"...Without a parable He said nothing to them. This was in fulfillment of what was spoken by the prophet: I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things that have been hidden since the foundation of the world." Matthew 13:34b-35

Many of us, instead of being like little children and asking our Father what the parables in the Bible mean, have instead heard and accepted what others have told us they mean. Parabolic, symbolic language is not always easy to understand, yet Jesus deliberately spoke in parables so that KNOWING our Father personally and intimately would be the key to all revelation and understanding.

The disciples came up and asked, "Why do you tell stories?" He replied, "You've been given insight into God's kingdom. You know how it works. Not everybody has this gift, this insight; it hasn't been given to them. Whenever someone has a ready heart for this, the insights and understandings flow freely. But if there is no readiness, any trace of receptivity soon disappears. That's why I tell stories: to create readiness, to nudge the people toward receptive insight. In their present state they can stare till doomsday and not see it, listen till they're blue in the face and not get it. I don't want Isaiah's forecast repeated all over again:

   Your ears are open but you don't hear a thing.
      Your eyes are awake but you don't see a thing.
   The people are blockheads!
   They stick their fingers in their ears
      so they won't have to listen;
   They screw their eyes shut
      so they won't have to look,
      so they won't have to deal with me face-to-face
      and let me heal them.

"But you have God-blessed eyes—eyes that see! And God-blessed ears—ears that hear! A lot of people, prophets and humble believers among them, would have given anything to see what you are seeing, to hear what you are hearing, but never had the chance. (Matt. 13:10-17 TM).

Part of our unlearning is in this area of the parables and stories that Jesus gave because often these stories have been interpreted through the mindset of religion rather than through Christ teaching us Himself. One example of this occurs in Luke, immediately after the Lord’s prayer. Jesus said “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and will say to him, Friend, lend me three loaves of bread.  For a friend of mine who is on a journey has just come, and I have nothing to put before him.  And he from within will answer, Do not disturb me, the door is now closed, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and supply you with anything?  I tell you, although he will not get up and supply him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his shameless persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs. So I say to you, Ask and keep on asking and it shall be given to you; seek and keep on seeking and you shall find; knock and keep on knocking and the door shall be opened to you.” Luke 11:6-9

In this parable, God is represented as being the friend in the house who gives the Bread - so who represents us in this parable?  Where are WE in this picture?

We may see ourselves as being the friend without bread who kept asking for bread and we learn that we are to be persistent in prayer - to ask and keep asking so that we will eventually receive because of our persistence. Or perhaps there may be more to this picture because there were more people involved than just the two men. Here is another possible interpretation that you may want to prayerfully consider... Are we normally referred to in the Scriptures as God’s friend or His children?  We are His CHILDREN, and in this parable we are exactly where we are meant to be: in our Father's house, resting in His bed! Banging on someone's door at midnight when they are already in bed, is rather rude; it would be inconsiderate and thoughtless in just about any culture! As Jesus said, "Which of you will go to a friend at midnight and ask for bread?" when it is the end of the day?

Jesus seems to have hinted at this interpretation in verses 11-13 "What father among you, if his SON asks for a loaf of bread will give him a stone; or if he asks for a fish will instead of a fish give him a serpent? Or if he asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? If you then, evil as you are, know how to give good gifts to YOUR CHILDREN, how much MORE will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"

The three loaves of bread may be representative of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  From the context it seems that Jesus was using two examples, physical and spiritual - one is easily seen and obvious, the other is hidden and unseen. He first mentions physical food, and then speaks of heavenly food - the Holy Spirit. He Himself is our Bread and Meat.  We are not awake at midnight with no Bread to feed ourselves or others with; we LIVE with the Bread Provider and have no lack of it!  It seems to be speaking of two different types of asking and two different types of relationship. One is asking from a position of lack and does not have an intimate relationship, the other is asking from a position of abundance and lives with the Father. The friend had no bread so had to keep asking till he was given some; but the children of the house knew that there was plenty of bread available and they could ask whenever they were hungry and expect to receive Bread from their Father.

This is a very similar message to the parable of the ten virgins/bridesmaids (Matthew 25:1-13).  There are four groups of people in both parables. Firstly the Groom and the Father/Friend. Secondly the five foolish virgins and the visitor who have no oil/bread of their own. Thirdly the five wise virgins and the rude friend who know where to GET a supply of Oil/Bread, they know the Groom and Friend but it is not an intimate relationship. They know Him as the Giver, but don't know Him as THE Gift - they don’t LIVE or dwell with Him in intimate relationship where He IS their Life and Source of all.  The fourth group are hidden and are not obvious although they are essential to both pictures; the Children are in bed, out of sight and hidden, and the Bride is at the wedding. There would be no Father without the Children and there would be no Groom or Wedding without the Bride. We are called to be His Bride and His Children!  BLESSED indeed! 

Too many settle for just knowing God as a Friend rather than as a Father. Too many settle for just knowing God as a Groom at a wedding rather than knowing Him as their Groom/Husband.  The reason the foolish virgins were not admitted to the wedding feast was because He did not KNOW them (vs 12). He is always wanting and seeking intimacy and close, CLOSE relationship with us. The five wise virgins had enough oil in their lamps for one evening of celebration; but compare that with the option of being united for all eternity with the One Who IS the Light of the world!  They were attendants or bridesmaids at a great wedding feast; but compare that to being the Bride who is in love with, and being married to the One who is Love Himself! And the rude friend knew where to get bread at a late hour; but compare that to living night and day with the One Who IS the Bread of Life!

