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Greetings. This is Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church with a

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moment of truth where we challenge you to think through an important issue of life and faith.

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And today I'd like to ask you, why did Jesus speak in parables? We are looking at the life

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and times of Jesus of Nazareth. And it's one of the favorite studies of my life is studying the

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life of Christ. If you want to know how we should be perfect men and women, we should follow the one

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perfect man, the Lord Jesus Christ. And we are doing this in our Wednesday night Bible study.

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We're taking up a study entitled The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth. And we're doing this

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in home Bible studies. We want to provide a relaxed and comfortable atmosphere in which you can visit

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us and share the life of Jesus Christ in your life. We're looking right now in the Bible study at how do

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we know about Jesus and how do we know Jesus? Those are two very important questions. They're

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different questions, are they not? But that's one of the areas, for example, that we'll be taking up

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and looking at the life and times of Jesus of Nazareth. And you can call me at area code 208-523-0196

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to get information on where the nearest home of one of our members is, where you can repair to enjoy

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some refreshments and relax amongst our people and learn as much as you possibly can about the life

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of Jesus as we kind of collate and compare the Gospels and take from them a timeline of the life

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of Jesus and just study things like, why did Jesus speak in parables? And I want to tackle that today.

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And I'm also reading from one of my favorite resources, and that is Henri Daniel Ropes. He was a Frenchman

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who wrote a book back in the 40s called Jesus and His Times. And he just does a beautiful job of giving

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an overview of the life of Jesus. And at one point, he deals with the parables of Jesus and why Jesus

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spoke in parables. And I think he's pretty close to being accurate as to why Jesus spoke in parables.

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Jesus explained it to us, and we're going to be reading the portions of Scripture where Jesus

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explains himself. But we'll also be reading some of the commentary of Daniel Ropes. And then you'll

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have some of my commentary interspersed with it. But it's just a beautiful portion of his book

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which deals with the parables of Jesus, which was one of Jesus' favorite modes of teaching. And at one

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point in his ministry, the exclusive mode of his teaching, and we'll explain why he resorted to

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parables. For example, Jesus opened up his ministry of preaching with the Sermon on the Mount. What a

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grand and beautiful sermon that is too. And we'll tackle that in the course of our study too. But

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this was a beautiful sermon, which was simply put, simply stated and laid out before his disciples.

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But then when he began teaching on the ground in places like Galilee and Judea, and then later in

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the city of Jerusalem, he began to speak in parables because he found so much opposition, because he

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found so many enemies of the gospel present and mocking and scoffing at his teaching. So he began to

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teach in parables. And to this, Daniel Ropes mentions that right after the beauty and simplicity

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of the Sermon on the Mount, he says, and I quote, Jesus abandoned the simple and direct method of

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teaching. Shortly after the Sermon on the Mount, he began to speak in parables. Why? The problem has

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been often debated and not entirely satisfactory answered, though, in spite of the multiplicity of

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works on the subject. Some have maintained that there is in fact no change in Jesus' oratorical

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style, that in the wider sense, parables are interwoven in the Sermon on the Mount. And that's

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true. That's very true parenthetically, I add. As for instance, Daniel Ropes goes on to say in the

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celebrated passage, ye are the salt of the earth, but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall

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it be salted? Unquote. Here the faithful are compared with this salt, which if long exposed to sun and

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there, it is said to lose its efficacy, as we are assured by Pliny the Elder. Other commentators

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think that there is a deliberate change in Christ's teaching method. And I would agree with

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that, too. This is Pastor Bass. Daniel Ropes goes on to say, perhaps he was disturbed by the

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resistance, which he was already beginning to encounter at the outset of his ministry, and by

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the intrigues of the Pharisees, so that he decided to cloak his message in veiled terms, and to await

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his time for plain speaking. St. Matthew seems to explain this mystery, yet the explanation itself

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is so mysterious that it has led to even more discussion. The apostles themselves asked the

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Master why he spoke in parables. Christ says in answer, because it is given unto you to know the

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mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but unto them it is not given. For whosoever hath to him shall be

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given, but whosoever hath not from him shall be taken away, even that he hath. For this people's

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heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have closed. But blessed

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are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear." Daniel Ropes goes on to say, these strange

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words almost shock us, especially when we recall those verses from Isaiah, to which doubtless Jesus

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was eluding. And then he quotes from Isaiah 6, verses 9 and 10. Hear these words.

