The Privilege, The Prophet, & The Parable

Matthew 13:10-17 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?  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.  But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.  For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

In this passage, Jesus has been teaching the multitude from a boat while they are gathered on the shore. He had just told them the parable of the sower. Obviously, we don’t know all that He taught them that day. However, for Matthew, Mark and Luke, the most memorable part of His teaching was that parable.

Later, after the multitude was gone away, the disciples came to Jesus and asked Him why He was teaching in parables. This was their Master. They were following after Him. I don’t believe that they were questioning His methods. I think they were truly wanting to understand.

They were probably looking back at such messages as the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5. There were no parables there. It was just a proclamation of the truth. What changed? Why use parables now if He didn’t use them before? His answer was so interesting, I thought we should take a closer look.

I. The Privilege

Matthew 13:11 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.

Most of us seldom realize what a privilege we have in serving God. God has given us the Holy Ghost to enlighten us. We have an insight into the Word of God that the world does not have. We walk in the knowledge of the mysteries of God. There are things that are hidden from those that do not believe that are opened up to the mind of the believer. We are a privileged people. We need to be careful that we don’t neglect that privilege.

I understand that there are mysteries that are beyond our grasp. We can’t even begin to know the enormity of eternity. We can’t understand the generosity of grace. We can’t fathom the miracle of mercy. Of course there are many other things that we cannot get our finite minds to comprehend.

Paul said that the things of God are unsearchable. In other words, the more you know, the more you realize you don’t know. I have been a Christian for 43 years. I have studied the Word of God personally and formally. Every door that opens to my understanding reveals so many more avenues that need to be explored.

I think it is interesting what Paul had to say about God’s wisdom and knowledge and justments.

Romans 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

In Ephesians, he says that he is less than the least of all saints. Yet, he tells us that he has been chosen and grace has been given unto him. The result is that he is able to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.

Ephes. 3:8 Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;

He was telling us that sometimes he preached what he didn’t even understand because of a grace that God had given him. There are times that he was asked questions that he didn’t know he had the answer for until the time came that he needed the answer. You ask me, “how do you know that?” All I can tell you is that I have experienced that very thing.

It has happened before that I have been preaching out of a passage of scripture when the light of revelation opened up the passage beyond what my study could have ever revealed. I have been in the place where people asked me questions to which I didn’t realize that I had the answer until God opened my eyes at just the right time.

Jesus said that it is the privilege of the believers to know the mysteries of God. It is ours to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven. As Paul put it, that is a grace. It doesn’t make us any better than anybody else. We must realize that it is a gift of God to those that believe upon the name of Christ.

The world doesn’t understand the things of God because the flesh cannot understand the things of the Spirit.

1 Cor. 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Look at what Jesus said concerning those who would hear His teachings.

Matthew 13:12 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.

Those who are seeking to understand, they are going to understand more and more. And for those who don’t even try to understand, I will hide the mysteries even deeper. The world rejects the message of Christ because they do not understand it.

We need to realize that with our privilege comes responsibility. God has promised to open up the mysteries of heaven to us. We must be seeking to understand, that is the key to solving those mysteries. Otherwise, we will walk around in the dark while saying that we are walking in the Light.

II. The Prophets

In the Old Testament, God’s people had the prophets. Many times, they brought a message straight from God to His people.

When you read about the visions they saw and read the messages they heard directly from God, You realize that God spoke to the children of Israel in parables in Old Testament times.

Many times, the hearers rejected the message of the prophet and sometimes they rejected the prophet as well. They didn’t realize (or maybe they did) that in rejecting God’s prophet and God’s message, they were rejecting God.

They were often cruel to the prophets. Some were beaten, some were imprisoned, and some were killed. All of this was because people did not understand the message of the mysteries of God.

Jesus said that such a lack of understanding His teaching was prophesied by Isaiah.

Matthew 13:14 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:

Isaiah prophesied that those that could hear would hear and they wouldn’t understand. And he said that those that could see would see and they wouldn’t perceive the mystery of God that would be revealed in Christ.

Jesus goes on to tell the disciples that the lack of understanding or the inability to understand is often deliberate. They don’t want to understand. If they understand, it will mean that they have to change from what they are now.

Matthew 13:15 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.

It is so hard to admit that we need a Savior. That would mean that there is something wrong with us. That would mean that we are lost. That would mean that we need to surrender our will to someone else. That would mean that we need to repent; to turn away from the road that we are on.

If we see the truth with open eyes, we will understand with the heart. And when we really understand the truth, we will realize that we are spiritually sick. We will realize that we need healing and we will surrender to the call of the Savior.

The enemy does all he can to keep you from understanding the truth. That is true for those who have never been saved, those who have been saved and have forsaken the Lord, and those who have served the Lord for years. We must be careful that we are not closing our ears to His voice or closing our eyes to His truth or we will be no better off than those that rejected the prophets of old.

III. The Parables

But if we will listen and see and believe, there are things we will see that others only dream of seeing.

Matthew 13:16-17 But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.  For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

The truth is that we have the Word of God. That is something that the prophets and children of God did not have. We don’t have any excuse for our unbelief. We have so much more at our disposal than any of those heroes of the faith that we find in God’s Word.

Jesus was told the disciples that He used parables to take Old Testament truths and New Testament truths and reveal them through illustrated sermons. He was using terms and situations with which His listeners were familiar to bring the truth to light in their eyes. He was trying to get them to open their ears and eyes to the message of Christ.

Earlier, I mentioned the answer of Jesus when the disciples asked Him why He was speaking in parables. He talked about the privilege we talked about earlier

Matthew 13:11 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.

The word translated that is translated “given” in “…it is given unto you to know…” literally means granted or offered. It is a privilege that had been bestowed upon them as disciples.

What was the privilege that had been bestowed upon them? “…Because it is given unto you to know…”, literally, to perceive. It is their privilege to understand.

And what will they perceive? It is “…the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven,,,” or literally the secrets of heaven.

That was the privilege the disciples had at their disposal. They could know and understand the very secrets of heaven.

Jesus said there was only one way that those secrets could be revealed to unbelievers. It was through His telling the parables and opening the secrets of heaven through the illustrations of earth.

Some of us have the testimony that we have received the Holy Ghost. We have the privilege of spiritual guidance into the truths of God’s word. Some have rejected or neglected that privilege much like the children of Israel rejected the prophets and rejected the message of God.

Some may have never known that privilege. You have closed your ears and eyes to His call. Jesus told parables in His word to try to open your eyes and ears. Why don’t you open your heart to His call now? Ask God to help you open your eyes and ears to His Word. Don’t turn away His message to your heart just to keep from feeling His conviction

No matter how long you have claimed to be a Christian and no matter how long you have been a Christian, you need a Savior. That is why Jesus was using parables. He was working to reveal that need in the hearts of His listeners. Heed His call, open your eyes and ears to His truth.