D.A. Carson examines why Jesus used parables in his teachings, specifically exploring Matthew 13:10–17, 34–35. Carson discusses how parables were designed to both reveal and conceal truths about the Kingdom of Heaven, making them accessible to those receptive to Jesus’ message while simultaneously hiding these truths from the unreceptive, thus fulfilling prophecy and distinguishing between different responses to his teachings.
The following unedited transcript is provided by Beluga AI.
Some wrong or, at least, reductionistic answers are commonly given. Number one, Jesus told stories because he used them as illustrations. As a good homiletician, he’d make a point and then he’d illustrate it. Probably went to a decent seminary. But that doesn’t make a lot of sense of verses 11 and 12. “Why do you speak to the people in parables?” He replied, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Those who have will be given more, and they will have in abundance.”
11 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. 12 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. (Matthew 13:11-12, ESV)
This sounds far more constraining, even sinister, than telling good illustrations in order to elucidate a point. Or alternatively, number two, Jesus told stories because he favored the enigmatic, the thought-provoking, the open-ended, rather than truths and propositions and narrow-minded modernist foundationalist stuff like that. After all, don’t we read in verses 34 and 35,
34 All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable. 35 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet: “I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.” (Matthew 13:34-35, ESV)
And so there are not a few writers today that say, do you see? All this sort of preaching that emphasizes truths and harsh words and condemnation, it’s against what Jesus says. What he did was tell stories. And so if you tell stories, you’re in line with what Jesus did. And he didn’t preach without using stories. Well, it’s true that stories are more intrinsically open-ended. That is, they can be interpreted in a much greater diversity of ways. There’s no doubt about that, especially if they’re ripped out of a context.
But it doesn’t take much reading of the New Testament to realize how many different genres Jesus actually preached in. So in the New Testament, he speaks wisdom literature, for example. He’s a wisdom preacher. In wisdom preaching, everything is divided into polarities. There is, in the book of Proverbs, lady wisdom, and over against lady wisdom, dame folly. And you’re either following one or the other. you’re not following somebody who’s sort of dame in between. you’re either following lady wisdom or dame folly. Two ways, that’s it.
So you come to the end of the Sermon on the Mount, and Jesus gives four pairs of two ways because he’s a wisdom preacher on occasion. You either build on solid rock or you build on loose sand. And when the storms come, either your house is washed away or it endures when the storms come, and there’s no point coming along and saying, well, you know, solid rock, it’s a bit expensive. How about hardpan clay? It sort of increases my chances of getting away with things. You can’t do that. It’s wisdom. He offers you a polarity.
13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. (Matthew 7:13-14, ESV)
Well, frankly, I’d like an in-between size way, thank you. Morally compromise just a wee bit now and then, but pretty good on the whole. You can’t do that. It’s wisdom literature. Do you see? Jesus is a wisdom preacher, but he’s also an apocalyptic preacher.
Read the Olivet Discourse of Matthew 24 and 25. He can preach in laments. Read Matthew 23. He can expound Old Testament texts. He can give extended discourse. He can preach in Proverbs and Beatitudes. He can give non-narratival extended metaphors like John 10: I am the good shepherd, or John 15: I am the vine. He can preach in dialogue. He can utilize provocative questions. He’s an astonishingly flexible preacher.
So to argue that this text in Matthew 13, 34 means the only decent way of preaching, if you’re going to follow Jesus, is to tell stories, is a bit reductionistic. What it does mean is that he used them pretty commonly, but not so commonly at the end of the day that he has to use them all the time. You can read right through John’s gospel and not find a single narratival parable, not one. And in fact, it’s worth remembering that even the word parable here is pretty broad.
We think of parables as narrative parables because Jesus does tell quite a few narrative parables in this chapter. But the word parable really is a good translation of the Hebrew mashal. Both words are very broad. They can cover a proverb, a story, an extended metaphor, a riddle, an enigmatic saying. So when the disciples ask, why are you using parables? You mustn’t necessarily think that what’s in their mind is something restricted just to narratives.