Both parables are at midnight; which may indicate the darkness and the lateness of the hour and that it is time to be in the Father’s house, resting in Him and not doing our own works or trying desperately to find Bread or Oil through our own efforts. When we live in His house we rest in Him because we KNOW Him as “our Father”!  While others may be knocking on doors at midnight because they do not have Bread to break with others - we are not lacking Bread because He is our Father who abundantly provides ALL His children need, even while we sleep! Except the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; except the Lord keeps the city, the watchman wakes but in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to take rest late, to eat the bread of toil - for He gives to His beloved in sleep! Psalm 127:1,2

This message is also in Psalm 23, "The Lord is my Pastor/Shepherd I lack nothing!" In that one psalm David mentions these provisions: food, drink, rest, restoration, protection, comfort, guidance AND... living in His house. However, even though David knew our Father in this way, that didn’t stop him from being totally real and honest with his Father. When he was hurting, frustrated, discouraged, angry etc, He TOLD God so and the Psalms are full of his honesty!  Christ IS Truth and the Greek meaning of the word for Truth is also Reality. Our little children are real; they display and tell us their feelings openly and it is good and healthy that they do so.  It would be an unnatural relationship if they never voiced their disappointments and hurts to their parents but at the same time they know that there are limits and they know their parents well...

In a certain city there was a judge who neither reverenced and feared God nor respected or considered man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, Protect and defend and give me justice against my adversary. And for a time he would not; but later he said to himself, Though I have neither reverence or fear for God nor respect or consideration for man, yet because this widow continues to bother me, I will defend and protect and avenge her, lest she give me intolerable annoyance and wear me out by her continual coming or at the last she come and assault me or strangle me. Then the Lord said, Listen to what the unjust judge says! And will not our just God defend and protect and avenge His elect chosen ones, who cry to Him day and night? Will He defer them and delay help on their behalf? I tell you He will defend and protect and avenge them speedily. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth? Luke 18:2-8

Who represents us in this parable? We may be likened to the persistent widow who is totally dependent upon God - having no earthly husband to support, defend and protect her, or to avenge her - she has to rely on Another for those things and more. Or perhaps this may be an example of what NOT to be like by contrast, because clearly God is not an unjust judge like the judge in the parable. And in the Bible we are not normally referred to as God's widow at all, but as His beloved Wife and Bride.  The widow might represent those who do not know Him as their Husband - He is not the Love of their life and they do not have an intimate relationship with Him.

We know that our God is the opposite of an unjust judge and He states very clearly that vengeance is His and that He will repay. (Deut 32:35, Ps 94:1, Rom 12:19)  The not-so-obvious message in this parable may again be about trusting our Father because such trust and faith are an essential part of not giving up but prevailing! Jesus ended this story by saying “HOWEVER, when the Son of Man comes, will He find FAITH on the earth?”  THAT is the question and that seems to have been what He was getting at with this parable.  Do we really know our God? If we do, we will trust and have faith in what He has told us and shown us about Himself (eg vengeance is His, He WILL defend) without feeling the need to continually hassle God about it because we KNOW that He is faithful and trustworthy far above all others!

I’m NOT talking about “declaring God’s promises” and trying to make God do things through our so-called faith. That is not faith but manipulation. I’m talking about KNOWING our Father as a little child does. A little child KNOWS that these things are part of their Father's character, they KNOW that He would not lie to them and so they simply trust Him because of what He has told them and because of Who they know!  Very simple, yet very profound. The attitude of the child honors the Father because they trust that He will provide all they need instead of feeling the need to persistently hassle Him for it (although children naturally DO that sometimes too!!!) Also, one is reliant on themselves in being annoying and persistent in trying to make something happen, while the other is simply reliant on God and His character. The perspectives of the Bride/Wife from the bridal chamber and the child from the Father’s house are quite different than the perspectives of the friend or bridesmaids or widows... If God is for us, who can be against us? He Who did not withhold or spare even His own son but gave Him up for us all, will He not also with Him freely and graciously give us all other things? Romans 8:31,32

John, the disciple who was the closest to Jesus, used the word “believe” far more than any other writer in the New Testament. The Greek word he used is "pisteuo" (believe, commit oneself to, trust, have confidence in, to be persuaded of) and it is used a total of 88 times in the book of John alone!  That is more than twice as many times as all the other gospels put together.  He quoted Jesus as frequently saying “Believe in Me”. We are to believe IN Him; the only way we can believe is in/through/from our position IN Him!  Too often we fail to trust or believe because we try to believe from our life, through OUR effort, instead of trusting His Life within us. I cannot believe by myself, I mustn’t believe in myself, I need only to believe IN and through Him and He takes care of the rest!

Both of these parables are teaching about prayer. The parable of the friend at midnight is given immediately after the disciples had asked Jesus to teach them to pray and He gives the prayer: "Our Father Who is in Heaven..." When we know God as “our Father”, much of our praying will be changed.  So much of what WE think we should pray, may exhibit our unbelief or distrust of Him.  He is our FATHER!  A Father is primarily a provider, protector and educator.  No child keeps going to their father to ask over and over again for the basic necessities of life; if they keep doing so the father will feel hurt that his children do not trust him for even the basics; they must think he is an unloving Father.  All good fathers will provide the necessities of life without needing to be constantly entreated. Our Father is the epitome of Goodness and Love! Jesus clearly said this in Matt 6, He clothes the lilies and feeds the birds, how much MORE so His very own children whom He dearly loves?  This was part and parcel of His teaching the disciples how to pray.

The difference is in the faith and trust, or lack thereof, which is behind the asking. The children in the house of the Father will ask for Bread whenever they are hungry, knowing full well that they will receive it; they know that there is a limitless supply available for the taking! But the friend had to go knocking at the door at a very late hour with no guarantee of receiving anything...

"I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise, clever and learned, and revealed them to babies, to the childish, untaught, and unskilled. Yes, Father, such was your gracious will and good pleasure." Matthew 11:25,26

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