Understanding the parables of Jesus

1. WHY
PARABLES?

2. GRACIOUS JESUS
(MATTHEW’S PERSPECTIVE WITH GOSPEL PARALLELS)
1. Presenting the King (Matt 1-4)
2. True Blessedness (Matt 5:1-12)
3. Kingdom Lifestyle – Part 1 (Matt 5:13-
48)
4. Kingdom Lifestyle – Part 2 (Matt 6)
5. Kingdom Lifestyle – Part 3 (Matt 7)
6. Master Strokes (Matt 8)
7. The King Calls (Matt 9)
8. The King Commissions (Matt 10)
9. Signs, Sinners and the Saviour (Matt
11)
10. Power Games and Names (Matt 12)
11. Hidden Wisdom (Matt 13:1-43)
12. Hidden Treasures (Matt 13:44-14)
13. The Gall and the Glory (Matt 15-17:9)
14. Winning Others Over (Matt 17:10-
18:35)
15. Kingdom Values, Kingdom Wealth
(Matt 20)
16. The King Enters Jerusalem (Matt 21)
17. The Chosen Few (Matt 22)
18. The King’s Glorious Coming (Matt
24:1-44)
19. The Final Countdown (Matt 24:45 –
25:46)
20. The King’s last days (Matt 26)
21. Desertion (Matt 26:36-75)
22. God’s Lamb Sacrificed (Matt 27: 1-50)
23. The King Conquers (Matt 27:51-28)

3. GRACIOUS JESUS
11. HIDDEN WISDOM (MATT 13:1-43)
58. The parable of the sower
59. Why parables?
60. The parable of the tares
61. The parable of the mustard seed
62. The parable of the leaven

4. Ref. Matt. 13:10-17, 34-35; Mark 4:10-12, 25, 33-34; Luke 8:9-
10; 10:23-24
Matt 13:10 And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do
You speak to them in parables?” 11 Jesus answered them,
“To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the
kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. 12
For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will
have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what
he has shall be taken away from him. 13 Therefore I speak to
them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and
while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 In
their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which
says,
WHY PARABLES

5. WHY PARABLES?
Matt 13:14b You will keep on hearing, but will not understand;
You will keep on seeing, but will not perceive;
15 For the heart of this people has become dull,
With their ears they scarcely hear,
And they have closed their eyes,
Otherwise they would see with their eyes,
Hear with their ears,
And understand with their heart and return,
And I would heal them.’
16 But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears,
because they hear. 17 For truly I say to you that many prophets and
righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to
hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

6. WHY PARABLES?
PRESENTATION
OVERVIEW
Introduction
Those who do not have
Those who have
Those who desire to have but could
not have
Christ’s strategy
Christ’s focus
Christ’s investment
Core Truths
Discussion

7. INTRODUCTION
Parable
• a riddle few can solve
• a mystery few can
unravel
• a maze few can pass
through
Why, riddles, mysteries,
mazes – why not clear
and straight path?

8. INTRODUCTION
Centuries before Isaiah was
anointed to give this message to the
hardened people of Israel.
‘You will be ever hearing, but never
understanding; / you will be ever
seeing, but never perceiving.’ / 10 This
people’s heart has become calloused;
/ they hardly hear with their ears, / and
they have closed their eyes Isaiah
6:9,10a
God goes on to tell him that there is
no stopping…“Until the cities lie
ruined” with only the stump of the
“holy seed” left.

9. INTRODUCTION
Though they were heading straight
to destruction Isaiah was never to
stop warning them
Jesus did the same
God is doing the same with us
today.
He provides adequate multiple
opportunities to repent
It takes multiple acts of intentional
disobedience to become callous
towards the most amazing
blessings possible.

10. INTRODUCTION
Not all have the privilege of
knowing the secrets of the kingdom
of heaven
Categories
• Those who have
• Those who have not
• Those who desired to have but
could not

11. THOSE WHO HAVE
who are seeking,
have a desire,
hunger, asking,
knocking, thirsting,
mourning, reaching
will get more that
what they are looking
for – far more..

12. THOSE WHO HAVE
Matt 13:11 Jesus answered
them, “To you it has been
granted to know the
mysteries of the
kingdom of heaven, but
to them it has not been granted.
12 For whoever has, to
him more shall be
given, and he will have an
abundance; but whoever does
not have, even what he has shall
be taken away from him

13. THOSE WHO DO NOT
HAVE
Those who are not seeking, have
not desire, no hunger, no
questions, complacent, content
with the world, seeking things of
the world
They are following Jesus with other
motives, not to learn.
To them, Jesus is not going to
bother to even teach the great
truths of the kingdom.
Most dangerously, they think they
have

14. THOSE WHO DO NOT
HAVE
Matt 13:13 Therefore I speak to
them in parables; because while
seeing they do not see, and while
hearing they do not hear, nor do
they understand. 14 In their case
the prophecy of Isaiah is being
fulfilled, which says,

15. THOSE WHO DO NOT
HAVE
“‘“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. THOSE WHO DESIRED
BUT COULD NOT HAVE
Matt 13:17 For truly I say to you
that many prophets and
righteous men desired to see
what you see, and did not see it,
and to hear what you hear, and
did not hear it.
They talked to God, experienced
miracles, saw him in various
forms yet, no one saw the full
manifestation of God in human
form living, breathing, an
everyday companion.

