The Strand Study Bible

MATTHEW

MATTHEW

1513

Question: “If God is not managing your estate, who is?” 12:48 According to Jesus, “truth” must become thicker than blood ( Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? ). To choose relatives and/or relationships over “what’s right” is to sacrifice the permanent (eternity) on the altar of the immediate (the temporal). Our “motive” for why we do what we do means everything to God ( I Cor 3:13 , Rev 2:4 and II Cor 5:10-11 ). 12:50 The spiritual relationship between Christ and his Church ought to be stronger than the closest of blood ties. Family (blood) ought never be thicker than fact (truth). 13:4 The spotlight of this parable is on the soil ( way side ), i.e., people’s reaction toward the Gospel. Although the soil is the focus of the parable, life is not found in the soil or the sower, but in the seed (the Word of God - I Pet 1:22-23). Parable #5 is aimed at unbelievers who fail to recognize the soil condition of their heart . The character flaw – assuming we know our own hearts . We do not (Jere 17:9). Unbelievers are admonished to see their heart the way God sees it (Lk 13:1-5). NOTE –Whenever someone witnesses to a lost person, like Jesus, he must emphasize to that person the soil condition of their heart ( Isa 64:6 ), or there can never be true repentance. 13:10 This word ( parables ) is the Greek word SDUDEοODL9 ( parabolais ). Parabolais is derived from an anglicized form of the Greek term parabole . It is translated “comparison” once (Mk 4:30); “proverb” once (Lk 4:23); “figure” twice (Heb 9:9 & 11:19); and “parable” forty-six times. This word comes from two Greek words: para (besides) and ballo (to throw). It thus literally suggests throwing something besides something else for the ultimate purpose of making a “comparison.” A parable, therefore, is a “comparison” between a familiar fact and a spiritual truth; it is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. Luther C. Peak in The Gospel of the King and the Kingdom notes: NOTE –The parables of Christ are found exclusively in Matthew, Mark and Luke. The Book of John does not use the Greek word SDUDEοODL9 ( parabolais ), but uses a different Greek word – SDUοLPLDQ ( paroimian ), which denotes a “wayside saying, a riddle, a proverb” (Jn 10:6 & 16:25,29 and II Pet 2:22). According to the Bible, the Scriptures employ five primary figures of speech of which the parable is one. Of the five different figures of speech ( the parable - Mt 13:10-11, the proverb - Jn 16:25-29 and II Pet 2:22, the type - Heb 8:4-5, the fable - Jud 9:7-21 and II Ki 14:8-10, and the allegory - Gal 4:22-24-31), no one used pictorial speech (parables) more effectively to convey God’s divine will to humans than did Christ. According to Vines Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words , two dangers are to be avoided in seeking to interpret the parables in Scripture: * ignoring the important features (the context; the background behind the parable) * trying to make all the details mean something . 2 It is not necessary to make everything mean something within a parable. Unless the context warrants it, the details of a parable are not always meaningful. Wayne Jackson in The Parables in Profile notes: A parable divorced from context, can often become fertile soil for the speculator. 3 Parables were given to illustrate doctrine, not to declare it. In other words, it would be wrong to build a case for some doctrine on the basis of a parable. Parables were designed to teach a heavenly truth ( to reveal some kind of character flaw within human nature ) , not exemplify doctrine. Only two of the forty-one parables given to us by Christ are explained by Him (Parable #5 - Mt 13:1-18-23 and Parable # 7 - Mt 13:24-30,36-43), which sets the standard for the interpretation of all parables. Christ used parables for two reasons: 1. To reveal truth (Mt 13:10-11) - Only the humble and spiritually awakened benefited from parables (Mt 11:25-26). As long as you were willing to admit to having character flaws, you were able to benefit from parables. 2. To conceal truth (Mk 4:10-12, Lk 8:9-10 and Acts 28:25-27) - Parables were used to hide truths from unreceptive hearts, which cared more about entertainment than salvation. Because there is no common accepted definition of the parable, it is difficult to say just how many parables are present in the Gospels. The exact number depends on one’s definition of a parable. If the word parable is taken to include proverbs, riddles, and simple comparisons as well as those in story form, the number is about sixty in all. If one’s interpretation of a parable does not include proverbs, riddles, and simple comparisons as well as those in story form, then Christ gave us a total of 41 parables: 13:17 While it is true that many of the OT prophets and saints ( righteous men ) may not have understood the actual death, burial and resurrection of Christ ( Lk 18:34 and I Pet 1:10 a ), it is also true that every O.T. saint understood the “facts” behind the actual death, burial and resurrection of Christ, and it is the “facts” behind the Gospel that save a person ( I Cor 15:1 ). It is only when people have stood in a covenant relationship with God and who have become alienated from God that He speaks to them in parables. This explains why there are no parables in the teachings of Christ in the first portion of Matthew; the Kingdom was being offered. When the moral and spiritual rejection of the King took place as recorded in Matthew 12, immediately Jesus began to speak to them in parables. 1

1 Peak, Luther C. The Gospel of the King and the Kingdom, Dallas, TX, The Evangelist Press, 1942. Print. 2 Vines Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words (Vol . III), Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell Co. 1940. Print. 3 Jackson, Wayne. The Parables in Profile , Star Bible & Tract Corp. Ft Worth, TX: 1984. Print.