A series that presents mini-lessons based on selected parables of the Book of Matthew
A parable is a method of teaching that Jesus used to get a specific message across to his followers. It is a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson, as told by Jesus in the Gospels. It is an allegory, moral story or tale. Parables became Jesus’ chief method of teaching, beginning in the book of Matthew, Chapter 13. Jesus used parables to hide the meaning of his teaching from those whose hearts were hardened but revealed to His followers. His disciples asked him, in Matt. 13: 10-11, why He taught in parables and He gave them an interesting answer:
10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
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 “them” in this exchange were the Pharisees and Sadducees. Isn’t it Interesting that most of the meanings of Jesus’ parables were hidden in plain sight? The righteous were able to understand the Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven but the hard-hearted Pharisees and Sadducees could not get what He was talking about. In those cases, in which the disciples were not able to figure out the meaning of a parable, Jesus always made sure they understood, even if he had to take them aside and explain it privately.
1 Cor. 2:10-13 tells us that in order to fully understand the things of God you must have the spirit of God.
10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
As we begin our series on Devotionals based on Parables, I would like to share a short story about my own dear Mother. As a new Saint of God, I would often go back to my hometown of Galveston and visit my Mother. My Mother was faithful to her church and she operated in the wisdom and understanding of the Word that she received. But I was being taught the Word by two powerful people in God who operated under the power of the Holy Ghost. My mother became a little depressed after a few of our meetings because she simply could not understand the Word of God in its fullness. I suggested that she come to my church to get filled with the Holy Ghost and I believed that God would open her understanding. She came to visit me, got saved and filled with the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues, and God gave her the desires of her heart. The next time we talked on the phone following her visit, she was ready for me. We reviewed the upcoming Sunday school lesson and guess who the main teacher was. You guessed it, it was my Mother. God gave her the desires of your heart. She did an excellent job of teaching the lesson and we were so blessed by her wisdom and understanding of the Scriptures. She knew the words of the Scriptures before but was not able to make them come alive. It was the Holy Ghost that made the difference.
This little parable from my life is presented to make a point. Sometimes, in order to convince someone about the difference that the infilling of the Holy Ghost can make, it is better to show them the difference that it has made in your life. My Mother might have resisted my suggestion that she needed to be filled with God’s precious Holy Ghost, but when she understood what God could do for her, she gladly received it. Wisdom is the principle thing. Parables can be a powerful teaching method. Follow me as we apply portions of some of the parables of the Book of Matthews to our everyday life through Devotionals.