Parables
Jesus spoke many parables to the multitudes that followed Him, but He did not explain the parables to them. He only told the meaning of the parables to His disciples.
Mark 4:10-13
"And when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parable. And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: That seeing they may see , and not perceive ; and hearing they may hear , and not understand ; lest at any time they should be converted , and their sins should be forgiven them. And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables?"
Jesus then proceeded to explain the meaning of the parable of the sower. The point being that Jesus has made the mysteries of the kingdom of God available to anyone who is willing to read His Word and follow Him. I think it was very interesting what Jesus says in verse 13. He explains this parable but Jesus basically says if you don't understand this parable how will you understand His other parables? I honestly don't think He said that only to the disciples who were there, but also to everyone who would eventually read His Word. He gives us a freebie here by explaining this parable but there are other parables that He does not explain. Not that He doesn't want us to understand, but that He wants us to want to understand so He can reveal the truth to us in His Word. Jesus also says elsewhere in the Scripture.
Matthew 13:10-13
"And the disciples came , and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given . For whosoever hath , to him shall be given , and he shall have more abundance : but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath . Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand."
Jesus wasn't talking about anything material here. In the context of the verse He is saying that whoever has an understanding of the mysteries of the kingdom of God will be given an even greater understanding and whoever does not understand will have what they think they understand taken away. A key part to understanding the mysteries of the kingdom of God is to understand the parables Jesus spoke about it. Jesus explains some of the parables plainly but the other parables can be explained using God's Word. So I'd like to go into some of the parables that Jesus spoke and use the Word to gather it's meaning. I will posts links throughout the text so all you have to do is click on the verses or the Greek Words to be taken to the interlinear Bible I study from.
The Parable of the Garments and the Bottles
Luke 5:36-39
"And he spake also a parable unto them ; No man putteth a piece of a new garment upon an old ; if otherwise, then both the new maketh a rent , and the piece that was taken out of the new agreeth not with the old. And no man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled , and the bottles shall perish . But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved . No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith , The old is better."
Jesus said this parable in response to the Pharisees (keepers of the law of Moses) asking him why the Pharisees fast and pray but the disciples of Jesus eat and drink. Jesus didn't give an explanation to the parable, but by studying God's Word it actually will become clear what the parable means. In the other gospels we are given clues as to what this was pertaining to. In Matthew 9:10-15 and Mark 2:16-18 there is a lead up to the parable. The Pharisee question Jesus about why He doesn't do things their way and Jesus responds by telling them the new way. There is an obvious contrast between the old covenant (law of Moses) and the new covenant (law of Christ) throughout the gospel, so it's safe to say that this is what the parable is about.
Let's go through the parable verse by verse so I can show you how I came to this conclusion.
Verse 36- The word 'piece' comes from the Greek word 'Epiblema' meaning that which is sewed on to cover a rent, a patch. The new patch He is refering to is the New Testament. The old garment is the law of Moses. He is basically saying you can't use only part of the New Testament because the old law of Moses doesn't agree with the new law of Christ.
The word 'rent' comes from the Greek word 'Schizo' meaning to divide by rending. The word rend means to pull apart violently. So in other words, applying a new patch (law of Christ) to an old garment (law of Moses) will cause violent division because the new does not agree with the old. Keeping in mind the setting this is all taking place in, Jesus is responding to the Pharisees questions about why He eats with sinners and doesn't fast. These things don't agree with the law of Moses because that law is about judgment and punishment and the law of Christ is about grace and mercy.
Verse 37-38-Now Jesus is making the same comparison using bottles and wine. I think it's important to note that of all the things God could have said to make His point He used wine and bottles. Not because He thought it would be cool, but because it is the perfect way to describe the Word of God and how our understanding of it affects people. The Word is the wine. There is old wine (The Old Testament/Law of Moses). And new wine (The New Testament/Law of Christ). The bottles are people. The old bottle is our natural body. the new bottle is the spiritual body. We as metaphorical bottles are filled with the metaphorical wine by understanding the Word of God. Now let me show you using scripture how I am able to come to this conclusion.
1st Corinthians 15:44- Each of us has a natural body and a spiritual body. In verses 46-47 we see that the natural man is of the earth and the spiritual man is the Lord from heaven. These verses harmonize with the truths found in Romans 6:3 and Galatians 2:20. By gathering together the facts we see that since Christians are baptized into His death, we are crucified with Christ. And since we are crucified with Christ, then we know that it isn't us who lives but Christ who lives in us. And since we know that it is Christ who lives in us, we can safely say that Christians are in that spiritual body because, according to Scripture, the spiritual body is the Lord from heaven.
Shifting our attention back to the parable, these are the bottles Jesus is refering to. If you try to put new wine (law of Christ) into an old bottle (natural man) it will burst the bottle (break the man) and he will perish. We can look at the situation Jesus was in as He said this and see how it is relevant to the parable as a whole. The more Jesus tried to teach the Pharisees (old garment/old bottles) the new way (new garment/new bottles) the more they hated and wanted to kill Him (a rent/ burst bottles). This is why new wine (law of Christ/New Testament) must be put into new bottles (spiritual men/Christians).
The verse continues by saying that both are preserved, indicating that the spiritual man and the natural man are both saved. This also harmonizes with other verses we see in the Word.
