The Purpose of the Parables
Introduction
My personality as a child was defined in large part by my admiration for my father. I wanted to be just like him. I wanted to have the same job someday. I wanted my hair to look the same.
My dad always knew the right way to do everything, and everyone else was wrong. My dad taught me how to do many things. How to ride a bike, how to make cornbread, how to brush my teeth, and so much more.
Think about the closest relationships you have in your life. Who are the people who are the most special to you personally?
How many of those relationships, like mine with my father, could be called a mentoring relationship? One in which one person is mentoring the other. The connection between a good teacher and student means a great deal to us. They carry importance, and weight in our lives. The impact of these kinds of relationships is often lifelong, and the roots run deep.
I believe that mentoring others and being mentored is a part of being human. It’s something that God made us to do. By nature, we reproduce; we replicate ourselves. It is a good thing.
As we have looked at the parables, we have been mentored by Jesus. The Holy Spirit has taught us about Jesus and the Kingdom of God as we have learned the parables and their meaning. At the end of this section of parables in Matthew 13, Jesus gives us the reason for which we have learned these things. Today, we will see that Jesus helps us to understand the Kingdom of God so we can help others to do the same.
Being like Jesus means helping people to understand the truth of His Kingdom.
It is always an interesting thing when God asks questions in the Bible. Based on what we know of Him, does God ever ask a question because He does not know something? No, He knows everything! So why then is He asking questions?
He is telling us something by asking a question. By His asking this question, we know that we should be asking about this subject. In other words, it is important! And what does He ask about here? Understanding.
After asking all these parables, like any good teacher, Jesus wants to make sure that the students understand what He has been trying to teach them. Essentially, He is asking, is it all adding up for you? Is it clicking for you?
And this is maybe something that is glaringly obvious but important for us to reflect upon. Jesus taught to be understood. As Pastor Thomas said when we started this series on the parables, Christ’s parables both reveal and conceal their message.
So while Jesus is in some ways concealing His real meaning, his goal has always been to teach students who want to learn. And this is one way in which we must be like Jesus. Jesus wanted people to get it. He wanted people to know what the Kingdom of God is.
As we have discussed for several weeks, He wanted people to know about how the Kingdom grows from humble beginnings, by unseen means. He wanted people to see the underrated and inestimable value of the kingdom. He wanted His disciples to know how to have a heart that responds rightly to the message of the kingdom. He wanted it to click for people. He wanted them to get it.
We should want people to get it. And the first person we should work on is right here. Ourselves. Understanding is important to Jesus. Friend, is your understanding of God’s kingdom, and by extension, God’s entire Word important to you?
For some of us, nerd-ing out on things comes naturally, but for some, we don’t think we are the “book learning” type. This kind of person would rather be working with your hands or “doing something.” For this group, academic study is uninteresting, potentially intimidating, and maybe even viewed as pointless.
Now there would have been more followers than just the twelve with Jesus at this time, but just within that group, you had plenty of men who worked with their hands. You have at least four fishermen. Men who worked with their hands. Men who were very practical.
Are you the kind of person who wants to know the point of whatever you are learning? Though academic study is a good thing, and I think we sell ourselves short when we write ourselves off as incapable of doing it, what we are talking about is not actually learning for the sake of learning.
There is a point. Jesus makes that clear here. He makes it clear that understanding is important, I pray that we as a church commit to working to understand the Kingdom of God and His Word. And after he has made that clear, He tells them what they now must do.
The purpose of learning about God’s kingdom is to teach others.
Jesus uses the word, "Therefore." This means that what He is about to say is based on whatever has been said before. Based on the fact that they now understand His teachings about the kingdom, there is one final parable for them to understand. Now that the disciples understand
Before we dive into the parable itself, I first want to look at the word he uses to describe them. “Scribe.” What are scribes? They are the authorities on the Law.
Followers of Jesus, trained in His teachings, are to be the Scribes. This reinforces what we have already recognized from this text. That every believer, regardless of their personality, can and should be a student of the Word of God.
Jesus makes it even clearer by saying these scribes have been instructed in the kingdom. This word is the same word as to make someone into a disciple.
Jesus says that His scribes are like householders that bring out of their treasure both old and new. Now the way that our brains work, our minds go instantly to wondering, “Ok, so what are the bringing out of the treasure store? What is old and new?”
While the words “old and new” are important they are not the focus of this text. The focus is the bringing out. “Old and new” most likely refers to teaching both the “old” Scriptures, (Tanakh: Law, Prophets, and Writings) and the new teachings of Jesus.
Again, the focus is on bringing out that which has been given to us. What is the treasure that scribes have been given? That which they have learned. They have been entrusted with the sacred writings. They are the keepers of them. And what have we been given? We have been taught, or discipled, in the Kingdom of heaven.