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Go and tell this people, hear ye indeed, but understand not, and see ye indeed, but perceive

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not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes, lest they see

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with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be

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healed." Unquote. Oh, this is Pastor Bass reflecting on this, because indeed, Isaiah, the prophet,

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if you go back to Isaiah chapter 6, you see that Isaiah's very commission was to harden the hearts

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of Israel, that no one would be saved, but rather, indeed, they would be set up and established for

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judgment. So, this is why Isaiah spoke in parables, and why Jesus spoke in parables as well, because God

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had already determined to judge them, lest they hear with their ears, lest they see with their eyes, and

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understand in their heart, and convert, and be healed. This is why Jesus spoke in parables. I go back now

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to Daniel Rupps in his commentary on the parables. Why did Jesus speak in parables? He goes on to say,

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"'It is the lest they which is so terrible.'" And Jesus, quoting the prophet, seems to take it to

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himself. Was he already weary of the faithlessness of the people around him, and abandoning them to

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their fate? In large measure, he was. What we should read into these bitter words, which betray the

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rejection of love, is a judgment of the entire human condition, of the irremediable weakness of

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our will, and of our devotion. Jesus, who could read all hearts, knew only too well that those who

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acclaimed him when he worked miracles would abandon him when support was likely to become dangerous.

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The mystery of the blindness of Israel, of which St. John also speaks, quoting those very words of

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Isaiah, is no more mysterious than that of the blindness of Christians, whom neither words nor

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miracles have persuaded during the course of the centuries. This is very perceptive on Daniel

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Rob's part. This is Pastor Bass commentating on Daniel Rob's, because he's very perceptive about

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this in applying this then to Christians and the Christian church over the centuries, because there

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has been blindness and hardness of heart amongst Christians, so-called Christians, in the Christian

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church over the centuries as well, even as the Jewish leaders were heart of heart. They were blind in

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their eyes. They were deaf in their ears, because indeed, if they were not, they would have listened to

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Jesus. Jesus himself said, you would have obeyed my words. If you knew the Father, you would obey me.

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But because they didn't, then, of course, the persistent and consistent rejection of Jesus and

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his message provoked Jesus to begin to speak in parables, where indeed, his disciples would

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understand, but those outside would not, because God had already decided to judge them. If he had spoken

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plainly and clearly, their ears would have been unstopped, their eyes would have been unblinded, and

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they would have understood with their heart, and have been converted, and have been healed, but God had

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already decided sovereignly. This is also part of the terrible and majestic sovereignty of God, as he deals

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with men, in deciding then to call, and to convert some, and to leave others in their sin. Well, what he

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goes on to say then, Daniel Rops goes on to say, the mystery of the blindness of Israel, the blindness

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of Christians, as well, is characterized in this same vein. And so, he says, the things of God are

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left to the men of God. Yes, the things of God are left to the men of God. The disciples would hear the

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parables of Jesus, and understand, and be converted, if you will, and they would be built up, and they

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would be edified in the gospel. And God had already sovereignly determined to open their ears, to unstop

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their eyes, and their hearts are converted, and built up in the teachings of Jesus as he teaches

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in parables. So, we're beginning to see now why it is that Jesus spoke in parables all through his

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ministry. Jesus said also in a parable, give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your

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pearls before swine. This is another reason that Jesus spoke in parables. It's kind of a summary of

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why Jesus spoke in parables, is because unconverted and evil men would do nothing but mock and scoff and

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treat as refuse the very precious things of the gospel. And we see this reprised in our own lives.

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This is a parable that we can take up as well. Have you ever talked to a lost man or woman who is

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just scoffing and scornful of the things that you have to say? When you talk about the gospel, when you

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talk about salvation by grace through faith, when you reprise for people, what has been told century

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after century is that works cannot save, that one's own goodness and one's own righteousness

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cannot save his soul, because all of our righteousness is as filthy rags, as the prophet Isaiah always says

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as well. And these kinds of things are counterintuitive to the lost man. He sees himself as good. He sees

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himself as having his works stand in the last day for judgment. I had one young man to whom I was

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sharing the gospel say in disgust and shaking his head as he walked away, all I want is what I deserve.