17. THOSE WHO DESIRED
BUT COULD NOT HAVE
Not applicable in the New
Testament era.
We are so privileged to be in it.
So are in the reach of
• Those who have
• Or those who do not have
(particularly those who think they
have)

18. CHRIST’S STRATEGY
Given the situation he is, what option did he pursue:
Become a part – influence the influencers?
Ignore them and focus on disciples?
Teach and Warn them?
Demonstrate his upper hand?
Create new religious organization?

19. CHRIST’S STRATEGY
His primary response was to:
Become a part – influence the influencers
Ignore them and focus on disciples
Teach and Warn them
Demonstrate his upper hand
Create new religious organization

20. CHRIST’S STRATEGY
Jesus had the unique capacity of
engaging multiple stakeholders
at their level simultaneously.
• Stories to the crowds
• Old testament references to
the more learned
• Detailed explanations to the
disciples - separately

21. CHRIST’S STRATEGY
While he continue persevering to
give them opportunity he doesn’t:
• Waste words
• Hang on to doors that are
shutting in his face
• Completely withdraw from the
hardened people

22. CHRIST’S FOCUS
On the truly blessed – his
disciples
The small yet immensely powerful
group that HAVE:
Eyes that see beyond the world –
Christ Himself
Ears that hear Christ(God)’s voice
Hearts that perceive as Christ
perceives
Lives that are willing to repent and
be healed

23. CHRIST’S
INVESTMENT
Parables also illustrated Christ’s
approach
Those who do not hear ie hear,
maybe receive but do not
understand/ invest– pathway,
stony, thorny
The sower casts seeds but does
not invest
Those who hear and understand
and invest– good soil
Sower cast seeds and invests
just as jesus did

24. THE JACKPOT
Are you waiting for a
multimillionaire to pick you up
and say, he is ready to put his
millions on you. That you are rare
talent.
Your wait is over
You can have much more
(though very few do)

25. HOW TO KNOW WE
ARE INVESTED
Our best investments are for Him
• Time
• Talents
• Money
We are always hungry for more
• More returns
• More word
• More fellowship
• More sacrificial service..

26. HOW TO KNOW WE ARE
INVESTED (CONT’D)
Most importantly – in
people
Are we hungry for souls?
Passionate about making disciples?
Searching for good soil that
produces returns?
Just as He is?

27. HOW TO KNOW WE ARE
INVESTED (CONT’D)?
The catch here is we will never know how blind we
are and how much potential blessing we are
missing
Because we are sinners and part of us is already
calloused
We can only tackle the unsurrendered parts of our
lives with vengeance..in His power and with His
grace

28. HOW TO INVEST OUR
HEART RIGHTLY?
• By listening with our spiritual ears
(His word)
• By seeing with our spiritual eyes
(His will)
• By understanding with our spiritual
heart (His plans)
That is receiving
• And getting rid of any distraction in
our life
• prioritizing our lives around His
priorities
• Recharging our spiritual batteries
continuously
That is investment

29. THE CORE TRUTHS
1. Everyone gets opportunities, few are
stakeholders and partners
2. Christ invests into those who are
invested in Him
3. The more we are invested in Him,
the more He is invested in us
4. If our heart is invested in the world,
it will choke or dry out our
investment in Christ
5. The more Christ invests into us, the
more we invest into others

30. REFLECTION
• What is our strategy with those
who have not?
• What is our focus with those
who have or have the potential
to have?
• Where is our investment?

31. REMEMBER OUR
BLESSING
Matt 13:16 But blessed are
your eyes, because they
see; and your ears,
because they hear. 17 For
truly I say to you that many
prophets and righteous men
desired to see what you see, and
did not see it, and to hear what
you hear, and did not hear it.

32. DISCUSSION
1. Who specifically fall into the “have nots” in our circle.
How do we give them warnings as Christ did?
2. List our focus people/ groups for discipleship. What are
tangible results in these people/groups
3. In what ways have we invested into Christ? What are
some returns we are enjoying?
4. Investing long term can sometimes be discouraging?
What encouragement have we received in these
endeavours?