Why Jesus Taught In Parables

Biblegems # 278

Question: According to Luke 8:10, Jesus didn’t want anyone except His disciples to understand the parables of the Kingdom of God, so why teach the others in parables at all?

Here is the reference:

Luke 8:9-10  His [Jesus’] disciples asked him what this parable meant. He said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that,

          “ ‘though seeing, they may not see;

                   though hearing, they may not understand. “

This is Jesus’ typical response in the Gospels, showing that the quote above is not a fluke but represents Jesus’ intentional teaching strategy about the Kingdom of God. The reason for this has several layers.

Reason #1 Jesus was intentionally fulfilling His role of Messiah as predicted by the Old Testament prophets:

         Matt. 13:34-35  Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable. So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet:

“I will open my mouth in parables,

                  I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world.”

The “prophet” quoted here is king David in Psalm 78:2.

Reason #2  Proverbs and parables already had a long history in Scripture as a principal tool for teaching spiritual truth (Prov. 1:1-6). In fact, proverbs and parables were recognized for their value in sifting out those who “despise wisdom and instruction” that leads to a deep understanding of God  (Prov. 1:7).

Reason #3  As our Savior-Messiah, Jesus fulfills the three-fold roles of Prophet, Priest and King. As a prophet in His own right, Jesus communicated what He heard directly from God the Father which, at times, came in the form of parables. As the Lord says in the prophet Hosea:

         Hos. 12:10  “I spoke to the prophets, gave them many visions and told parables through them.”

Reason #4 Jesus used parables to describe the realities of the coming Kingdom of God. In doing so, He also had to help His listeners un-learn misconceptions about the Kingdom of God passed on through religious instruction for generations. They were expecting the Messiah to rally the people of Israel to defeat the Roman Empire and re-establish Israel’s independence, accompanied by an angelic army that would miraculously appear. As Jesus approached Jerusalem on what came to be known as “Palm Sunday,” surrounded by thousands of supporters, with thousands more joining from Jerusalem itself, those exuberant crowds thought the day of overthrowing the Roman yoke had come:

         Luke 19:11  While they were listening to this, he went on to tell them a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once.

Jesus used parables to draw familiar illustrations from everyday life that pointed to the Kingdom’s true nature. These stories, then and now, still accomplish their purpose, sifting out those who truly want the truth from those who want to shape the Kingdom of God into a mold they are comfortable with.

         Luke 18:17 “Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

Does The Bible Prove God?

Biblegems #261

  

Question: Isn’t using the Bible to prove the existence of God circular reasoning—like trying to prove Harry Potter really exists because he is in a book that says he’s real?

At first glance this sounds like a reasonable argument. However, the analogy of the Bible and God to the Harry Potter novels is unfortunate. The novels are works of fiction. The Bible and its human authors claim to represent communication directly from the living God. There is no analogy.

A better analogy to God and the Bible would be an email or text. In that case, the “document” claims to be from a certain individual that corresponds to the number or email address of the sender. Is it circular reasoning to assume that the sender exists because the communication claims the sender exists and has indeed sent the document? No: it is common sense.

The Bible makes certain claims about itself or, more accurately, God makes certain claims in the Bible as His Word to mankind. For example, speaking of the Bible, the apostle Peter wrote:

         2Pet. 1:21  For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Likewise, the apostle Paul described all Scripture as “inspired,” an English word that translates a Greek phrase that literally means “God-breathed”:

         2Tim. 3:16  All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness…

More than 3,800 times throughout the Bible the claim is made that it is “the Lord” who is communicating His word through specific individuals. The Old Testament prophet Amos describes hearing from God as being so compelling he can’t help but tell it to others:

         Amos 2:8  The lion has roared—who will not fear? The Sovereign LORD has spoken—who can but prophesy?

Jeremiah tried to keep God’s word to himself because it was often painful:

         Jer. 20:9  But if I say, “I will not mention his word or speak anymore in his name,” his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.

          

Like a text or email sent through a device, the Bible claims to be a communication from God sent through human intermediaries. The Bible does not attempt to prove God; rather, the existence of God is assumed, even as the existence of the sender of a text or email is assumed. God reveals Himself in the Scriptures as more than just a being that exists—even more than our Creator; He reveals Himself to be personal and deeply interested in us as the objects of His love:

         Ps. 8:3-6  When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet…

Missing Bible Verses: 1 John 5:7-8

Biblegems #236

Question: Why do most modern translations not include these words from 1 John 5:7-8 found in the King James Bible: ”…testify in heaven: the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one. And there are three that testify on earth: the…”?

