WHY NOT JUST SAY WHAT YOU MEAN?

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Son of man, pose a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel”…

“Say now to the rebellious house: ‘Do you not know what these things mean?’ “

(Ezekiel 17: 1, 2, 12a)

Parables didnt begin in the New Testament.  From very, very early in His conversations with human beings, God gave answers that were open to interpretation.   

God told the Old Testament  prophet Ezekiel, “Son of man, pose a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel”

Then after the ambiguous prophetic vision was related, God told Ezekiel to “Say now to the rebellious house: ‘Do you not know what these things mean?’ “  (Ezekiel 17: 1, 2, 12a)

Why is this?  Why doesn’t God just come out and say plainly what He means?  Like the disciples asked Jesus, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” (Matthew 13: 10)

I get it now.

It‘s not about confusing people.  It’s about giving faith a chance to work on intellect. 

Faith is what you believe in or Whom you believe in. 

Intellect is comprehension, the meaning you draw from words, sentence structure, context, etc.

You would think that given the same words in the same context, that the logic of human intellect would always reach the same conclusion.  But that’s not what happens, is it?  Reason reaches different conclusions because we don’t really begin processing information from intellect.  We BEGIN processing information through FAITH.

What we believe in, Whom we believe in, aka our “worldview” dictates the framework by which we draw meaning from the words in front of us.

This is particularly true for stories, metaphors, figures of speech----- parables.

You hear what you believe before you hear what they are saying.

So, when Jesus or another Biblical parablist spoke (parablist, as in one who speaks in parables. …….. Well, it’s  word now.), when a parablist spoke the listeners understood or misunderstood the meaning based on what they did or didn't believe in and Whom they did or didn't believe in.

Jesus' audiences understood or misunderstood Him not because of education or socioeconomic contexts; but based on whether or not they believed that He was the Christ, the Son of God.

That’s why Jesus answered His disciples and said to them, “ [I speak to them in parables] because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.

For whoever has [faith in Jesus], to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have [faith in Jesus], even what he has will be taken away from him. (Matthew 13: 11, 12)

Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand (Matthew 13: 13)

Being blind to the facts/ the truths that Jesus taught didn’t mean being intellectually stupid.  It meant being without faith.

And Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.”

Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, “Are we blind also?”

Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains.  (John 9:39-41.)

You have to apply logic, reasoning, intellect to understand scripture, but, especially in the allegorical and figurative passages, the way you apply your logic is decided by your faith not your rhetorical training.

When the disciples misunderstood Jesus’ parable of the leaven on the Pharisees (Matthew 16: 6-12), Jesus did not criticize their language processing skills. What Jesus said was “O you of little faith.”

Only in the context of their faith could they correct their reasoning. “O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread? (Matthew 16: 8)

Hear me clearly.  The scriptures require and deserve every gram of our intellectual energy.  But if you try to engage the Bible from a purely intellectual, faith-less perspective---O you of little faith-----you will not understand.  Worse,  you will misunderstand.

And your misunderstanding will be logical, and sound defensible; but a faith-less reading of God’s word will always be WRONG, because you’ll be reasoning about the wrong thing.

To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled.  (Titus 1:15)

God is smarter than all of us.  He does this on purpose.

And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: ‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive;

For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears; lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.’ (Matthew 13: 14, 15)

Biblical scholarship without faith is blindness masquerading as expertise.

Of the faithless theologians, we can say “Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.” (Matthew 15: 14)

Of you who see Jesus for Who He is, the Son of the Living God,  of you His disciples, we say, But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear (Matthew 13: 16).

Never set aside your intellect when you study the Word of God, but also never set aside your faith. 

You need them both----- at least that’s what the Bible says.

 ---Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Hall Memorial CME Church in Montgomery, Alabama, executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization (SAYNO) and director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).

Email atgravestwo2@aol.com

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To hear sermons, read devotions, and learn more about the ministry at Hall Memorial CME Church, visit www.hallmemorialcme.blogspot.com .

You can read more on Pastor Graves's personal blog at www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com  .

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