Winter Bible Study Session 2

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Series: Parables of Matthew

Description

Session 2
Stories for Life: Introduction to Parables
"The struggle to understand a parable is the struggle for a new world to be born," N.T. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God, 176
The Greek term parabolē means primarily a comparison, to cast alongside. It is the Greek translation of a Hebrew word mashal, proverb or proverbial saying, also riddle, allegory, etc. In fact, we have one whole book of the OT named “parables,” we translate it Proverbs, but it is the same Hebrew word. The term parable actually refers to a wide range of speech ranging from a few simple words to a detailed story. We are going to focus on the story parables, rather than the shorter proverbs, riddles, and basic comparisons. But what are they, really?

First, Jesus parables are far more than simply illustrations or statements of theological truth. “They are like tiny lumps of coal squeezed into diamonds, condensed metaphors that catch the rays of something ultimate and glint it at our lives. They are the jeweled portals of another world . . . through their surfaces are refracted lights that would otherwise blind us -- or pass unseen, Walter Wink, "Letting Parables Live," Christian Century 97 (November 5, 1980): 1062.

Furthermore, parables are weapons of warfare. They do not simply supply information about the kingdom; they are part of Jesus’ all-out assault on the forces of evil and darkness that have invaded God’s good creation. Eugene Peterson, translator of the Message, has suggested that parables are narrative time-bombs. These simple-looking stories lodged inside people’s hearts and imaginations, slowly tick-tick-ticking away until finally, BOOM, they exploded into a new awareness. This new awareness was the mystery of the kingdom. Roy Clements likens them to a kind of “stealth bomber, specially designed to evade our psychological defenses, insinuating themselves inside our mind in spite of every barricade we may seek to erect, and then dropping a highly explosive charge targeted at the most vulnerable point in our spiritual complacency. One feature that is often characteristic of these story parables is that they have a sting in the tail (tale); a punch-line that creeps up on you and then kicks you in the stomach when you’re not expecting it (Roy Clements, A Sting in the Tale, 7-8).

Parables open a window on reality. In a world gone wrong (not created wrong), and often our lives gone wrong, we lose sight of reality. We begin to see a world upside down as right side up. Through ordinary images Jesus’ parables allow us to see the world as it is now, upside down, but more what it will be when the kingdom comes in its fullness.

Parables can become a mirror that provokes repentance. The genius and power of Jesus’ stories is the way that a window can so quickly transform into a mirror. One moment we think we are looking out at someone else, suddenly we see a reflection of our own image; we are caught!

Ultimately, the parables announce the revolution has come. They demand the hearer answer whether or not they will be part of it. The coming rule of the one true God is coming to fruition in our midst. God in Christ is acting finally and ultimately to make things right. Jesus’ parables announced heaven’s invasion of earth; they still do.
Parables of the Kingdom: Growing, Demanding Commitment, and Ensuring Judgment on the Wicked
(Matt 13.1-52)
Note the events leading up to these parables involve conflict and the rejection of Jesus (Matt 12.1-8, 22-29, 46-50). The parables that follow are parables of the kingdom in the face of a failure to hear and accept Jesus’ preaching. We discover in these parables that the only true conversions, the only ones that count, are those confirmed by a life of obedience and discipleship.
Structure of Matt 13
A. Foundational Parable: The Parable of the Soils (13.3b-23)
B. The Kingdom Grows; Judgment Awaits Those Who Reject It (13.24-43)
Parable of the Weeds
Parable of the Seeds
Parable of the Leaven
C. The Kingdom Demands Commitment; Judgment Awaits Those Who Reject It (13.44-50)
Parable of the Treasure
Parable of the Pearls
Parable of the Net
D. Concluding Parable: The Household and the Treasure (13.51-52)

A. The Seeds of Revolution: The Parable of the Soils (Matt 13.1-23)
The focus of this parable is clearly on hearing, but not merely hearing, but hearing appropriately. There is a difference.
I. Understanding the Parable:
This is not a parable of four soils, this is a parable of two soils: one good and the others bad; one productive and the other unproductive; one believing and the other unbelieving. The reality is that “the only conversions that count in the kingdom are those confirmed by a life of discipleship” and fruit bearing (Craig Keener, A Commentary on Matthew, 38). These are tough words, but that's the nature of the revolution. Those who have ears let them hear.

II. Understanding Jesus’ Use of Parables: Separating the Curious from the Serious; the Admirers from the Disciples (Matt 13.10-17)
a. Parables are not easy to “get.” Even the disciples frequently needed explanation.
b. Ultimately, they are only understandable to those who hear with faith (13.12-13)
c. The quotation of Isa 6.9-10 speaks of God’s judgment on Israel’s unbelief, not that God had elected them for destruction.
d. The Isaiah 6 passage concludes with the hope of a remnant.
Parables invite serious, faithful disciples to join in God’s revolution.

B. The Kingdom Grows; Judgment Awaits Those Who Reject It (Matt 13.24-43)
I. Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds (Matt 13.24-30; 36-43)
Basic Teaching
The parable does not teach that we be passive or patient in dealing with evil or sin in our midst (Matt 5.29-30, 38-42; 18.8-9; 1 Cor 5). This parable attempts to answer the question, “how can the kingdom be present when there is so much evil and tragedy in the world?” The immediate question for Jesus’ audience would have been how can the kingdom have come and Rome still rule our land? The answer is that the kingdom has not fully come until Jesus’ comes again (the Parousia). The kingdom has arrived and at the present time it is like a field mixed with wheat and weeds. Although we long for evil to be eradicated, we must not lose heart or patience, for a future judgment is coming.