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Oh, dear friend, if that's what you are saying in your relationship with God, all I want is what I

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deserve, then you are hell bound because all of our works are as filthy rags and we will be judged in

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the last day and thrown to where the fire is never quenched, where there is gnashing of teeth and where

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the worm never dies, as Jesus described hell. Well, the reason then Jesus spoke in parables is that he

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wanted his pearls to be displayed before his disciples. And he wanted that which was holy,

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not thrown to the dogs to be mocked and scoffed out and trampled underfoot, but rather to the dogs,

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now to the disciples, yes, who would understand and cherish what is holy. So these are some of the

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reasons why Jesus spoke in parables. Daniel Rops goes on to say, let those who have ears to hear receive

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the word. In this apparent discrimination and, as it were, deferment of the complete revelation,

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in making it more esoteric, Christ is passing judgment in advance upon that society of human

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beings, which is later to be called the church, a society which, though largely engaged with the

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contingencies and harsh realities of this world, nonetheless possesses, invisibly in its essence,

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and visibly in some of its members, the supreme gifts, which mark the saints. Ah, how beautiful

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that is. What a great reflection on why Jesus spoke in parables. It is because hidden to the world,

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oftentimes the world is blind to the supreme gifts of the church, are they not? The gospel,

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indeed the oracles of God, indeed the sacraments of baptism in the Lord's Supper, all these precious

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supreme gifts of which the world sees nothing precious, but which we see as holy and as pearls,

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if you will, because they are so treasured and valuable to us. They are loved by us because they

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all communicate Jesus to us, do they not? And Jesus communicated these things to us, in turn, in

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parables. The precious things of the church, the society of human beings do not see these things,

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do they? But the church does. And he goes on to say, Daniel Rupps goes on to say then,

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there is not much point in examining too closely the definition of a parable. This is good.

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There is not much point in examining too closely the definition of a parable and in classifying it

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according to the categories so dear to the Greeks. The term which comes from the Greek,

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parabolane, the Greek word for parable is parabolane, signifies a comparison as distinguished from an

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analogy, an allegory, a riddle, or an image. Now this is Pastor Bass. I just want to step back

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here a moment because Daniel Rupps is so right on. He is so spot on about the definition of a parable.

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And this is one of the reasons I like him so much is because he's also a good scholar. He understands

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the text and he understands things like this, what a parable is in the New Testament and in the Old

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Testament for that matter, all through Israel. A parable had a broad semantic range. It's called

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a wide semantic range. It's a big net that encompasses a great deal. Simply, it just means

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a comparison. And this is precisely how Jesus taught throughout his ministry, didn't he? The kingdom

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of heaven is like, how many of his parables begin like that? And then he will go on to compare

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the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God to some simple pattern or some simple thing in all of our

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lives that all of us can understand. So the basic nature of a parable is that of a comparison.

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Daniel Rupps goes on to say the Hebrew word mashal is vaguer and much more complex.

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St. John, in fact, uses quite another Greek word, a paroimia, which is a proverb, a simple saying

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such as, physician, heal thyself. A story with a moral like that of poor Lazarus is in Hebrew

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a mashal, equally with the celebrated parables of the sower or the prodigal son. Now this is

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Pastor Bass just stepping back to reflect on this here for a moment because he is right. He's so spot on.

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A parable, by having a broad semantic range, can be as simple and as brief as physician, heal thyself.

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Or a parable can be as layered and long and complex as Lazarus and dives, the parable of

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Lazarus and the rich man. So he's beginning to see now, again, why Jesus spoke in parables. He could

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communicate so much across a broad spectrum of comparisons he could make. Well, Daniel Rupps goes on

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to say, this adornment of speech, that is the parable, this adornment of speech was very much

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favored by the Jews. It was to them the most telling form of discourse. Jesus was a master of

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it, wasn't he? Daniel Rupps goes on to say, it may be added that the Semitic mind, unlike our own,

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which derives its intellectual processes from the Greeks, set less store upon exactitude and logical