And in any case, in verses 34 and 35, you do get the impression that Jesus is trying to explain some things to them. “I will open my mouth in parables,” he says, quoting the Psalms. “I will utter things, things that have been hidden since the creation of the world.” He is disclosing something. Or others say, Jesus told parables in order to hide things from the non-elect. After all, isn’t that the impression gained by verses 11 and 12? “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.”
Those who have will be given more, and they will have an abundance. But as for those who do not have, even what they have will be taken from them. This is why I speak to them in parables. Parables, in other words, are designed to mask the truth, some say. Well, yes, there is an element of that, as we’ll see. But by the time you read Jesus’ explanation of parables in verses 34 and 35, clearly, Jesus is trying to get material across, too, things that have been hidden in the past.
And meanwhile, in the earlier section, verses 10 to 17, here, too, although Jesus is clearly masking something, it’s not because there is no guilt. Verses 13 to 15 show that the people are guilty, their hearts are hard, calloused, their ears are deaf, their eyes are blind. So the question returns, why did Jesus tell stories? Or more broadly, why did He use parables? Let me suggest two fundamental reasons from the text, and then we’ll reflect on it pastorally in three ways. So, first, Jesus tells parables because in line with Scripture, His message blinds, deafens, and hardens.
Jesus tells parables because in line with Scripture, His message blinds, deafens, and hardens. Now, that’s only the first point, but it is an important point. It is unavoidable when you look at the chapter. The disciples asked the question, why do you speak to them in parables? And even if you give parables a broad definition, Jesus’ response is quite startling.
in verses 11 and 12, a polarity between those who have the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom and those who do not, between those who have and will be given more, and those who do not have, and they will not have anything. And then he says, one group gets the parables. It’s pretty strong. He deals with the negative side, that is, those who have nothing, in verses 13 to 15. Then he deals with the positive side, those who do have much, in verses 16 to 17. That’s the way this paragraph is put together.
10 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11 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. 12 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. 13 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. 14 Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: “‘”You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.” 15 For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’ 16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17 For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. (Matthew 13:10-17, ESV)
So, there is a positive side to all of this we’ll come to, but focus for a moment on the negative side.
When you look at the negative side, the people who do not see, the people who do not hear, the people whose hearts are hardened, then the controlling passage here is a quotation from Isaiah, verses 14 and 15. There’s a briefer quotation from Deuteronomy in the previous verse. We don’t have time to look it up, but we will take the time to look at Isaiah 6. Let me remind you of what Isaiah 6 is about. In Isaiah 6, we are told that in the year King Uzziah died, the prophet Isaiah saw the Lord.
In the previous chapters, he has been uttering his woes, his condemnations on this guilty nation. But now, when he sees the Lord in this spectacular vision where the foundations shake, where not the train of his robe fills the temple, Middle Eastern kings didn’t have trains, just the hem of his robe fills the whole temple. He doesn’t see much. He sees the Lord, but actually, his sight is so limited in what he sees that just the hem of his garment fills the whole temple.
And in this spectacular vision, there are seraphs with six wings covering their faces. No one may look on this king and live, covering their feet in modesty, with two wings to fly to execute the king’s commands, crying, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. The whole earth is full of his glory. Woe to me, I cried, I am ruined, for I’m a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the king. No longer King Uzziah, the king.
After pronouncing all of his woes on the sins of the people, he now knows afresh, more powerfully than ever, in the light of the glory of this king, that he is one of the sinful people. And this God, by command, ensures that Isaiah is forgiven because a seraph takes a live coal from the altar, a sacrifice that God Himself has commanded. This is a God-ordained sacrifice, and by this coal, placed in the vision on Isaiah’s lips, his tongue is made clean.
And only then is there a challenge uttered by God Himself in the courts of heaven, as if God is speaking rhetorically. Who will go for us? Whom shall we send? And Isaiah. Isaiah says, “‘Here am I. Send me.'” Now, in the flow of the narrative, you must not think that Isaiah is saying, “‘Though all others forsake you, yet not I. I will go. I’m your man. I’m a volunteer.'” In the flow of the argument, he has been crushed by the vision of his own sin. He has been daunted by the spectacular vision of holiness.
