Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - How to Read Parables | New Testament | Matthew 13

Episode Date: January 18, 2023

Are parables just biblical fairytales used to teach a lesson? Why did Jesus speak in parables instead of speaking directly? How can you better understand parables? What is the purpose of them? In today's episode, Jensen talks through some of the parables in Matthew 13 and explains how to read them. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Join the TMBT community in reading the entire New Testament in 2023. Get your FREE reading plan here. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter@TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: Matthew 13

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. And the time it takes to get to work. I'm Jensen Holt McNair. Parables. You've probably heard one or two or all of the parables of Jesus at one point or another. Because for a large portion of Jesus' ministry, he only spoke in parables to the large crowds he taught. Now, Jesus isn't the only teacher to speak in parables. Think of Aesop's fables, a collection of children's stories that have a hidden moral teaching. We're familiar with the idea of using stories to teach a lesson.

And so when we come to Jesus' parables in the Bible, we often read them the same way. We sit down with our parables and ask, what does this parable teach me about how I should live my life? What moral nugget can I get out of it? The only problem is that this wasn't the way Jesus primarily used parables. In his book, simply Jesus, N.T. Wright says this about parables. As part of his campaign, Jesus told stories. They were, for the most part, not simply illustrations that is preachers' tricks to decorate an abstract thought or complicated teaching. If anything,

they were the opposite. Jesus' stories are designed to tease to clothe the shocking and revolutionary message about God's kingdom in garb that would leave the listeners wondering, trying to think it out. They were stories that eventually caused Israel's leaders to decode his rich message in such a way as to frame a charge against him, either of blasphemy, sedition, or leading the people astray. Whatever the parables are, they are not, as children are sometimes taught in Sunday school, earthly stories with heavenly meaning. Rather, they are expressions of Jesus' shocking announcement that God's kingdom was arriving on earth, earth as in heaven. So Jesus's main focus in his parables was less about the readers getting a moral

nugget and more about revealing to his original audience what the kingdom he was bringing would really look like. See, the people Jesus was talking to had their own assumptions of what God's kingdom was supposed to look like. Many thought that the Messiah would bring a militaristic kingdom into the world. They expected if Jesus was the Messiah for him to come riding in to rescue them from the rule of the Romans. But Jesus knew that God's kingdom didn't look like that. And so he spoke in parables that began to slowly cut away at people's misconceptions of what God's kingdom was like and shine a light on the truth of who Jesus was and what he was doing in the world. Now some of you may be wondering why.

If Jesus' mission was to announce the coming of God's kingdom to all of humanity, why wouldn't he speak clearly and just tell everyone plainly about his kingdom? Well, in chapter 13 of Matthew, we get a large compilation of these parables, and right after Jesus tells the first one, his disciples ask him the same question. Verse 10, 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. See, Jesus tells his disciples, that these parables would either cause a hearer to stop and think to ponder over what was being taught. See, Jesus tells his disciples that these parables would either cause a hearer to stop and think, to ponder over what was being taught until they came to an understanding. Or, it would cause others to harden their heart and frustration, never grasping the truth of the kingdom of God. See, many of those listening didn't want to understand. They sought to destroy Jesus and find fault in him. And so, in speaking in parables, rather than plainly, the shocking truth about Jesus's kingdom could be revealed to those who had the ears to hear and be concealed from those who would seek to destroy it. Knowing this, let's step into Matthew 13 and take a look at a few of these parables. And as we read this parable, we have to ask the question.

What is Jesus trying to teach his audience about himself and the kingdom he's building? Verse 31. He put another parable before them saying, The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown, it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree so that the birds of the air come and make nest in its branches. He told them another parable. The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flower

till it was all leavened. So we know that Jesus' ministry was not big. He had a small following. He was a poor prophet who welcomed the outsider and the kingdom that he invited people into wasn't anything like they would have expected. And so his kingdom was unassuming and unnoticed by many.

much like a mustard seed or yeast we see in the parable. You don't expect much from it. It doesn't look like much. It isn't impressive, and yet the effect planting and mixing has on these things is astronomical. Investing in the small, unassuming kingdom that Jesus was building would bring far greater outcomes than what the people would expect. See, when we asked the right questions of the parables, we're able to learn truths about God's kingdom that invite us to either have

ears hear and accept those truths or reject them. We can continue to ask this question in the following parables as well. The parable of the hidden treasure. The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. The parable of the pearl of great value. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who on finding one pearl of great value went and sold all that he had and bought it. So what is Jesus trying to teach his audience about himself and the kingdom he's building? Well, he tells us that his kingdom, the kingdom of God, is of incredible value, and yet not all people will see its incredible value. But this kingdom is worth giving up

everything for, and in fact, in order to be a part of Jesus' kingdom, to obtain the hidden treasure in the field or the pearl of greatest value, the people would have to give up everything for it. Jesus' kingdom wasn't a passing kingdom. It held its value, but it also isn't easy to obtain. The one who wants to be a part of his kingdom has to give up everything, give their allegiance to be a part of building this kingdom alongside Jesus. And not everyone would think it is worth it. And in one of the final parables taught to the crowds in Matthew 13, we read. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind.

When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers, but threw away the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. So what is Jesus trying to teach us about himself and the kingdom he's building? Well, we learn that Jesus' kingdom is cast out into the sea for all to hear, and many will be able to encounter it until a certain time. And at that time, the righteous and the evil will be separated.

Until that time, both righteous and the evil will continue to live in this world and encounter God's kingdom. we should not expect the full judgment of all things evil until the end of the age. This parable shows us the truth that not all will understand or give their allegiance to the kingdom of God. And it warns us that a time is coming when the kingdom of God is no longer available to every man and woman. It also tells us that there is a day coming when the kingdom of God will flourish and all evil will be eradicated from it. until then we can expect continued trouble in this world even as we build and follow after Jesus's kingdom.

There's so much to learn from the parables of Jesus when we know what their purpose was and how Jesus intended to use them to teach his faithful disciples. Matthew 13 isn't the only chapter of the New Testament that we will encounter these parables of Jesus. And so it's my hope that as we go forward, these parables, will continue to open our eyes to see and hearts to understand all that Jesus has to tell us about who he is and what his kingdom, the kingdom of God, is like. May we rejoice in the truth of all that Jesus reveals to us through his parables. And so today we rejoice knowing that even though his kingdom may not look impressive to the world, it holds a far greater value than anything we could

ever hoped to achieve or accomplish here on earth. And that we have a promise that one day God's kingdom will be established over all the earth. And evil and pain and darkness will have no place in it. Before you forget, sign up for the 10-minute Bible Talks newsletter. Hit the link in the show notes and you'll get an email every Wednesday that will help encourage you in the middle of the work week and bring you deeper in your walk with Jesus. Thanks for listening.