Parables

This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart …Matt 18:35

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Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.

“Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’
“But they paid no attention and went off–one to his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

“Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

“But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless.

“Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

“For many are invited, but few are chosen.” (Matt 22:1-14)

Why All The Parables?

When Jesus was asked why He spoke to the people in parables so often, He said in effect that there were two reasons: 1) to instruct His followers, and 2) to confuse everyone else. The parable of the wedding banquet is a good example. It’s either very instructive or very confusing depending on your knowledge and understanding of Jewish wedding customs during Biblical times.

Am I suggesting that ignorance of those customs disqualifies us as followers of Jesus? No, but I am convinced that acquiring a literal, historical grammatical understanding of Scripture will bring you closer to the Lord than almost anything else you can do.

Literal means we believe the bible is the inspired word of GOD to be taken at face value unless there is compelling reason to do otherwise (usually indicated in the context of the passage).

Historical means that each passage is put into its proper historical setting, and surrounded with the thoughts, attitudes and feelings prevalent at the time of writing.

Grammatical means that words are given meanings consistent with their common understanding in the original language at the time of writing.

The Wedding Planner

First century Jewish wedding customs held that the father of the groom was in charge of the event and bore all the expense associated with the wedding and reception. In case of royalty or the very wealthy this often included providing a specially made garment to be worn over a guest’s regular clothing. This wedding garment was presented to the guest upon arrival and donned immediately. Wearing it wasn’t mandatory, but was considered a great insult to the Father of the groom if refused and could get a guest ejected from the festivities. In case of large gatherings it also served as identification to discourage uninvited guests from crashing the party.

The Parables of our Lord Jesus are earthly stories meant to explain heavenly truths. Each person or object is symbolic of someone or something else. Understanding the symbolism is crucial to discovering the lesson of the Parable. This is entirely consistent with literal, historical, grammatical interpretation since the passage is clearly described as a parable, and in fact gaining the theological impact of this parable requires such an understanding.

The King is God the Father, His Son our Lord Jesus. Invited guests represent Israel and the servants He sent are the prophets. The city He destroyed when His invited guests refused to attend and killed His servants is Jerusalem.

Do You Know The Bride?

Some say those He then sent His servants out to invite represent the Church, which does contain both good and bad, but the symbolism and timing are wrong. The Church is the Bride of Christ, not a group of last minute substitute guests. Since Israel had already refused their invitation, and the Church (being the bride) would not need an invitation, who could these guests be?

They have to come from a time after the Bride is chosen and prepared, the wedding banquet ready and only the guests are lacking for the festivities to begin. Therefore, they have to be a group we call Tribulation Saints, those who come to faith after the Rapture of the Church in Revelation 4 but before the Wedding Banquet of Revelation 19. The servants He sends out to invite them are the 144,000 evangelists of Revelation 7 and the two witnesses of Revelation 11.

Here’s The Real Lesson Of The Parable

The wedding garment represents His righteousness. This is a concept explained on numerous occasions in both Old and New Testaments. Isaiah described our righteousness as filthy rags (Isa 64:6) and His as “garments of salvation” and “robes of righteousness” (Isa 61:10) where the acquisition of these qualities is likened to clothing given us at a wedding.

In Revelation 19 the church is seen prepared as a bride having been clothed in white linen, again representing righteousness. In both cases the righteousness symbolized by the clothing is given us, not purchased or earned.

The fact that one is thrown out for not wearing wedding clothes indicates these last minute guests have to be clothed in “garments of salvation” meaning they’re believers.

Many are invited, but few are chosen. He doesn’t desire that any should perish, but all would come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). But whether it’s the Bride or the wedding guests, the only righteousness that gains us admission into the presence of God is that which is given us as a gift and accepted in faith (Rom 4:5). All of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ (Gal 3:27). For God made Him Who had no sin to become sin for us, that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor 5:21). Selah. 1-11-04

A Bible Study by Jack Kelley

The story of the Rich Man and Lazarus is found only in the gospel according to Luke (16:19-31) and is the clearest picture anywhere in Scripture of the afterlife. As such it is essential reading for anyone attempting to counter the plethora of “life after death” accounts in Secular and New Age writings as well as the notion of reincarnation found in some cults and Eastern religions.

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But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.
-Matthew 19:30

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The Lord’s use of parables always gets my interest. A parable is a fictional story meant to illustrate a principle or truth. The word parable comes from the Greek parabollo, which literally means “to throw alongside.” Aesop’s fables demonstrate a secular application of this teaching method.