It’s as if he’s saying, “‘Will I do? Please, could you use me? I know I’m a filthy sinner, but your God-ordained sacrifice has cleansed me. Please, will you send me?’ And God gives him his commission. This is the commission. Go and tell this people, be ever hearing but never understanding, be ever seeing but never perceiving. Make the heart of this people calloused. Make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise, they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”
Now, how would you like to have that preached at your ordination sermon? There isn’t a glimmer of hope. Not here. Isaiah picks up on it, and he says, in effect, I’m willing to take on this pretty discouraging mantle for, what, 30 years, 40 years? And then there’ll be revival, won’t there, God? After 40 years of faithful preaching, and everybody hates me, I know it’s going to be pretty tough, but after that, revival. Right, God? And God says, you want to know how long? Isaiah asked, for how long, Lord?
And he answered, until the cities lie ruined. That is, people are not going to listen. Judgment is coming. The exile is inevitable. The cities will lie ruined and without inhabitant until the houses are left deserted and the fields ruined and ravaged, until the Lord has sent everyone far away and the land is utterly forsaken. And if that’s not enough, my dear Isaiah, though a tenth remains in the land, you preach on yet until the whole land is utterly laid waste. That’s your commission.
And only then, in the last two lines of the last verse, is there a glimmer of hope. But as the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down, and so the holy seed will be the stump in the land. The mighty tree has been cut down, but there is a stump still. And four chapters later, in Chapter 11, we’re told that out of the stump, a shoot arises, and his reign will be glorious.
And then you have one of the most remarkable depictions of the dawning new heaven and a new earth in all of the writings of Isaiah, which means, of course, that the historic Isaiah never saw it. He was 700 years too early. And that’s the passage that Jesus quotes. You see, Jesus Himself well understood that there are some audiences to whom you preach where the preaching of the word guarantees that people will not hear. There’s a remarkable passage in John 8 that crystallizes this superbly.
In John 8:45, Jesus tells some of his opponents in his own day, “Because I tell you the truth, you do not believe.”
45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. (John 8:45, ESV)
Did you hear that? That’s not a concessive. It’s not, “Although I tell you the truth, you do not believe.” That would be bad enough. This is worse. This is causal. “Because I tell you the truth, you do not believe.” The reason why they do not believe is because Jesus is speaking the truth. That’s what the text says. There are some audiences like that.
It is the truth itself that prompts, that elicits, that calls forth unbelief. Precisely because their minds are so corrupt, their worldview is so shaped by anti-God perspectives, that the truth, when it appears, is something repulsive. And it’s because we tell the truth that some people don’t believe. Now, once you see that, all the methods in the world to change that don’t change anything. What are your options? Tell the non-truth? Become more attractive? There are some times when the truth itself damns. The truth itself hardens. The truth itself blinds. The truth itself makes ears deaf.
Because there is already this guilty, God-forsaking, unbelieving, self-focused hatred of all things other than me first. And Isaiah’s responsibility was to preach God’s message, knowing full well that the outcome of God’s message at his time and place in history was merely to confirm people in their unbelief. Oh, I know there were some minor exceptions, a small remnant, but that’s what his main message was. And Jesus now quotes those words to explain something of his own reason for speaking as he does.
In fact, he goes so far as to say that he is fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah, verse 14. In other words, verse 14 insists that what we read in Isaiah 6 is not merely descriptive of what took place in Isaiah’s day, but is part of a trajectory of things that points forward and finds its ultimate fulfillment in people’s rejection of Jesus himself. And it’s not hard to find lots of examples along that trajectory. Think of Jeremiah. It wasn’t exactly spectacularly popular. And Jesus himself has already alluded to this kind of thing in his gospel.
In Matthew 5, at the end of the Beatitudes, blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven. For, here it is, in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Have you ever meditated on that rather obscure verse in Acts 5:41? Things have been going swimmingly in the early church.
