Many people think that parables were designed by Jesus to make things clear. That's not the case. Parables were designed by Jesus to make things obscure, to hide truth. He says that in Matthew 13, "These things are hiding the truth." Why would He hide the truth? He hid the truth because the people had rejected Him. The conclusion of the leaders of Israel and the people who followed them in chapter 12 of Matthew was that He did what He did by the power of Satan; He was demon-inspired; His message came from hell; He was a false teacher of the worst kind.
So they concluded the exact opposite of the truth. Jesus pronounced judgment on them from that day on. From that day in Matthew 13, that very day on, He spoke to them in parables so they would not understand. So parables were a judgment, and then He had to explain the meaning of those parables to His disciples as we saw last time so they would understand the meaning. So He was actually teaching the crowds and teaching His disciples in a fashion that hid the truth so that He could pronounce a judgment on those who had rejected, and then have the opportunity to explain the meaning to those who believed...
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Widely known for his thorough, candid approach to teaching God’s Word, John MacArthur is a fifth-generation pastor, a popular author and conference speaker, and has served as pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California since 1969. John and his wife,...
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