The Lord Jesus wasn’t the first to use parables in His teaching, (there are many in the Old Testament) but He sure elevated their importance in communicating biblical truths to His listeners. I’ve heard His use of parables described as “putting a heavenly truth into an earthly context.” His parables often angered the religious leaders of His day because they got the point of the story, and it was usually critical of them.

What Does That Mean?

In interpreting a parable, remember that everyone and everything in the story is symbolic of something else. The key that unlocks the symbolism is found either within the context or elsewhere in scripture. One nice thing about the Bible is that things used symbolically in one place are generally used in the same way through out. Leaven (or yeast) always symbolizes sin. Adultery and fornication always symbolize the worship of other gods; a spiritual unfaithfulness. Theologians call this the principle of expositional constancy. Observing these guidelines will help you correctly interpret parables and increase your overall knowledge of scripture at the same time.

Are You Talented?

So we have three guidelines in interpreting parables; context, scripture, and expositional constancy. Failure to follow them causes us to miss the point. For example, look at the way the Parable of the Talents has been interpreted, or should I say miss-interpreted. One problem is that talent is also an English word meaning a skill or ability. But in the Greek language a talent was a unit of measure, often defining an amount of money. Since everything in a parable is symbolic of something else, to think of the talents as symbolizing either skills or money is wrong, and really distorts the message of the parable. Instead, think of the talent as symbolizing something of great value to the Lord; something that belonged to Him, and that He entrusted to His servants while He was away. You can see that neither skills nor money correctly define the symbolic talents.

Context, Context

Now notice the time frame the Lord refers to. The word “again” in Matt 25:15 identifies the time of the story as being the same as in the previous story, the Parable of the 10 Bridesmaids. That parable begins with the phrase “at that time” so you have to keep going back all the way to Matt 24:21 and 29 to discover that the time about which He is teaching occurs after the end of Great Tribulation, when He comes back to establish His kingdom.

What will the situation on Earth be at that time? Follow the parable. He will have been gone for a long time and will have just come back. He will have left some valuable property of His in the care of various servants, and some will have multiplied their share while others will have buried theirs. He is now requiring an accounting of them that will determine their destiny. The context tells us a lot, but what property of His is symbolized by the talents?

Is That Scriptural?

This is where using scripture to interpret scripture comes in. We know from scripture that money is not important to the Lord, and that His achievements are not limited by whatever skill we have and are willing to apply to accomplish His ends. But is there something of His, something extremely valuable to Him, prized even above His name, that he has entrusted to us, and that will be buried and all but lost to many at the end of the age?

So Whats The Answer?

The answer is found in Psalm 138:2, “I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy loving kindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name (KJV).” But from Amos 8:11 we discover that “The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “when I will send a famine through the land– not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.” And in Isaiah 55:10-12 we are told that His word, once invested, will always bring a return. It is His most valued possession, He left it with us, and He expects us to invest it.(Matt 28:16-20)

But the last days will be a time of deception so great that most of those alive on earth will succumb to a system of lies that will literally turn black into white; darkness into light; and therefore life into death. The only reference point for truth will be His Word, and many of those with whom it has been entrusted will have rendered it so meaningless as to be buried.

Acting in the authority of the Lamb, but speaking the words of the Dragon, they’ll try to prevent their flocks from learning the Truth. The fact that those servants will have proven themselves to be impostors from the beginning is shown by their destiny; “outside in the darkness.” The one and only unforgivable sin after all, is unbelief.

Summary, Please

So the talents represent His Word, the Gospel of our Salvation. Those who sow it liberally into the hearts of their listeners find it multiplies. Where there were five, ten now appear. Where there were two, now there are four. Those who simply study it find their understanding multiplies. Richer and deeper meanings appear from passages they thought were familiar. Over and over they discover that as their understanding grows their faith deepens.

Those who bury it and pay no attention find its value diminishes the longer they ignore it. Not only are their friends and neighbors deprived by their lack of communication, but they themselves lose insight and understanding. Finally even what little they had is taken from them.

And so the old principle “Use it or Lose it” comes into play, as it so often does. Remember the best way to learn something it to teach it, and by doing so we gain the lesson of the Parable of the Talents. (Revised 06-05-04)

How buried treasure and oysters symbolize
the destinies of Israel and the Church.

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How the principle of Expositional Constancy reveals the true nature of the Kingdom of Heaven in its Earthly phase.

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It’s called the Kingdom of Heaven, but it’s here on earth. It describes our need for a savior and points out the unpardonable sin millions will commit.

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After all is said and done there remains one unpardonable sin.

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