Thousands converted, the Spirit of God coming down on men and women. This is the fulfillment. It’s the fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel. It’s the fulfillment of Psalm 16. This is the time of the resurrected Messiah calling His people in. Then the first whiff of persecution breaks out. And when the apostles are finally beaten up, we’re told, they rejoiced because they were counted worthy to suffer for the name. Do you know what I think was going on in their heads? You know, the master himself was pretty unpopular.
I mean, he had his crowds, but they took him to the cross. And he himself said that if we’re persecuted, we’re in line with the prophets, we’re in line with Jesus. He himself saw himself in line fulfilling Isaiah. Here we are, everybody thinks we’re wonderful. What’s wrong here? And then finally, the authorities landed on them and they rejoiced. At last, we’re getting beaten up. Jesus was right. We’re now counted worthy to suffer for the name. We’re a long way from that in much of the West.
But the persecution Jesus speaks of in the Beatitudes extends all the way to people speaking evilly against you and insulting you for my sake. Listen, don’t go defensive. Don’t get angry. Don’t get even. Rejoice, you’re in. you’re in this long line, this trajectory that culminates in Jesus himself. Do you see? Because there are some people who will not believe. And if you fairly speak the truth, you will cause them not to believe. That’s what the texts say; it brings its own condemnation.
Jesus tells parables, putting things together in particular ways, as we’ll see in a moment, because in line with Scripture, His message blinds, deafens, and hardens. But second, Jesus tells parables because in line with Scripture, His message reveals things hidden in Scripture. Jesus tells parables because in line with Scripture, His message reveals things hidden in Scripture.
And now we look at the end of Matthew 13, or at least verses 34 and 35. Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables. He did not say anything to them without using a parable.
So was fulfilled, that word again, what was spoken through the prophet, “I will utter my mouth in parables. I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world.” That is drawn from Psalm 78, and you might want to take a look at that passage too. Our translations differ a bit. I’m going to tell you which one is right. The TNIV has, in Psalm 78:2, “I will open my mouth with a parable; I will teach you lessons from the past.” The NIV has, “I will open my mouth with a parable,” or some say “in parables.”
I will utter hidden things, things from of old. The latter is correct. I don’t see where the TNIV got it from. It’s a very dilute reading of the Hebrew. And that is certainly the way Matthew has picked it up. The question becomes, what does Psalm 78:2 mean in its own context?
When you read right through Psalm 78, you discover it’s one of those historical psalms, where the psalmist looks back on Israel’s history, and what God did, and how the people sinned, and God came in and rescued them, and then they sinned some more, and then he rescued them some more, and God is praised for it, the people are condemned for it, and that’s what Psalm 78 is about. And in terms of the historical references, then there’s nothing new. This is merely picking up on the known history.
So in what sense, then, does the psalmist announce at the beginning that he is going to speak of what has been hidden from of old when everybody knows the history? Yet the language is ambiguous, isn’t it? My people, hear my teaching, listen to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth with a parable. I will teach you lessons from the past. I will utter hidden things, things from of old, things we have heard and known, things our ancestors have told us. So in one sense, the author is saying, we know all this stuff.
And in another sense, he’s saying, oh, no, you don’t. I’m going to tell you new things. What does he mean by this? Actually, this is a pretty common way of expounding Old Testament narrative. You find it in the Old Testament, and you find it sometimes in the New Testament when it reads the Old Testament. Think of Stephen’s speech, for example, Stephen’s speech in Acts 7. You wonder at first what on earth the chap is doing.
He’s given this opportunity to explain who he thinks Jesus is and so forth, and he’s wandering through the Old Testament talking about Abraham and talking about Moses and so on. What on earth is he doing? All he’s doing is reciting Old Testament history, but he is reciting it in such a way that he highlights something. What he highlights is, even though God disclosed Himself again and again in time past, there was a whole pattern of unbelief and rejection, implication.
So it’s not too surprising when you come down to the visit of the Messiah Himself that there’s more rejection. So the facts of history have been known. But they’ve been put together now in such a way that you’re getting a new lesson out of it. So, also in Psalm 78, there is an historical recital, but it’s an historical recital that is not mere chronological data. It’s a recital that emphasizes the goodness and forbearance of God despite the persistence of our sin. I’m going to tell you new things, he says, things that our fathers have known.
