What is a parable?

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?

According to Merriam-Webster, the definition of a parable is "a usually short, fictitious story that illustrates a moral attitude or a religious principle." Parable also means to "cast alongside" something else. Jesus often used parables as teaching aids, which compared spiritual matters to earthly stories that His followers could easily understand. Jesus used parables to reveal truth to those who were spiritually open and to conceal it from those who were hard-hearted. While the Old Testament includes short parables in Proverbs, Jesus’s parables were more detailed and often explained privately to His disciples. Many parables require us to consider context, compare Scripture, and separate the core message from added details. Parables remain powerful teaching tools, calling us to listen with spiritual ears and seek deeper understanding of God’s truth.

FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT

• Isaiah prophesied that some of those who heard Christ's message would not understand, and they would think that Christ's teaching was nonsense (Isaiah 6:9–10). Jesus spoke in parables so that answers and truth would be available to those who desired to understand.
• Parables are also found in the Old Testament. Solomon uses analogies and comparisons in Proverbs to teach spiritual wisdom through emblematic symbolism (Proverbs 1:6; Proverbs 10:1). The parables in Proverbs are short and concise, unlike Christ's more detailed stories in the New Testament.

FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT

• In the Synoptic Gospels, there are 35 recorded parables that Jesus preached.
• Although early in His ministry Jesus did not use parables as a teaching device, He relied on them toward the end of His earthly life. His disciples, who noticed the change, asked Him why He spoke in parables (Matthew 13:10).
• Jesus explained that the parables have a two-fold purpose. Because the parable is a device, those who desired to understand His messages did, and those who were indifferent did not. The spiritually blind people who did not understand Jesus's message, such as the Pharisees, publicly rejected Jesus (Matthew 12:22–32).
• Jesus did not just tell a parable and expect His disciples to understand every word. To be sure that His disciples received His messages, He explained everything when they were alone (Mark 4:34).
• Jesus often gave interpretations of His parables, but sometimes He left them open for His followers to unravel. In Matthew 13, Christ explained both the Parable of the Sower and the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares.

IMPLICATIONS FOR TODAY

When a parable is left open for us to interpret, we have three guidelines that we can use to help decipher the meaning:

1) We can compare Scripture with Scripture. The principles that Christ taught through parables are also found elsewhere in the Bible. His parables will never resist other truth in the Word of God. We can compare other truths to His parables to discover what elements of the parable mean.

2) We can consider the context of the parable. Introductory words, such as those found in the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, give the reader a frame for understanding. Luke 18:9 precedes this parable with, "He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt." From this context, we see that the parable is about spiritual pride. We see this type of framing seven times in Matthew 13 when Jesus tells the crowd what the kingdom of heaven is like.

3) We can distinguish between what is the core of the parable and what is added for detail. Like any story, added detail draws the listener into an experience. To understand parables, we should sort the details from the core truth and understand that every small detail does not carry spiritual meaning. An example of this occurs in the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:1–23). When Jesus explains this parable, it is irrelevant that there are four different types of soil. The quantity of soil types is simply an added detail.

God gifts us the ears to "hear" His truth when it is embedded within a story. Jesus beckons for us to seek spiritual truth and not to simply listen for the sake of entertainment: "He who has ears to hear, let him hear" (Mark 4:9, see also Mark 4:23).

UNDERSTAND

• A parable is a short, symbolic story used by Jesus to teach spiritual truths in a way that reveals meaning to those open to understanding while concealing it from the indifferent or hard-hearted.
• Parables appear in both the Old Testament and the New Testament.
• Parables can be powerful tools for hearing and applying God’s truth.

REFLECT

• How do you respond when you hear a story or teaching that challenges you spiritually—do you listen with open ears and a willing heart like Jesus invites?
• When you read or hear a parable, how do you practice discerning the core spiritual truth from the extra details?
• How do you seek to compare the lessons from parables with other parts of Scripture to deepen your understanding?

ENGAGE

• How does Jesus’s use of everyday imagery in parables help people from different backgrounds understand spiritual truths?
• Why did Jesus choose to reveal truth through parables to some while concealing it from others who were indifferent or hard-hearted?
• How can we, as believers, encourage each other to listen actively and seek and apply the meanings behind the stories Jesus told?