I was going to try to write my post today without the help of any of the study notes in any of my Bibles, but I decided once I saw that I was going to have to write about some of Jesus' parables that this was probably NOT a good idea! Keep in mind that Matthew was writing his Gospel account to the JEWISH people and proving to them how much Jesus perfectly fulfills the prophecies of the prophets is crucial to his message presentation. There are a few important concepts about parables that are critical to mention here:
- Jesus' parables had two distinct purposes. The first one was to reveal truth to those whose heats would believe and to those who were willing to hear. The second purpose was to conceal the truth from those who willingly rejected the message because of their calloused hearts.
- Jesus' interpretations of His own parables may suggest that many of them were allegories that had many points of symbolism and that taught many related truths.
- "The hiddenness component of Jesus' teaching may seem harsh, but since greater exposure to truth increases one's accountability to God in judgment, the concealment may represent God's graciousness toward those whom He knew would be unresponsive." (HCSB Study Notes)
Did you really catch that? The concealment of the truth is a form of God's mercy! WOW! I had never thought of that before (hence the reason I HAD to share this with you all today). All of the parables in Chapter 13 have to do with the kingdom of heaven. Jesus apparently was REALLY trying to drive His point home as there are a total of five of these parables.
In verse 14 of Chapter 13, Jesus states that "You will listen and listen, yet never understand;". The word "never" used here is the Greek word "
ou me" which means "will absolutely not" rather than "never will". This suggests stony resistance NOT permanent resistance. This means that the Jews will eventually ALL see that Jesus is the Messiah and will then understand these different parables. Speaking in parables is actually a fulfillment of prophecy in and of itself. Matthew is PACKED with these displays of Jesus fulfilling prophecy!
Chapter 14 opens up with the beheading of John the Baptist. This was done because the mother of Herod's daughter wanted his head on a platter. And so it was done. What if someone was about to behead you because you believed in Jesus? Would you denounce Him or would you be beheaded? Just a little "food" for thought. Then chapter 14 goes on to tell the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000. This is the only miracle that is recorded in all four Gospels. It is even MORE amazing when you consider the fact that there was probably about 15,000 people in total there including women and children. Can you put yourself into the crowd watching them just keep handing out and keep handing out and keep handing out the five loaves and two fish until ALL 15,000 people were fed and thinking to yourself "Where does this stuff keep coming from?!?!". ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!!!
Then enter Jesus walking on the water! This miracle displays Jesus' incredible power over creation. After all, if Jesus MADE the water, doesn't it make sense that He could WALK on the water? But there was a violent storm raging at the time, which makes it all the MORE amazing! You gotta just love Peter...he is the only one willing to come walking out on that water! And he actually did it for a minute before He looked around and panicked. And so that is the lesson for us as well. If we take our eyes off of Jesus, ESPECIALLY during the storms, we WILL SINK!!!! He is the only One that keeps us from sinking! I just wonder...would I have asked Jesus if I could walk on that water???
P.S. I apologize that this is SO late getting on here today!
He created the laws of water and it's buoyancy, it only makes sense that He could walk on it, doesn't it Mindy! :) I'm so glad He is so patient with me.
ReplyDeleteThank you Mindy for putting up the concepts of parables in your post today. This helped me tremendously! Good post today. My head on a platter - I cringe at what I might have chosen to do if I were there.
ReplyDeleteWhat beautiful stories to think on today - and I love the one of Peter "taking his eyes off Jesus." Yes, we do sink quickly when we do that!
Your post was worth waiting for Mindy. You asked the question "would you be beheaded" I know that I would like to think I would but that is a pretty gruesome way to go. We never know until we are faced with a situation how we would handle it. I can say that I am glad that today we are not faced with those decisions but I think there may come a day and soon when we will. All I can say is God keep me strong so I can do His will.
ReplyDeleteMIndy, great post! I loved how you broke down the points of Jesus' parables, and the idea that the concealment was actually mercy...wow. Since the garden of Eden we've been trying to know all God does haven't we? It didn't work out too well for us then, probably won't now. We have to trust God to give us just what we can handle.
ReplyDeleteThere's a song by Matt Kearney called "In the middle." He has a line in the chorus that goes..."No parachutes or safety nets here, one foot on the water to face these fears. I'm coming out strong like I can't be wrong, I say, I won't fall in the middle." It has always made me think of Peter walking on the water to meet Jesus. We often step out so sure...and then realize all our safety nets are gone- then we take our eyes off our true security and end up falling. We all walk around "in the middle" every day. What if we made up our mind not to sink today??