First things first: the inspiration of God’s Word is not what is in question here. Rather, this is a problem arising out of the transmission and translation of ancient copies of God’s inspired Word. The original documents of God’s Word as revealed to the apostles and prophets is without error:

         2Tim. 3:16-17 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

As you can imagine, any time a document gets copied by hand, mistakes can occur. Misspelled words, torn or damaged originals, bad light, tiredness or poor eyesight are just a few of the things that can contribute to errors in copying. But here is the really good news concerning any such errors: The errors from copying and translation are so few  and insignificant that our human mistakes stand out like shadows cast by the sun.

        

Here’s how all this relates to 1 John 5:7-8.

When scholars were commissioned by king James in the early 1600’s to provide the most accurate, authoritative translation of the Bible ever produced into the English language, the translators relied heavily upon earlier translation work done by a man named Erasmus. Erasmus compiled an entire translation of the Bible, printed in 1516 A.D. called the Textus Receptus. His work was based upon approximately nine ancient Greek manuscripts. Prior to Erasmus, the Latin Vulgate was the accepted, authoritative Bible translation.

In Erasmus’ original translation process he discovered that none of the ancient Greek manuscripts contained the phrase in question, even though that phrasing was included in the Latin Vulgate of his time. Erasmus was sharply criticized for not including the phrase in his translation. But he refused to add it in unless a Greek copy that contained it could be found. In 1520 such a copy was found, and Erasmus reluctantly included the phrase now found in the King James Bible. As it turns out, the Greek manuscript provided for him was a forgery composed by the Franciscan friar Roy, who took the words from the Latin Vulgate.

In the past two hundred years, literally thousands of ancient Bible manuscripts and portions of manuscripts have been discovered. Many of these manuscripts are hundreds of years older and closer to the originals by far than those available to either the King James Bible translation committee, or to Erasmus a century earlier. And of all those manuscripts, not one contains the phrase in question.

This should not be a cause for discouragement, but rather of great encouragement. New archeological discoveries routinely unearth evidence in the form of manuscripts and historical artifacts that confirm the accuracy and authority of God’s Word as originally given. Does mankind’s participation in passing on the Scriptures to future generations contaminate the inerrancy and inspiration of God’s Word?

         Rom. 3:4 Not at all! Let God be true, and every man a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.”

Modern Day Prophets?

Biblegems #159

Question: Are there modern day prophets in the church, or did prophecy cease with Jesus and the apostles?  How does Joel’s prophecy—“your sons and daughters will prophecy”—quoted in Acts 2:17 fit in with all of this? It concerns me to see people being called prophets and prophetesses.

The concern expressed by this question is very legitimate. There are many who proclaim to be prophets and are not, and many who are proclaimed by others to be prophets who are not. Such false claims, however, have always been the case. The fact that there are false prophets does not mean that there are no prophets.

Here’s what the Scripture has to say:

There will be prophets and prophetesses in the Last Days:

         Acts 2:17-18  In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.  Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.

We have been in the Last Days since the birth of Jesus. In fact, the very end of the Tribulation period will be marked by the ministry of two witnesses who will prophesy for 3 ½ years:

         Rev. 11:3 And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.

The Bible describes prophecy as a gift of the Holy Spirit and encourages its use in the church and even gives instruction regarding how it is to be used:

         1Cor. 14:5 I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. He who prophesies is greater than one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may be edified.

And…

1Cor. 14:31 For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged.

And…

         1Cor. 14:39  Therefore, my brothers, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues.

And…

         1Cor. 12:7-10  Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy…

A person, male or female, who prophecies is a prophet. However, the role of the modern day prophet is not to add to the revelation given in Scripture:

         Rev. 22:18-19  I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

The role of the modern day prophet is to bring instruction, guidance and edification to the Body of Christ, the church, for the common good as we saw in the passages above (1Cor. 12:7-10; 14:31).

Prophets are also to be tested so that they are recognized as legitimate (1 Jn. 4:1; Dt. 13:1-3; 1Cor. 14:32).