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
If this message helps or touches you, please help support this ministry.
Send a donation of any amount by check or money order.
Mail all contributions to :
Hall Memorial CME Church
541 Seibles Road
Montgomery, AL 36116
