Matthew 13:1-3

Matthew 13:1-3

In that very day, after Jesus went out of the house, He was sitting beside the sea.  And great crowds were being gathered to Him so that after He got into the boat to sit down, even the crowds had stood upon the beach.  And He said many things to them in parables …

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

In this section we see a very important transition that is easy to miss because we can immediately focus upon the parables of Jesus that are so prominent in this chapter.  Notice that Jesus leaves His house and is now teaching upon the shoreline.  Jesus had begun His ministry teaching in the synagogues.  He had gone to the more religiously inclined people first to give them an opportunity to hear.  However, that door was now closing to Him.  As His popularity grew, He was increasingly less welcome in the more traditional places where God was talked about.  As Jesus fit less and less into the traditional box, He likewise became less and less welcome.

Why is it important to notice that Jesus’ location of ministry has this change?  How does this help us understand the crucifixion of Jesus?  How does this story likewise foreshadow what happens to Paul and some of Jesus’ other disciples?

Second Thought:

Another important thing to note is that Jesus did not stop.  Just because Jesus didn’t fit into the traditional places of religion doesn’t mean that He stopped.  We don’t find Jesus sulking and brooding in His house.  We find Jesus continuing to go out into the world.  We find Jesus preaching in more natural settings like beside a lake.  We need to make sure that If we follow Jesus in persecution that we also follow Jesus’ example in pushing through the persecution.  We may be told to move along, but we should never allow ourselves to be told that our voice is silenced.  There are many in this world who deserve the chance to hear about God even if there are people who demonstrate that they do not want to hear it from us.

Have you ever allowed the world to silence your voice?  Why do we often allow ourselves to be silenced when we feel unwelcome?  How can Jesus’ example here be inspiring to us?

Third Thought:

Finally, notice that Jesus teaches in terms of parables.  I’m going to make a short list of why it is important for Jesus to do so:

1. Parables help make the abstract become concrete.  Parables allow us to take a broad idea and make some very discernible points in concrete example.  Parables begin the process of taking truth and helping us apply it properly to our own life.
2. Parables also help us grow.  In order to learn something we do not understand, we usually start with what we do understand.  As our understanding increases, so does the number of places that other teachers can use to begin new teaching within us.  This is what allows our understanding to grow exponentially in many instances.  This is what allows rapid growth to occur – especially when things are new and we are learning many new small things quickly.
3. Parables draw interest.  Anyone can talk about theoretical.  But we we start talking about the experiential things become interesting because they truly take root and have implications.
4. Parables are a great place for master teachers to get the students to discover truth for themselves.  A master teacher can use a story and then ask, “So what in it do you think is important?”  Parables can help students learn to draw their own conclusions and then weed out the good answers from the bad.
5. Parables also allow for great listening opportunities.  A master teacher can relate a story and use it to help them hear where their listeners are in their life and where they need to teach.  When a teacher speaks in parables and the students ask questions, the teacher can use that information to focus their teaching in and around the same areas about which the students are asking.
6. All of these reasons point to perhaps the greatest reason.  Parables allow for a weeding out of the lazy and the unmotivated.  Anyone can hear a parable.  Anyone can even hear a parable and draw the simple conclusions.  But in using a parable, a master teacher can see who the truly motivated students by watching who the ones are that continue to come back and ask more questions, wrestle with the initial content, take the content into other areas in their life, etc.  Parables put the responsibility of learning upon the shoulders of the student, which is truly where it belongs.

How skilled are you at using parables?  How skilled at using parables are the people in your life who have made the greatest spiritual impact upon your life?  How do you think people get skilled at using parables as a foundation for teaching?

Passage for Tomorrow: Matthew 13:3-9