Why Did Jesus Teach in Parables?

It’s been said that a picture’s worth a thousand words, and that’s probably accurate. If you had never witnessed a sunset, I could spend hours describing one, and your mental picture might still be inadequate. In the absence of the real thing, it would require a picture for you to appreciate the immensity and beauty of a sunset.

But then there are abstract concepts, like virtue and pride. How can we accurately understand something we cannot see or hear or touch? Pictures are still the answer, but they must be constructed with words. In fact, word pictures hold so much value in communicating truth that the two wisest men who ever lived—Solomon and Jesus—used them extensively in their teaching.

This Claim Nailed Jesus to the Cross

Parables Reveal Truth With Simplicity

Solomon’s proverbs are eloquent in their simplicity; for example, “The mouth of the righteous is a well of life” (Proverbs 10:11). We cannot visualize righteousness, but we can appreciate the value of pure, drinkable water. Jesus’ stories are longer, yet just as articulate. With simple illustrations, they communicate profound spiritual truth and challenge us deeply. It is impossible to forget the stories He told.

Someone has defined a parable as an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. By starting with something familiar, like baking or keeping a house, they provide a framework in which we can understand transcendent truth. And that’s the essence of education, isn’t it? Education is exploring the unknown through the known.

Jesus is the TRUTH

Parables Reveal Truth With Selectivity

Matthew 13 records a conversation between the disciples and Jesus in which they ask the same question we are pondering: “Why do You speak to them [the multitudes] in parables?” (verse 10)

Here is His response:

The “mysteries of the kingdom of heaven” are revealed selectively through divine revelation. Those who respond to what they have been given will receive more and continue to grow, but those who refuse to accept what has been given to them will lose their ability to understand spiritual matters. Any lack of revelation is due to a lack of willingness to receive it.

Earlier in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus encouraged His followers to exercise the same kind of selectivity, saying, “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces” (Matthew 7:6). Sharing the Gospel requires discernment. When people close their eyes and ears to biblical teaching, Jesus instructs us to move on and focus our efforts on those who are receptive to the pearls of wisdom contained in God’s Word.

Parables Reveal Truth With Specificity

Because they describe such ordinary activities, it might be tempting to think of parables as casual conversations between Jesus and His followers. We might imagine Him thinking, They’re just not getting it; I’d better tell a story. But Jesus’ use of parables carries significance beyond the truths they teach.

Matthew 13:34-35 provides an additional reason for Jesus’ parables: the fulfillment of a prophecy found in Psalm 78:2. Matthew says,

According to this passage, we become privy to the most ancient and profound secrets ever told when we study the stories of Jesus. The Old Testament prophets received hundreds of specific prophecies about the coming Messiah, but they often couldn’t make sense of them—they knew there would be a Messiah who would reign forever, but they also knew He would die. From their perspective, it didn’t seem to fit together. We have the benefit of interpreting those passages after the Messiah’s earthly life and teaching—events which fulfilled three hundred prophecies and provide context for understanding those that remain unfulfilled.

Parables Reveal Truth to Those With Spiritual Sensitivity

After Jesus’ death and resurrection, the apostle Paul wrote a pastoral letter to the church at Corinth in which he compared earthly wisdom with spiritual wisdom. He states, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent’” (1 Corinthians 1:18-19).

Jesus Invites Our Curiosity

Wisdom begins with humility. As Christians, we have a responsibility to cultivate a soft and sensitive heart so that when God speaks, we hear Him. He shouldn’t have to shout. When He shouts, it is often due to spiritual deafness on our part. The best way to hear God’s whisper is to quiet our heart with humble obedience.

Parables Offer the Power and Privilege of Discipleship

Peter Parker is a fictional character who transforms into the web-slinging superhero we know as Spider-Man. Without his assumed identity, Peter is an awkward high school student who struggles socially. But when he takes up the mantle of Spider-Man, Peter gains supernatural power to avert evil and protect humanity from the criminal underworld. His character has popularized a modern proverb that states, “With great power comes great responsibility.”

We, too, can access supernatural power if we take up the mantle of Jesus Christ. In Matthew 13:16-17, Jesus told His disciples they were a special group of people, for they were able to see, hear, and understand what the prophets in the Old Testament struggled to decipher. As His present-day disciples, we share their privilege.

Jesus, the Teacher of Truth, taught in parables because they simply, selectively, and specifically penetrate the hearts of those who are sensitive to His teaching. Like the Twelve, we have access to the wisdom of the ages, and now we are responsible for it.

So let me pose a new question: Are you ready to sit at the feet of Jesus and grow as His disciple? If so, open your Bible and your heart, and let Him tell you a story.

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