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Page 1 of 8 Why some follow Jesus and some don't
Modern Day Parables 1.0
Matthew 13
by Eric Stillman
June 24th, 2007
 | Play |  | Download mp3 | Christian teaching and preaching takes many forms these days. You’ve got the televangelists on TV, imploring you to trust Christ with your life and sharing testimonies of people whose lives have been changed. There are the evangelists out in the street, warning people to flee from the coming wrath, to repent of their sin and turn to Christ. And then you’ve got the preachers like me, giving three point sermons and trying our best to explain how what written 2 or 3000 years ago in the Bible applies to everyday life in 21st century America. Of course, each approach has got its positive sides – the first highlights the lifechanging potential of the good news of Jesus Christ; the second one wakes people up to the reality that we will all die and face God some day, the judge of all the world. And the third one helps people understand how life-changing the Bible really is.
The interesting thing is, when you look at Jesus and how he taught, his teaching style is like few people teaching today. In Matthew 13:34-36, Matthew explains Jesus’ teaching style by saying this: Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable. 35 So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet: "I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world." Jesus used a specific style of teaching known as a parable. Parables are short stories that convey truth concerning deep matters by means of an analogy or comparison drawn usually from everyday life. Some of the most well-known passages in the Bible are parables, including the parable of the good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son. In most of Jesus stories, he wouldn’t even mention God, but would seemingly be telling stories about fishermen and shepherds, families and kingdoms, businessmen and homemakers, usually without any explanation as to the deeper meaning, often leaving his listeners wondering why such a wise man would be telling such simple stories. This morning I want to begin a series on the parables of Jesus by looking at a story found in Matthew 13 that Jesus told which in many ways explains better than any other why he chose to teach in such a mysterious manner. I’ve chosen this parable first since this is one of the only parables that he actually explained, and therefore we can get a good picture of how parables were meant to function. Turn to Matthew 13, and try to listen as if you are hearing this for the first time as someone in the crowd before Jesus: Matthew 13:1-23 - That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop-- a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 He who has ears, let him hear."
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