Miracles and parables

The Parables of Our Lord

Blackwood’s Comprehensive Aids to the Study of the Bible · Vol. I, p. 62

From the time indicated by Matt. xiii., Parables enter largely into our LORD'S teaching. Many of them may have been repeated more than once with certain variations, as, e.g., those of the Pounds and the Talents, Matt. xxv. 14, Luke xix. 12; of the Supper, in Matt. xxii. 2, and Luke xiv. 16. There is an obvious order and object in those which the Evangelists have recorded, and their meaning will be better understood by studying in the class to which from their character they naturally belong.

For instance, there is a group which have for their subject the laws of the Divine kingdom, in its nature, growth and consummation. Under this head may be placed: The Sower, Matt. xiii., Mark iv., Luke viii.; The Wheat and the Tares, Matt. xiii.; The Mustard-Seed, Matt. xiii., Mark iv.; The Seed cast into the Ground, Mark iv.; The Leaven, Matt. xiii.; The Hid Treasure, Matt. xiii.; The Pearl of Great Price, Matt. xiii.; The Net Cast into the Sea, Matt. xiii.

The next group are of a different character. They occur chiefly between the mission of the Seventy and the last approach to Jerusalem. They are drawn from the life of men rather than from the kingdom of nature, and they are chiefly delivered in reply to questions. They are such as these: The Two Debtors, Luke vii.; The Merciless Servant, Matt. xviii.; The Good Samaritan, Luke x.; The Friend at Midnight, Luke xi.; The Rich Fool, Luke xii.; The Wedding-Feast, Luke xii.; The Fig Tree, Luke xiii.; The Great Supper, Luke xiv.; The Lost Sheep, Matt. xviii., Luke xv.; The Lost Piece of Money, Luke xv.; The Prodigal Son, Luke xvi.; The Unjust Steward, Luke xv.; The Rich Man and Lazarus, Luke xvi.; The Unjust Judge, Luke xviii.; The Pharisee and the Publican, Luke xviii.; The Laborers in the Vineyard, Matt. xx.

Toward the close of our LORD'S ministry, before and after His entry into Jerusalem, the Parables assume a new character. They are Theocratic, but the phase on which they dwell is that of the final consummation of the kingdom. In part, they are prophetic of the rejection of Israel; in part, of the great retribution at the Coming of our LORD. They are to the earlier parables what the prophecy of Matt. xxiv. is to the Sermon on the Mount. To this class may be referred: The Pounds, Luke xix.; The Two Sons, Matt. xxi.; The Vineyard Let Out to Husbandmen, Matt. xxi., Mark xii., Luke xx.; The Marriage-Feast, Matt. xxii.; The Wise and Foolish Virgins, Matt. xxv.; The Talents, Matt. xxv.; The Sheep and the Goats, Matt. xxv.

Note.—The Table on page 36 presents the Parables of JESUS CHRIST our LORD in their chronological order, with the lesson we should learn from each; the above classification will be found exceedingly useful in studying the Parables in their connection with, and bearing upon, each other.