So what are we bringing out? Those teachings. We give them now to other people.
Here is the point that Jesus is making. If someone has invested in you, it is your responsibility to invest in others. Those instructed in the kingdom bring out of the treasure they have received, and instruct others.
Now, someone may say, but Pastor Will, I have never had someone truly invest in me. If you are a child of God, then, friend, while another follow of Jesus may not have invested in you, God certainly has. He gave His Son for you, that you might have His Spirit in you, making you more like Christ.
However, that is not the case for probably most of us in this room. Whether our parents, pastors, or other mentors, we have all received the benefit, not just of the grace of God in Christ, but also the faithful ministry of the saints.
The bottom line is this: Jesus says every scribe passes on the teachings that they have been given. Not just the ones with a knack for it. Not just the ones who are extroverts. Every scribe does this.
There is another way to say this: disciples make disciples. That is what they do.
What is a disciple or follower of Jesus. It is someone who obeys what Jesus said to do and lives like he lived. If Jesus commanded us to make disciples, and Jesus Himself made disciples, then His followers must make disciples. You cannot obey Jesus or be like Him if you do not make disciples.
I am a girl dad. I love being that. I grew up with only brothers. My mom was a boy mom. Everything in our family was oriented around boys and their interests. As a teenager and young adult, I enjoyed learning about girls and how they think. I am still learning. But one thing which I love seeing in my girls as young children, and in any other girls for that matter, is taking care of baby dolls.
Why do they do this? As a guy who grew up with no sisters, I really didn’t think about this too deeply when I was younger. Now that I watch my daughters hold the baby, swaddle it, mock nurse the baby, and talk to it, I know exactly why they do this. They are copying mama. They are born imitators. Children copy their parents, whether we intend for them to do so or not. They were made to do this.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, we were made to copy Jesus. We are to be like Him.
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11:1, that we should be imitating those who are like Jesus so we can ultimately be like Christ. And again in Romans 8, Paul says that God is working to make us more like Jesus.
Are you actively seeking to help people know and become more like Jesus? For a long time, a lot of churches in American culture have focused on programs. Building large children’s ministries and buildings for people to come to. We would have big attractional events to bring people in. We asked volunteers (or church members) to staff these things. A lot of good things happened, but many times, one of the deficiencies was making disciples that actually obey what Jesus says, not just at church but consistently in personal life.
A lot of us might be really comfortable volunteering for an event or a program, but discipling someone, being the household manager who shares out of the treasure store, is outside our comfort zones. I understand it very well may be this way for some of you. I do not want to make following Jesus unnecessarily difficult. But I did not come up with this requirement. It is one that Jesus gives to anyone who would follow Him.
Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? Ma 16:24–26
Jesus let us know up front that following Him would not be easy. It would not be easy. It would not come cheap. But just because something costs something, doesn’t mean it’s not worth it. Some might feel, “How could I disciple someone? I am not trained for that. Where would I even begin?”
Well, let me please share some very practical steps for becoming the scribe that Jesus calls you to be.
Conclusion
This is a lot. And though we are responsible as individuals for whether or not we follow Jesus in these things, we are not alone. We can do this together. Truly, if you’re not sure you are at a stage where you can mentor someone else, that is ok. You very well may need some mentoring. You don’t have to figure this out on your own.
As we look forward to Communion, taking the Lord’s supper together, can we do this together, Brookdale?
You see a big part of fellowship, or sharing life in Christ with one another, is this mentoring we have discussed. I need people to speak into my life. When I have become a scribe of the Kingdom, I need to be speaking into other people’s lives. We need each other. We are in this together.
It is no accident that Communion is done together, as a community. Let us live out the communion we have in Christ by leaning on each other, and making disciples together.
Discussion Questions
My personality as a child was defined in large part by my admiration for my father. I wanted to be just like him. I wanted to have the same job someday. I wanted my hair to look the same.
My dad always knew the right way to do everything, and everyone else was wrong. My dad taught me how to do many things. How to ride a bike, how to make cornbread, how to brush my teeth, and so much more.
Think about the closest relationships you have in your life. Who are the people who are the most special to you personally?
How many of those relationships, like mine with my father, could be called a mentoring relationship? One in which one person is mentoring the other. The connection between a good teacher and student means a great deal to us. They carry importance, and weight in our lives. The impact of these kinds of relationships is often lifelong, and the roots run deep.
I believe that mentoring others and being mentored is a part of being human. It’s something that God made us to do. By nature, we reproduce; we replicate ourselves. It is a good thing.
