Why Parables? By Heidi Damon
Matthew 13:10-11 The disciples came up and asked, “Why do you tell stories?” He replied, “You’ve been given insight into God’s kingdom. You know how it works. Not everybody has this gift, this insight; it hasn’t been given to them. Whenever someone has a ready heart for this, the insights and understandings flow freely. But if there is no readiness, any trace of receptivity soon disappears. That’s why I tell stories: to create readiness, to nudge the people toward receptive insight. In their present state they can stare till doomsday and not see it, listen till they’re blue in the face and not get it. I don’t want Isaiah’s forecast repeated all over again: Your ears are open but you don’t hear a thing. Your eyes are awake but you don’t see a thing. The people are blockheads! They stick their fingers in their ears so they won’t have to listen; They screw their eyes shut so they won’t have to look, so they won’t have to deal with me face-to-face and let me heal them.
Why did Jesus speak in parables? Was it to deny people insight into the Kingdom of God? Jesus speaking in parables could be so misunderstood. To date followers of Jesus were accustomed to hearing clear instructions from Him on how to live life and what the Kingdom of God is like. So it’s unsurprising that his disciples then ask him why he is now speaking in parables. His message to date was given with such simplicity and he had exhibited the Kingdom in such a tangible way through the numerous miracles he performed. So why did he switch his methods?
I sit here and wonder: what if Jesus started using parables because he wanted to help us grow spiritually and to help us grasp the width and depth of the Kingdom of God? Maybe if he kept telling us straight we would stop hearing or seeing his Kingdom and therefore stop being participators in bringing the Kingdom of God to earth. Or even more importantly miss out on understanding who God really is. I love the message translation in which Jesus says ‘That’s why I tell stories: to create readiness, to nudge the people toward receptive insight.’ Extreme Individualization has been the dominant narrative of western society for a long time and in our culture of instant gratification we quickly move onto the next thing and forget the last. In a bid to bring balance back into our over active lives, a number of practices have been encouraged to help us slow down and be present in the moment. I wonder if in this culture of individualism we have lost our ability to slow down to hear and see what God’s saying to us about the Kingdom of God? And I wonder if the parables were Jesus’ way of grabbing the attention of his followers, he says that ‘Whenever someone has a ready heart for this, the insights and understandings flow freely.’