Parables...
but not as we've known them
by Lynette Woods
"...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: "But you have God-blessed eyeseyes that see! And God-blessed earsears 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 Lords
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 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 dont 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! 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 didnt 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...
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! 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 mustnt 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 |