The data are there. They lived through them, but I’m going to tell you something new, highlighting the goodness and grace of God despite all of the persistent patterns of sin through the known history. And now we’re told that Jesus does the same thing. He spoke all these things to the crowd in parables. He did not say anything to them without using a parable. So as fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet, “I will open my mouth in parables, wise sayings, narratives, utterances, enigmatic speech, beatitudes, riddles.”
34 All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable. 35 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet: “I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.” (Matthew 13:34-35, ESV)
But how are these things hidden in Christ’s teaching and yet revealed? Do you see what Jesus is doing? Consider the parables in this chapter. First one, parable of the sower. The kingdom of heaven is like. And then he tells a little story about seed that is sown on various kinds of ground, different soils. Some soils, well, the seed is snatched away by birds. Other soil, well, the seed is on packed ground. It never actually germinates.
Elsewhere, it’s choked out by thorns, and some seed falls on good ground. That’s the kingdom. But most first-century conservative Palestinian Jews expected the kingdom to come with a bang. When the kingdom comes, everything would get fixed. And now you’re talking about sowing the seed, which turns out to be the word, and people receive it differently. The kingdom is happening slowly. It’s happening by degrees, and some people accept the truth, and some people don’t, and there’s no final judgment yet. And then you go on to the parable of the wheat and the weeds.
Well, where’s the bang in that? It’s not till the end. The wheat and the weeds are both right now. Still, do you see? All the way to the end. And the king himself says, let both grow until the end. Now, the point is, are these things taught already in the Old Testament? Let me go further. All kinds of first-century Jews expected a messiah to come, a Davidic messiah. Some expected two messiahs to come, a priestly messiah and a Davidic messiah.
And then along comes Jesus, and he claims to be a Davidic messiah who goes to the cross and suffers. Does that make any sense? Especially a king with Jesus’ abilities? Miracles? He can raise the dead. He can perform… How are you going to stop Jesus? All he’s got to do is one more miracle. How are you going to stop him? And he himself says things like, even as he is going to his death, do you not know that even now I could call 12 legions of angels? But he also depicts himself as the suffering servant.
He is the lamb that is slain, who is wounded for our transgressions. Does the Old Testament teach that? For the fact of the matter is that the Old Testament does depict a David who is not only a conqueror, but a David who is betrayed by his friends. It depicts not only a sovereign king reigning over all with a rod of iron, but someone who was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace is upon him.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5, ESV)
But who in the first century got that together nicely? The apostles didn’t. Peter doesn’t. We’re in Chapter 13. You get to Chapter 16, and Jesus openly asked the question, “Who do people say that I am?” Some say this, some say that. Peter says, “you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus says, “you’re blessed, Simon, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.” And then he goes on to start talking about his impending suffering and death.
And Peter says, never, Lord, this shall never happen to you, which shows that what Peter meant by confessing that Jesus is the Christ is not what we mean by confessing that Jesus is the Christ. If you and I say that Jesus is the Christ, we cannot help but think of Jesus, who also died on the cross and rose again the third day, who is our substitute, who is the crowning king, who is the suffering servant, who is the sin-bearing lamb. We can’t help but think of all of that. Peter didn’t understand that.
He knew that Jesus was the king. He was the Messiah. He had no category for a suffering king, none, none. And even when Jesus is in the tomb, after Jesus has expounded again and again that he must die and the disciples themselves have not been able to say more than, deep, deep, don’t know what this is all about, deep, deep, but not understand it, not believe it, then they are worried about what will happen to them. They’re not in an upstairs room having a quiet party saying, yes, I can hardly wait till Sunday.
They still don’t have a category for a crucified Messiah. But are the categories in Scripture? What Jesus claims he is doing
is bringing things together that are actually there, things our fathers have known, things that they have been taught, things that are there in Scripture, but things that have been hidden, things that our eyes have not seen because of our blindness, because of our obtuseness, things that we have not understood.