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progression than we should consider necessary. Daniel Rupps goes on to say, whatever else they are,

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the parables are literal masterpieces of literature. I like that. The parables are

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literal masterpieces of literature. And they have come down to us all through the history of the West,

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have they not? Even a secular people who may have never cracked the Bible have heard the parables

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or at least brief synopses of them, parables like that of the prodigal son. That metaphor has passed

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into our culture. And everybody knows what a good Samaritan is, right? Someone who helps

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someone in desperate straits that may not even be deserving of help. People know what a good Samaritan

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is. Or a prodigal son, too. Someone who has fallen away. Someone who has fallen into declension

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and has abandoned that which has been a part of his family, perhaps for generations and goes off on his

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own and lives a life then of debauchery, even as the prodigal son did. But the point is that the

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parables of Jesus have passed into our culture as living metaphors, have they not? Well, he goes on to

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say, he says, whatever else they are, the parables are literal masterpieces of literature. Renan, he says,

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now Renan was a scholar from the 18th century. He says, Renan found in them something of the quality of

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Greek sculpture in which the ideal becomes tangible and lovable. That's so true about the parables. We love

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the parables of Jesus, do they not? Because they express so much. They express the love of God. They reveal

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the truth of God. We find them throughout the gospel narrative. Daniel Robs goes on to say,

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we find them throughout the gospel narrative until the very last days of Jesus on earth.

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And some of them, the sower, the grain and the tares, the wise and the foolish virgins, the prodigal son

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and the good Samaritan, for instance, are so embedded in our memories that they are indissoluble part of the

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thought of the Western world. Isn't that true? That is so profoundly true. We are

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swim in the sea of Western culture. We hear these references to parables almost every day,

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but when we step back and look and see how the Western world was formed, how it was shaped,

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its content and its heart and soul, we see that portions of scripture like this, the life of Jesus,

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his character, his personality coming through to us in the life of the parables is indeed communicated

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to us so that the parables are an indissoluble part of the thought of the Western world. They're

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embedded in our memories, in our racial memory, in our cultural memories. Are they not? Daniel Robs

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goes on to say, they are all, that is the parables are all characterized by extreme simplicity of

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expression, by a homely realism, and at the same time by an authentic poetry deriving solely from the

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genius of the heart. That's a beautiful line. The parables are characterized by extreme simplicity

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of expression, are they not? We still know today what it means to be prodigal. We still know what a

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field is and what a seed is and how a seed sprouts and grows. We know what various soils are like, rocky

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soils, briar soils. We know what scorching heat of the sun is. We know the simple comparisons Jesus makes

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between water and the spirit. For example, in the Gospel of John, we know the simple comparison between

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light and darkness. Jesus uses these transcendent images that every culture has and that every

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culture understands. Every culture understands the idea of bread and it being the staff of life or the

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simplicity of wine as well. On and on we could go. His parables are characterized by extreme simplicity

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of expression, but it means it's accessible to all. And then by a homely realism, but at the same time,

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authentic poetry. That's difficult to do, impossible to do. It takes a genius. And indeed, as Daniel Rops

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points out, there is in the parables, they derive solely from the genius of the heart. And the genius of

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the heart from which they derived was the heart of Jesus. The parables indeed are straight from the

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heart of Jesus. No one spoke parables like Jesus. No one spoke with the kind of simplicity and homely

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realism as Jesus did, yet with authentic poetry that communicates directly to the human heart and

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conscience and soul, does it not? Well, Daniel Rops goes on to say, a certain number of the parables

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were assembled by the synoptics. The synoptics, of course, being those that share so much of Jesus'

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teaching in common, that is, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, were the one evident intention of composing a

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whole, Daniel Rops says. Well, all these relate to the kingdom of heaven. He's speaking here of the

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parables of the kingdom of heaven, which in turn Jesus compares with the seed which fell upon good

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ground. With a well-tilled field where an enemy comes to sow tares by night, with a grain of the mustard

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seed, which is the least of all seeds. But when it is grown, the birds of the air come and lodge in the

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branches thereof. Dear listener, I just want to remind you that we will be taking up, if you love

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the parables of Jesus, if you love the teaching of Jesus, we are going to be taking up in our study of

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the life and times of Jesus of Nazareth, these kinds of things. I just want to encourage you to join us.

