what exactly Jesus means is to compare Scripture with Scripture and get an understanding of what each word means. Only then will you know the true message that Jesus wants you to understand.