Jesus brings them together, and He expounds them, and He reveals things to us hidden from the foundation of the world in plain view, in Scripture, all the time. That’s remarkable. And that, of course, reminds us of how this section begins.
Verse 10, the disciples came to Him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?” He replied, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom, the mysteries of the kingdom.” But the word “mysteries” does not mean a whodunit.
It’s used 27 or 28 times in the New Testament, and almost always, it is bound up with things hidden in the past, in Scripture, but now disclosed in the teaching, and life, and ministry, and death, and resurrection of Jesus. They’re there, but I’m going to reveal to you what has been hidden, the mysteries of the kingdom. The pieces were already there, but I’m going to talk to you of the secrets of the kingdom. And hence, in verses 16 and 17, blessed are your eyes because they see, your ears because they hear.
You have come to accept that the kingdom is dawning. You have come to accept that, really, I am the Messiah. Listen, listen, my dear disciples, I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but did not see it.
10 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11 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. 12 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. 13 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. 14 Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: “‘”You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.” 15 For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’ 16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17 For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. (Matthew 13:10-17, ESV)
Again, you see the sense of alignment with the prophets, seers, and visionaries of time past; they did not see what you see, they did not hear what you hear.
You are now at the end of the age, the dawning of this kingdom, full of glory, and that issues in Christ reigning from the cross. Small wonder then that at the very end of the chapter, in verse 52, Jesus says, “Every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven, that is, the kingdom as he understands it, is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.”
52 And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.” (Matthew 13:52, ESV)
You’re not expounding with the insight that you only had when you were still under the law of covenant. you’ve begun to see things again as I am fulfilling them. And as I fulfill them, you see things that were there in scripture all along that you did not see. This is not reading in something that wasn’t there. It is now being given a gift of grace to see what was there all along, things that the prophets themselves look forward to and that are now dawning in fulfillment in my life.
In other words, Jesus tells parables because, in line with scripture, his message blinds, deafens, and hardens. Jesus tells parables because, in line with scripture, his message reveals things hidden in scripture. Now, what shall we make of this for us? Number one, we should gain wonder in worship where there is a fresh grasp of how God has put the Bible together. Let me repeat that. We should gain wonder in worship where there is a fresh grasp of how God has put the Bible together. The Bible is not a collection of arbitrary literary proof texts.
The more you dig into it, the more you unpack its simplicity and profundity. All of these streams from the Old Testament, these trajectories working forward until the day would come when it becomes as plain as a pike staff, that Jesus is simultaneously the Davidic King, and the great high priest, and the temple of God, and the sacrifice slain before the foundation of the world. He is himself the true living vine. He is himself the shepherd. And ironically, he’s the sheep that goes to his death on Passover. He’s a bull and a goat on Yom Kippur.
His flesh is the veil that is torn so that we might enter in. All of these things coming together in a variety of ways and trajectories that finally come to Jesus. Have you ever in a cynical moment wondered, I don’t mean to be critical of God, but it would be nice if some Old Testament prophecies were a little clearer. Have you sometimes thought along those lines?
And you, Isaiah 53b, according to Don Carson, “and it shall come to pass in those days, says the Lord, that there shall be a woman called Mary betrothed to a man called Joseph. There shall be an emperor whose family name is Caesar ruling from Rome.” Footnote, I know that Rome doesn’t exist yet. It’s seven little villages by the Tiber River. We’re still under the Assyrians. But after the Assyrians come the Babylonians, and then the Persians, then the Greeks, then the breakup, and then eventually the Romans. It’s about 700 years down the pike. Be patient.
Back to the main text. And then you go through all of the explicit events of Jesus’ life and ministry, and eventually, you get the depiction of Jesus’ death, you know, with, there will be a Roman governor by the name of Pontius Pilate. And he will try to excuse himself by washing his hands in water, but no excuse will suffice to wipe away this filthy stain. For the Messiah himself will die a sacrificial death to bear our sins in his own body on the tree. Now, wouldn’t that be a decent sort of prophecy?
