Matthew 13:10
If you give a man fish you can feed him but if you teach him how to fish you can feed him forever.
Parables are earthly stories with heavenly meanings. The disciples did not understand but they reached out to Jesus for explanation and they got it. The mysteries of the kingdom are given to those who will search them out and find them valuable for life.
Why is it that some will not understand yet Jesus chose to use parables?
He replied, “You’ve been given insight into God’s kingdom. You know how it works. Not everybody has this gift, this insight; it hasn’t been given to them. Whenever someone has a ready heart for this, the insights and understandings flow freely. But if there is no readiness, any trace of receptivity soon disappears. That’s why I tell stories: to create readiness, to nudge the people toward receptive insight. In their present state they can stare till doomsday and not see it, listen till they’re blue in the face and not get it. I don’t want Isaiah’s forecast repeated all over again:
Your ears are open but you don’t hear a thing. Your eyes are awake but you don’t see a thing. (Mt 13:11-15 MSG)
How did Jesus explain the kingdom? He used the parable of the sower in this chapter, talking about seed, soils and fruits. There is hardly any good farmer who would not have insight on his business. Jesus used that to explain the mysteries of the kingdom. In other parables, Jesus used bread, pearls, sheep, treasures, salt and so on.
If you want to understand the mysteries of the kingdom, study the parables.
Many times we do not remember everything we hear but we remember the stories that connect with us. The parables clearly present insights into how the natural connects with the spiritual. Jesus said we have been given the knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom. We must be willing to find out the underlying principles and apply them.
One of the most popular parables of Jesus is the parable of the prodigal son. We can draw many life lessons from this parable.
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