As we have looked at the parables, we have been mentored by Jesus. The Holy Spirit has taught us about Jesus and the Kingdom of God as we have learned the parables and their meaning. At the end of this section of parables in Matthew 13, Jesus gives us the reason for which we have learned these things. Today, we will see that Jesus helps us to understand the Kingdom of God so we can help others to do the same.
Being like Jesus means helping people to understand the truth of His Kingdom.
It is always an interesting thing when God asks questions in the Bible. Based on what we know of Him, does God ever ask a question because He does not know something? No, He knows everything! So why then is He asking questions?
He is telling us something by asking a question. By His asking this question, we know that we should be asking about this subject. In other words, it is important! And what does He ask about here? Understanding.
After asking all these parables, like any good teacher, Jesus wants to make sure that the students understand what He has been trying to teach them. Essentially, He is asking, is it all adding up for you? Is it clicking for you?
And this is maybe something that is glaringly obvious but important for us to reflect upon. Jesus taught to be understood. As Pastor Thomas said when we started this series on the parables, Christ’s parables both reveal and conceal their message.
So while Jesus is in some ways concealing His real meaning, his goal has always been to teach students who want to learn. And this is one way in which we must be like Jesus. Jesus wanted people to get it. He wanted people to know what the Kingdom of God is.
As we have discussed for several weeks, He wanted people to know about how the Kingdom grows from humble beginnings, by unseen means. He wanted people to see the underrated and inestimable value of the kingdom. He wanted His disciples to know how to have a heart that responds rightly to the message of the kingdom. He wanted it to click for people. He wanted them to get it.
We should want people to get it. And the first person we should work on is right here. Ourselves. Understanding is important to Jesus. Friend, is your understanding of God’s kingdom, and by extension, God’s entire Word important to you?
For some of us, nerd-ing out on things comes naturally, but for some, we don’t think we are the “book learning” type. This kind of person would rather be working with your hands or “doing something.” For this group, academic study is uninteresting, potentially intimidating, and maybe even viewed as pointless.
Now there would have been more followers than just the twelve with Jesus at this time, but just within that group, you had plenty of men who worked with their hands. You have at least four fishermen. Men who worked with their hands. Men who were very practical.
Are you the kind of person who wants to know the point of whatever you are learning? Though academic study is a good thing, and I think we sell ourselves short when we write ourselves off as incapable of doing it, what we are talking about is not actually learning for the sake of learning.
There is a point. Jesus makes that clear here. He makes it clear that understanding is important, I pray that we as a church commit to working to understand the Kingdom of God and His Word. And after he has made that clear, He tells them what they now must do.
The purpose of learning about God’s kingdom is to teach others.
Jesus uses the word, "Therefore." This means that what He is about to say is based on whatever has been said before. Based on the fact that they now understand His teachings about the kingdom, there is one final parable for them to understand. Now that the disciples understand
Before we dive into the parable itself, I first want to look at the word he uses to describe them. “Scribe.” What are scribes? They are the authorities on the Law.
Followers of Jesus, trained in His teachings, are to be the Scribes. This reinforces what we have already recognized from this text. That every believer, regardless of their personality, can and should be a student of the Word of God.
Jesus makes it even clearer by saying these scribes have been instructed in the kingdom. This word is the same word as to make someone into a disciple.
Jesus says that His scribes are like householders that bring out of their treasure both old and new. Now the way that our brains work, our minds go instantly to wondering, “Ok, so what are the bringing out of the treasure store? What is old and new?”
While the words “old and new” are important they are not the focus of this text. The focus is the bringing out. “Old and new” most likely refers to teaching both the “old” Scriptures, (Tanakh: Law, Prophets, and Writings) and the new teachings of Jesus.
Again, the focus is on bringing out that which has been given to us. What is the treasure that scribes have been given? That which they have learned. They have been entrusted with the sacred writings. They are the keepers of them. And what have we been given? We have been taught, or discipled, in the Kingdom of heaven.
So what are we bringing out? Those teachings. We give them now to other people.
Here is the point that Jesus is making. If someone has invested in you, it is your responsibility to invest in others. Those instructed in the kingdom bring out of the treasure they have received, and instruct others.
Now, someone may say, but Pastor Will, I have never had someone truly invest in me. If you are a child of God, then, friend, while another follow of Jesus may not have invested in you, God certainly has. He gave His Son for you, that you might have His Spirit in you, making you more like Christ.
However, that is not the case for probably most of us in this room. Whether our parents, pastors, or other mentors, we have all received the benefit, not just of the grace of God in Christ, but also the faithful ministry of the saints.
The bottom line is this: Jesus says every scribe passes on the teachings that they have been given. Not just the ones with a knack for it. Not just the ones who are extroverts. Every scribe does this.
There is another way to say this: disciples make disciples. That is what they do.
