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We have the following.
( Matthew 13,verse 34.)
"All these things spoke Jesus unto the many people and he did not speak to them without using a parable."
The use of a parable is a convenient way of demonstrating a point about something that is not seen by pointing to something that is seen. In Jesus' time agriculture seems to be the most common source of the parable.
(Matthew 13, v 10,11.)
"And his disciples came to him and asked him, "Why do you speak to them in parables?" He answered and said," Because it is given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given."
For example, the parable of the sower is perhaps the best known parable that Jesus used as it covers the main points of a parable.
(Matthew 13, v3 to 9)"Behold a sower went forth to sow. And as he sowed , some of the seeds fell by the way side and the fowls came and devoured them. And some fell upon stony places where they had not much earth; and forthwith they sprang up , but because they had no deepness of earth and when the sun came up they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns and the thorns sprang up and choked them. But other seed fell on good ground, and brought forth fruit, some hundredfold, some sixty fold and some thirty fold. Who has ears to hear, let him hear."
The understanding of the parable is thus.
(Matthew 13, v18 to 23) "Hear therefore the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, then comes the wicked one and casts away that which was sown in his heart. This is he who receives the seed by the wayside. But he that received the seed in the stony places, this is he who hears the word and received it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arise because of the word, immediately he falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is he who hears the word and the delight in riches chokes the word and it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown in good soil, this is he who hears the word and understands it; he indeed bears fruit, in one case one hundredfold, in another sixty and in another thirty."
Or to put the reasons in a more up-to-date wording, the first seed is received by those who are fixed in their ways, such as believing and therefore knowing such things as the theory of evolution which is designed to crush with the boulder any word heard. The second seed puts to bed the concept of 'once saved, always saved'; which is supposed to mean that once you have claimed Christ as your Lord and Saviour, you will never lose that saving grace. However, Jesus always reminds us that 'he who continues to the end will be saved '. One has to grow in ones faith and not rely upon yesterdays worth. The third seed seems to represent most of the people who would begrudging says that they were Christian, C of E (Christmas and Easter) etc but do not live by the word. The fourth seed stands for itself.
Another parable Jesus put before His disciples. "The kingdom of heaven can be compared with a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed weed among the wheat , and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, the weeds came up also. And the servants of the householder came and said to him,' Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? Then how has it now weeds. He said to them,' An enemy has done this. His servants said to him. 'Do you want us to go and gather them? But he said to them, 'No, lest in gathering the weeds, you gather the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, 'Gather the weeds first and bind them into bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.'" The third seed of the parable of the sower are the "while men slept" people.
And His disciples came to Him and said, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field." He answered," He who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man, the field is the world, and the good seed are the sons of the kingdom and the weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the close of the age and the reapers are the angels. Just as weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will be at the close of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will wail and gnash their teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father. He who has ears, let him hear."
That is how the devil has nearly destroyed the Christian church of today and boy oh boy, are the weeds producing so much bad fruit from within the Christian church because men have slept and allowed false doctrines to be said of as true. Please note that it is not the duty of servants of the field owner to physically rout out the weeds but both are to grow together. It is the duty of the good wheat seed to remain good and true wheat and that is very important. It is by example and so doing that which is of the true seed that the effects of the weeds are destroyed. By their fruits will you know them
Is it possible that we can draw out new or other parables from the nature of the world around us , just as Jesus did. Could it be that the Creator designed the whole universe, and several portions of it so that we could look at what our eyes can see and understand what we can not physically see but that our minds will understand? Let us look at three parables that are made up on the basis of what we can see and understand, in part at least, what is beyond our immediate understanding.
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