Multiple Perspectives on Speaking in Parables

Some of the very most puzzling passages for me from this week's reading (Episode 4 of the Covenant Bible Study)  have to do with the following scriptures from Matthew 13:

¹⁰ Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” ¹¹ And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. ¹² For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.

And Mark 4:

¹⁰ And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. ¹¹ And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, ¹² so that

“‘they may indeed see but not perceive,
    and may indeed hear but not understand,
lest they should turn and be forgiven.’”

What in the world? Jesus spoke in parables in order to intentionally hide the truth? To give to those who already understood and take away what little the rest have? What sense can we make of this at all?

The intent of this blog post is to offer some perspectives, not necessarily to draw conclusions, and certainly not to provide answers! But, in case these are issues you are also struggling with, here are some thoughts:

A very common explanation can be found blueletterbible.org in an article by Don Stewart. He says:

Unwillingness on the part of the people to receive Jesus' message of the kingdom was the reason that He taught in parables. The truths of the kingdom of God were heard by them but not understood. It was not because God was hiding the truth from them-it was because they did not want to hear. 

The point being made here is one also made by Ray Stedman in his blog. Namely, that the parables were not difficult to understand, but that the people were not open to receiving the message. After all,

A parable is a little story which illustrates a truth. It is a vocal cartoon. We all appreciate cartoons because they drive a point home in a very striking way.

Dan Kopp, pastor of Eastside Vineyard Church in Michigan offers something similar, but with a bit more explanation:

Hebrew teachers (which include Isaiah and Jesus) would sometimes express an effect as though it were a cause, in order to emphasize the point they were making. ... So in the case of Isaiah, he volunteers to be God’s messenger to the Hebrew people, and here is a paraphrase of Isaiah 6:9-10, getting at the meaning of what God says to Isaiah: “Go and deliver my message, but don’t expect them to pay any attention to it. The effect of your preaching will be their persistent refusal to accept what you say, to the point where they will have rendered themselves incapable of accepting it.” And this is exactly what Isaiah experienced for the next forty years as a prophet. Isaiah’s experience was repeated 700 years later in Jesus’ ministry. ... So Jesus applied the words of Isaiah 6:9–10 to the effect (not, of course, to the purpose) of His own ministry.

Again, Jesus' words were descriptive, rather than prescriptive. They describe the people as unwilling to understand, inattentive to the truth. Kopp, however, offers this further perspective which begins to turn the idea of parables as easy to understand on its head. He says:

...anyone who wasn’t genuinely listening wouldn’t get it. But those whose ears were open…those who weren’t content with just being in the crowd…would be compelled to seek the truth of the parable, and in the process they would encounter the Truth.

 So, the truth of the parables was not hidden from those actually seeking the truth, only those who didn't really want to know. This idea is taken several steps further by Jeremy Myers at reedeminggod.com:

Scripture and parables are confusing because God doesn’t want us to get life from a book. The Jewish religious leaders were trying to get their life from a book, and Jesus scolded them for it (John 5:39-40)...

 And so...

When Jesus told confusing parables, the proper response was for people to go to Jesus and say, “What in the world? That made no sense, Jesus. What did you mean by that parable?” And Jesus always responds by saying, “Ah! I was waiting for you to ask. Let’s talk about it.” And that is what He does. He sits around and discusses the parables with those who want to learn more and who come to Him seeking a relationship. 

From this perspective, parables *are* intentionally confusing and that was exactly Jesus' intent. Parables (and other confusing scripture passages) are intended to draw us into further relationship with God.