I mean, it’d be pretty hard not to see that this was explicit. Mind you, for the next 700 years, can you imagine how many mothers would have called their girls Mary? And there’s Pilate. There’s Pilate. I don’t want to wash my hands. I don’t want to wash my hands. I will not wash my hands, but I’m being dragged to wash my hands. And if he doesn’t wash his hands, then the Bible’s lying. And if he does wash his hands, then, well, it’s all ordained in any case. What do you expect?
You think you’ve got problems with God’s sovereignty and human responsibility now. If you had that kind of explicitness, boy, all these problems would multiply so much more. But in the wisdom of God, he gave us texts where everything is there. And in our sinfulness, in our blindness, we do not see it. And then Christ comes, and he fulfills these various lines and these trajectories, and we begin to see how all these strands come together in the immaculate wisdom and fullness of God and his timing.
And we bow down in worship and say, “Yes, Lord, this is good. This is wise. This is profound.” So we should gain wonder in worship, where there is a fresh grasp of how God has put the Bible together. Number two, we should gain gratitude and humility for the gift of seeing the truth about Jesus and His gospel. Because, you see, we are, by nature, children of wrath like everyone else.
We, too, are just as perverse as others, but the text does say, the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.
11 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. (Matthew 13:11, ESV)
16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. (Matthew 13:16, ESV)
We should never, ever tire of being overwhelmed by the sheer privilege of grace in our lives. And last, we should gain discretion in witness where there is a hostile environment. Last weekend, I was in the Middle East where Christians are often called upon to witness boldly in the Gulf.
But where, if they witness to the wrong person in the wrong way, they will certainly get beaten up, and they may be beheaded. Doesn’t Jesus Himself say, “don’t cast your pearls before swine”? That, too, is in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 7:6. Part of what Jesus is doing in Chapter 13 is distinguishing between swine and non-swine. And He is not going to cast His pearls before swine.
You see, for all that the Bible does emphasize the importance of being candid and frank and open in our witness, there is also a kind of responsibility to be, why? as serpents and harmless as doves, to be shrewd, to be winsome, and sometimes to be discreet. Not lacking in courage where the witness must be given, but nevertheless, not slapping people around the face with the truth and calling it witness when we’ve just insulted them.
Because we know what Paul also came to understand, that the same gospel that is a sweet aroma to those heading for life is a stench in the nostrils for those who hate the truth. The same gospel, a sweet-smelling savor and a wretched hydrogen sulfide stench. That’s what it is. And because of that, we too will learn in a world that is increasingly opposed to the Christian message, how to be bold and courageous and faithful, yes, but also how to be wise. The challenge of working out our faith with valor, courage, wisdom, boldness, and discretion.
Let us pray. Help us to delight in the wonders of your most holy Word and observe again and again how all lines come together in our dear Savior, Christ Jesus. Give us eyes to see, wills to obey, not least as we study Scripture, that our adoration, far from being stultified by study, will increase. And grant, Lord, to us not only boldness in speech and courage in witness, but also discretion, following the Master Himself, fully expecting that sometimes the truth itself will blind and harden and condemn, and we will be despised, and thus stand in the line of prophets and seers and of Jesus Himself. Yes, Lord, for this is good in your sight, the Apostle himself has written. For to you, it has been given not only to believe on His name, but also to suffer for His sake. So let it be, in Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Free eBook by Rebecca McLaughlin: ‘Jesus Through the Eyes of Women’
If the women who followed Jesus could tell you what he was like, what would they say?
Jesus’s treatment of women was revolutionary. That’s why they flocked to him. Wherever he went, they sought him out. Women sat at his feet and tugged at his robes. They came to him for healing, for forgiveness, and for answers. So what did women see in this first-century Jewish rabbi and what can we learn as we look through their eyes today?
In Jesus Through the Eyes of Women, Rebecca McLaughlin explores the life-changing accounts of women who met the Lord. By entering the stories of the named and unnamed women in the Gospels, this book gives readers a unique lens to see Jesus as these women did and marvel at how he loved them in return.
We’re delighted to offer this ebook to you for free.