John 6:44- Jesus says that those who come to Him will be raised up at the last day. This is talking about the natural body. We have more evidence of this in:
John 11:21-26- Lazarus was dead but He told Mary that he will rise again. Mary assumed that He was talking about the last day but Jesus was saying that if you believe in Him you will never die. This isn't obvious right away, but this is the mystery. Although the physical body is dead, the spiritual body is the Lord and will never die. This is the body that Christians live in. But our natural body is being preserved along with the spiritual body and on the last day the natural body will be raised incorruptible and immortal. This is verified in 1st Corinthians 15:51-53 and Colossians 3:2-4.
Verse 39- Now that we know what the wine and the bottles are refering to we can learn from what Jesus is saying and gather that drinking old wine is the equivalent of obeying the law of Moses. As we study the Word we can see why people don't desire to drink (obey) the new wine (law of Christ), because we are being held to a higher standard. Let me show you what I mean in the Scripture.
Matthew 5:21-22, Matthew 5:27-28, Matthew 5:31-32, Matthew 5:33-37, Matthew 5:38-42, Matthew 5:43-45, Matthew 5:48
Each of these verses put the old wine (Old Testament/Law of Moses) side by side with the new wine (New Testament/Law of Christ) so we can see that His new commandments are calling us to do things that actually very hard to do.
The Old Testament is based on your actions. You do something wrong and you are punished without mercy. But you aren't punished for your thoughts. Being angry with your brother or hating your enemy isn't a sin according to Old Testament law.
But the New Testament is based on your thoughts. It's hard to love your enemies, to pray for those who persecute you, not to lust after a beautiful woman, but that's what Jesus wants us to do. That's why we're given grace. Because Jesus is calling us to be perfect, something that we will never be without Him.
This is why people who drink the old wine (obey the law of Moses) will not desire the new 'wine' right away and will say that the old 'wine' is better. Because Jesus doesn't just want us our actions to be right in His sight, but also our thoughts.
Parable of the Son's Marriage
Matthew 22:1-14
"And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said , The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come . Again, he sent forth other servants, saying , Tell them which are bidden , Behold , I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed , and all things are ready: come unto the marriage. But they made light of it, and went their ways , one to his farm, another to his merchandise: And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully , and slew them. But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth : and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Then saith he to his servants , The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways , and as many as ye shall find , bid to the marriage. So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found , both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests . And when the king came in to see the guests , he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless . Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away , and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen."
Jesus spoke this parable to help us understand what the kingdom of heaven is like. And we can actually gather the true meaning of the parable by putting together other facts from the Bible because every fact in the Bible will agree with each other. Let's break the explanation down into sections so we can piece together the meaning of the parable.
Verse 2- The king is God the Father. the son is Jesus Christ. The marriage the king made is between the Son and the church. There is scripture to support this.
Ephesians 5:29-32- Here we are being told very plainly that our relationship with Christ is equivalent to a marriage. This fact about Christ and the church helps us to understand that this marriage the parable is speaking is between Christ and the church and that God is the one who has made the marriage possible.
Verse 3-7- Those who are bidden have to be talking about the Jews. The Pharisees are God's chosen people. He sent them prophets but they still refused to come to Jesus. Here is some Scripture that is similar to what is said in the parable
Luke 11:47-50- What Jesus says here sounds exactly like what is said in the parable. We get more verification as the parable continues.
Verse 8-10- Jesus is talking about the Gentiles. God's chosen people rejected Him so He sent His servants to everyone else. When Jesus says the servants bid them to the marriage what He means is they preached the gospel. There is Scripture to support this
Romans 11:25- So we can put together from this verse that the parable is laying out God's plan of salvation. Those who were bidden to the marriage are God's chosen people but they were blinded so that God would send His servants to the Gentiles and call them to Christ as well.
Verse 11-14 This is the arguably the most important part of the parable to understand. Jesus makes it a point to say that many people will be at the wedding but the one who was thrown out was the one without a wedding garment. This is talking about baptism. Allow me to explain using the Word.
Galatians 3:27- The words 'put on' come from the Greek word 'Enduo' meaning to clothe one's self. This particular verse describes our baptism into Christ as literally putting on a garment. And this is the same garment that is spoken of in the parable. A wedding garment is a very interesting way to describe our relationship with Christ. Think about how weddings are conducted. When you go to a wedding, the wedding usually takes place in a church building. But there is always one requirement. That the bride have on a wedding dress. As Christians we put on our 'wedding garments' when we are baptized. And many people will go to the wedding (church), but if you don't have on a wedding garment (baptism) Jesus will not recognize you as His bride. And according to this parable there are no onlookers. Only Jesus and His bride (baptized Christians) will be present at this marriage.
Jesus concludes the parable by saying that many are called but few are chosen. We can put together from the ordeal with the wedding garment that the many who are 'called' are those who hear the Word and believe it, but those who are 'chosen' are those who were baptized. There are many denominations out there that don't believe that baptism is essential to salvation, but by putting together truths from the Bible we can see plainly what this parable is teaching us. That many people who believe they are attending the wedding (church) to be the bride (Christian) will find out that they are only onlookers without the wedding garment (baptism). So I beg anyone who has not put on Christ in baptism to do so, so Jesus can see you as His bride when He returns!