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We are doing this on Wednesday evening Bible study, and we're doing this in the homes of our people.

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And if you want to join us in one of those homes, call me at area code 208-523-0196, and I can put you

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in contact with the nearest home of one of our members, where you can go enjoy some refreshments,

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and just casually and informally, we'll be teaching these things and talking about the life and times

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of Jesus of Nazareth, and perhaps what Christ has meant to you, too, personally, the life of Jesus

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has meant to you. Well, let's go on with why did Jesus speak in parables? And I'm looking at Daniel

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Rops again, too, in his book, Jesus and in His Times. I'm quoting from it and making my own commentary

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then on it as well. Well, doubtless there was a particular intention in the order of these parables,

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Daniel Rops says. Jesus first wished to describe the founding of the kingdom. So many of the parables

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are on the kingdom of God, aren't they? Then the seed thrusting forth. The mustard seed and the

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leaven exemplify its growth, the pearl and the treasure, its supreme importance. The parables of

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the tares and of the great draft of fish illustrate the necessity and difficulties of choice. The formula

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may not satisfy the requirements of strict logic, but who can deny that the echoes of these comparisons

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sound in the most secret places of our hearts? Indeed, they do not. They do, do they? Do they not? Excuse me?

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Indeed, the parables and their truths resound in the most secret places of our hearts.

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For instance, Jesus in the tares and the good seed, he says, Jesus says, the kingdom of heaven is likened

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unto a man which sowed good seed in his field. But while man slept, his enemy came and sowed tares

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among the wheat and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up and brought forth fruit, then

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appeared the tares also. So the servants of the house came and said unto him, Sir, didst thou not

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sow good seed in thy field? From which then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy has done this.

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The servant said unto him, Wilt thou that we go and gather them up? Nay, lest ye root up the wheat

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with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. Then I will say to the reapers, gather ye together

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first the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them. But gather the wheat into my barn. Unquote.

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That is the parable. And he goes on to say, Daniel rubs to us, this parable which Matthew retells so

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admirably is direct and clear. And the Galilean peasants to whom it was addressed would understand

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it perfectly out of their own experience. The well-tilled field, the good seed in the ground,

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the tares, so like the young wheat at first, but they can hardly be distinguished until the black

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and poisonous seeds appear. The harvest, which the farmer surveys sorrowfully, noticing that it is

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dirty and full of weeds. Through the simplicity of these homely and familiar scenes can be seen the

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image of the last judgment, when Almighty God will come to judge men. We recognize, too, its revelation

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of the mysterious origin of evil. We know from our daily experience that the good grain is never alone,

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and the adversary is always there ready to sow the seeds of sin. These parables are far removed

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from the conscious literary artifice, but they are nevertheless inimitable. None of the rabbis who

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made use of similar methods and none of the apostles who did not venture to imitate the master in this

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respect could ever reach this spontaneous perfection. This is Henri Daniel Rops commenting on

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the parables of Jesus, and I think he's spot on. No one since Jesus can ever reach this spontaneous

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perfection in teaching in parables. They're far removed from conscious literary artifice, aren't they?

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They're spontaneous, they're natural, and they're nevertheless inimitable. Who can teach like Jesus? Who can

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craft parables like Jesus? We'll be studying these things at New Geneva and our Wednesday night Bible study.

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We invite you to that Wednesday night Bible study, dear listener. It's on Wednesday night at seven

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o'clock in the homes of our people, and we want to provide you with a comfortable, relaxed atmosphere

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in which we can talk about the teaching of Jesus. We can talk about the life of Jesus, the life and times

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of Jesus of Nazareth. And we want to do this with some content, some good strong content, but also an

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opportunity to talk about these things. Wednesday night, seven o'clock. And for the nearest home,

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you can call me at area code 208-523-0196. Area code 208-523-0196. New Geneva Meets for Holy Worship

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on Sunday at 10 a.m. at 1014th Street on the corner of 4th and Boulevard. Call us and also come and visit

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us for worship at 10 o'clock Sunday, 1014th Street on the corner of 4th and Boulevard. Area code 208-523-0196.

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Thank you.

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Thank you.