Misconception and Distractions

Too many times, when Jesus’ parables are read and taught, their true meanings are ignored as they are interpreted from a purely human point of view. Now, although such messages derived from Jesus’ parables may not be wrong in themselves, they are nevertheless not the messages Jesus intended to communicate to us through his parables. As faithful disciples, our first and ultimate goal in studying Jesus’ words and parables should be to discover and understand what he meant exactly.

Surely, God cares about us, yet it is important to emphasize that Jesus’ interest in teaching was not to give us a better life, to make us richer and more comfortable and other such things. No! His purpose was to teach about His Kingdom.

For example, it is wrong to think that Jesus was teaching his disciples about

• business and making money in the parables of talents and minas, or
• marriage and weddings when his parable involved weddings or marriages, or
• how to build a house when he spoke about building on the rock and not on sand, or
• quantity surveying when he spoke about counting the cost before undertaking a project.
• Jesus was surely not teaching his disciples to be thieves when he said he would come like a thief in the night nor to add sin to sin like the shrewd manager.

Although some of these parables are built on certain universally acknowledged principles, which would be good for us to master and would be very useful us personally, we must nevertheless understand that teaching us these principles in themselves was not Jesus’ goal. It is good for example to count the cost and plan properly before undertaking any project, but this was not in itself Jesus’ message when he spoke about counting the cost. No, Jesus was teaching us to count the cost of being his disciple so as to be well prepared in heart to make the necessary sacrifices when they were demanded.

Let us not be distracted by any principle upon which the message in a parable rests nor by the practices described in a parable such as wedding, farming, harvest etc. Let us rather ask ourselves, “What exactly did Jesus have in mind to communicate to us?”

Today we will be carrying out class exercises as we study Jesus’ parables in Matthew 13

Matthew 13 Parables

Jesus explained some of his parables to his disciples, and these are keys to understanding the parables he did not explain. There are eight parables in Mat 13, Jesus explained three of these eight parables and these will serve as our guide to interpreting the other five.

• Parable of the Sower [Mat 13:3-9 explained in Mat 13:18-23]
• Parable of weeds in a field [Mat 13:24-30 explained in Mat 13:37-43]
• Parable of the mustard seed [Mat 13:31-32 not explained]
• Parable of yeast [Mat 13:33 not explained]
• Parable of treasure hidden in a field [Mat 13:49 not explained]
• Parable of the pearl of great value [Mat 13:45 not explained]
• Parable of the net [Mat 13:47-50 partly explained]
• Parable of old and new treasures [Mat 13:31-32 not explained]

Gaining Perspective

The message of the Kingdom as presented by Jesus in his parables is a story, an unfolding story.

Basically, every story has actors who perform the different actions in that story. Every story has locations where the events and actions of its actors take place. The actors and locations and other objects in a story have direct and indirect relationships and interactions which bring about the actions and events that the story tells. Every story also has locations, places where events take place. Stories also have beginnings and endings, they happen over time.

As we study his parables, let us keep an eye on such questions crucial to understanding any story such as: who? Where? When? Why? How?

Exercise 1

First, read the three parables Jesus explained and understand their explanations. Discuss them. (The tables below are to serve as guides.)

Characters in the Kingdom Story in the Matthew 13 Parables

Objects in the Kingdom Story in the Matthew 13 Parables

Locations in the Kingdom Story in the Matthew 13 Parables

Actions & Events in the Kingdom Story in the Matthew 13 Parables

Time Periods in the Kingdom Story in the Matthew 13 Parables

Exercise 2

Now let us read and interpret the parables he did not explain. Answer these questions:

1. In the parable of the mustard [Mat 13:31-32] seed
   1. Who is the man who planted the mustard seed?       (b)
   2. What is the seed?       (c)
   3. What is the garden in which it is planted?       (d)
2. In the parable of yeast [Mat 13:33]
   1. What is the yeast?       (a)
   2. What is the flour it is mixed into?       (d)
   3. Can you see any time periods in this parable?
3. In the parable of Parable of treasure hidden in a field [Mat 13:49],
   1. What is the treasure hidden in the field?       (c)
   2. What is the field?       (d)
   3. Who is the man who finds the hidden treasure?       (b)
   4. What does it mean that he sold everything he had to buy the field?     (g)
   5. What time periods can you identify?       (f)
4. In the parable of pearl of great value [Mat 13:45 not explained]
   1. Who is the merchant who finds the pearl of great value?       (b)
   2. What is the pearl of great value?       (c)
   3. What does it mean that he sold everything he had to buy the field?       (g)
   4. What time periods can you identify?     (f)

Answers

1. The gospel
2. The Son of man
3. The church, the sons of the kingdom
4. The world
5. The mixing of the yeast and the time of rising
6. Three—Finding, selling all, and buying
7. Atonement—incarnation and death