Sermon - Matthew 13 - Why Parables - Littleby Baptist Church -June 16, 2019

Every little thing we do that demonstrates that we embrace our faith in Jesus, demonstrates that we trust in Him, and our declaration of what He has done for us, does have an impact on others. Mary and Martha declaring their faith in Jesus caused some people to stay around. Jesus calling out to the Father got peoples attention. The stone being rolled away was a great example of faith being put into action and then the miracle happened.

Without the declarations, statements of faith, and the following actions people would not have seen the miracle and believed. People are watching us, listening to the things we say, and they want to see if we are going to put our money where our mouth is. The Holy Spirit uses all of this to get their attention and then if they respond performs a miracle in their lives.

The little things matter as we shine the light of Jesus into the world we live in.

In Matthew 13 Jesus we find 7 different parables. Jesus tells the Parable of the Sower, which He explains to His Disciples. The parable of the Wheat and Weeds, which He also interprets. Then there are 5 that He does not explain, The Mustard Seed, The Leaven, The Hidden Treasure, The Priceless Pearl, and The Net.

It seems that some define parables a little differently. While researching how many parables Jesus told I found sources stating 39, 46, and 50. I did not spend much time trying to determine which was the correct number as they all point out that Jesus used more than His fair share of parables to teach people. We find them scattered through and some repeated in the four Gospels.

Parables were part of how Jesus taught, and this morning we will take a look at why. Thankfully Jesus tells us in Matthew, Mark, and Luke why He used parables, we will focus on Matthew 13.

Matthew 13:10

“Then the disciples came up and asked him, “Why are you speaking to them in parables?”

Parables were a common form of teaching in Jesus day, but wasn’t Jesus primary method of teaching prior to this. He changed His style of teaching and the disciples were curious why.

Matthew 13:11-12

“¹¹ He answered, “Because the secrets of the kingdom of heaven have been given for you to know, but it has not been given to them. ¹² For whoever has, more will be given to him, and he will have more than enough; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”

The secrets, or some of your Bibles will say mysteries, of the kingdom of heaven have been given to those who have chosen to follow Jesus. They were not going to be revealed to those who did not believe.

Matthew 11:25

“At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and revealed them to infants.”

The truth was being hidden from those who thought they were the intellectual elite, those who had poured over the scrolls for hours on end and thought they were more deserving than others.

Matthew 12:22-24

“²² Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and unable to speak was brought to him. He healed him, so that the man could both speak and see. ²³ All the crowds were astounded and said, “Could this be the Son of David?” ²⁴ When the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man drives out demons only by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.””

The secrets were withheld from those who witnessed the miracles of Jesus but said that He was doing the work of the ruler of demons.  

Jesus changed his teaching style so that those who were believed He was sent by the Father, those that trusted in Him, those that were Following Him would be able to hear the truth, learn what was needed, but kept it away from those who were actively rejecting Jesus.

If we focus on the first half of verse Matthew 13:12.

“For whoever has, more will be given to him, and he will have more than enough”

Very similar to what Jesus teaches in the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25, when He tells the faithful servants that they did good with the few things they were given and now they will be given more.

In this case since we are talking about knowledge of the secrets and mysteries of the kingdom of heaven and Jesus is saying if you believe and have even the smallest amount of knowledge about God, it will grow. Think about it this way. When most people met Jesus for the first time, they know next to nothing about their new faith. Some know that they feel lonely, have messed things up, and everyone is telling them that Jesus died for them. That is about all they know on day 1, but jump ahead 6 months, 5 years, or even a lifetime and that knowledge has grown.

If we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and even have the smallest amount of knowledge, the Holy Spirit will reveal more and more. The more we have the more we will get. The more time we spend reading God’s Word, participating in Sunday School, and listening to the Word of God being taught, the more our little bit of knowledge will grow. Our Lord continues to reveal His truth to those who follow Him.

Matthew 13:12b-13

“but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. ¹³ That is why I speak to them in parables, because looking they do not see, and hearing they do not listen or understand.”

Without the simplest of understanding, the most basic of faith, they will not see God at work, they will not hear the truth. When a person closes themselves off from God, they cannot grow in knowledge and will not understand the teachings of Christ regardless of if He taught plainly, in parables, riddles, or even in emoji. Without faith, knowledge of the kingdom of heaven cannot be learned.

Matthew 13:14-15

“¹⁴ Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says: You will listen and listen, but never understand; you will look and look, but never perceive. ¹⁵ For this people’s heart has grown callous; their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; otherwise they might see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn back— and I would heal them.”

Just before this quote, the Lord asked who He should send to speak to the people and Isaiah said “Here I am. Send me.” These quoted verses are the Lord’s way of saying it was not going to be easy, people were not going to listen, and judgement was coming.

It is the same for people who hear the Good News of Jesus but continue to choose the world instead. They will hear the message spoken repeatedly but will never understand. They will look but never see the truth and their hearts will grow callous as they reject our Lord. If people would just truly open their eyes, they would see for the first time, hear the truth about Jesus, and understand what it all means. Then and only then will they repent of their sins and turn to Jesus. It is only then that their knowledge of the secrets and mysterious of the kingdom of heaven can grow.

Matthew 13:16-17

“¹⁶ “Blessed are your eyes because they do see, and your ears because they do hear. ¹⁷ For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see the things you see but didn’t see them, to hear the things you hear but didn’t hear them.”

Speaking about the Disciples, speaking to those who are followers of Jesus, just like us. All who believe are blessed because our eyes are open, and our ears can hear. We see what God wants us to see, we can hear the truth given to us in His word, we can see the depravity in the world around us, we can see the truth that God has called us to, we can hear our Lord calling to us.

The first step to see and hear the truth is faith. Without faith a person cannot see the world as we can. It is not possible for them to understand that their choices are causing them to live in sin, they do not even see it as sin. They are truly lost.

We need to be praying for them. Praying that we can model the Bible for them. Praying that the Holy Spirit will open their eyes and ears even the smallest amount so that they can believe. Then that smallest amount of knowledge can begin to grow until they have more than enough.

Our prayer also needs to be that none of us ever reach a point where we think we are wise or intelligent enough that we become like the Pharisees. Remember no matter how much we learn about our God, His gift, and the kingdom of heaven we have not even begun to scratch the surface.

Pray that the Holy Spirit continues to grow your knowledge every day and pray that He works on those around us who have yet to see.


Thank you for reading! May the Lord Bless you abundantly!

Robert