What is a disciple or follower of Jesus. It is someone who obeys what Jesus said to do and lives like he lived. If Jesus commanded us to make disciples, and Jesus Himself made disciples, then His followers must make disciples. You cannot obey Jesus or be like Him if you do not make disciples.
I am a girl dad. I love being that. I grew up with only brothers. My mom was a boy mom. Everything in our family was oriented around boys and their interests. As a teenager and young adult, I enjoyed learning about girls and how they think. I am still learning. But one thing which I love seeing in my girls as young children, and in any other girls for that matter, is taking care of baby dolls.
Why do they do this? As a guy who grew up with no sisters, I really didn’t think about this too deeply when I was younger. Now that I watch my daughters hold the baby, swaddle it, mock nurse the baby, and talk to it, I know exactly why they do this. They are copying mama. They are born imitators. Children copy their parents, whether we intend for them to do so or not. They were made to do this.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, we were made to copy Jesus. We are to be like Him.
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11:1, that we should be imitating those who are like Jesus so we can ultimately be like Christ. And again in Romans 8, Paul says that God is working to make us more like Jesus.
Are you actively seeking to help people know and become more like Jesus? For a long time, a lot of churches in American culture have focused on programs. Building large children’s ministries and buildings for people to come to. We would have big attractional events to bring people in. We asked volunteers (or church members) to staff these things. A lot of good things happened, but many times, one of the deficiencies was making disciples that actually obey what Jesus says, not just at church but consistently in personal life.
A lot of us might be really comfortable volunteering for an event or a program, but discipling someone, being the household manager who shares out of the treasure store, is outside our comfort zones. I understand it very well may be this way for some of you. I do not want to make following Jesus unnecessarily difficult. But I did not come up with this requirement. It is one that Jesus gives to anyone who would follow Him.
Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? Ma 16:24–26
Jesus let us know up front that following Him would not be easy. It would not be easy. It would not come cheap. But just because something costs something, doesn’t mean it’s not worth it. Some might feel, “How could I disciple someone? I am not trained for that. Where would I even begin?”
Well, let me please share some very practical steps for becoming the scribe that Jesus calls you to be.
- Learn
- Spend time with God daily. The most transformative influence in a Christian's life is daily time spent reading God's Word and praying.
- Obey Jesus in all of life. As we obey Christ, we learn what it means to follow Jesus in a very practical way.
- Read other good books about who God is and how to serve Him effectively
- Reach
- Initiate conversations and relationships. In order to share something with someone, we must have someone to share something with.
- Hospitality (sharing what God has given you) is an ancient Christian practice that believers have used to build relationships with others, and to show the love of Christ. This includes hosting people in your home, but also sharing anything else God has given you.
- Teach
- Work to help others “understand”. God cares about this, and we should too. He used teaching devices and styles to work to help people to understand.
- Tell others about Jesus. The first step is getting into the practice of explaining the Gospel to people. Anyone can do this even if you don't have a special gift of "teaching."
- Hone the skills of “teaching”. We must improve our ability to artfully and beautifully helping people to understand the Kingdom of God and the message of the Bible.
Conclusion
This is a lot. And though we are responsible as individuals for whether or not we follow Jesus in these things, we are not alone. We can do this together. Truly, if you’re not sure you are at a stage where you can mentor someone else, that is ok. You very well may need some mentoring. You don’t have to figure this out on your own.
As we look forward to Communion, taking the Lord’s supper together, can we do this together, Brookdale?
You see a big part of fellowship, or sharing life in Christ with one another, is this mentoring we have discussed. I need people to speak into my life. When I have become a scribe of the Kingdom, I need to be speaking into other people’s lives. We need each other. We are in this together.
It is no accident that Communion is done together, as a community. Let us live out the communion we have in Christ by leaning on each other, and making disciples together.
Discussion Questions
- Two options for conversation starters:
- Have you ever been surprised by someone’s imitation of you, or of realizing that you have unknowingly been imitating someone else?
- Who has been an important or beloved mentor in your life?
- What about the Kingdom of God or the Gospel do you think needs explaining? Do you have any ideas about how to do this well?
- Who were the Scribes in the Gospels? Why do you think Jesus describes His followers as scribes in Matthew 13:52?
- How should the value or nature of what we have been entrusted with affect our motivation to “bring it out” to give it to others?
- What is most difficult for you about the prospect of being like the householder in Matthew 13:52? (The householder brings out of his treasure store, and we should “bring out,” or pass on, the teachings of Jesus to others.)
- How can you overcome this specific challenge?
- What are some good books that have helped you understand the message of the Bible?
- Discuss some strategies for engaging in more hospitality, including hosting people in your home as well as other forms.
- Discuss some methods of teaching other than directly informative lecturing. (Directly informative lecturing means just giving information with no other methods.)
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