Main Menu PFRS Home Doctrinal Studies Progressive Dispensationalism Introduction PD Summary Pro-Disp 101 Pro-Disp 102 PD In Depth Kingdom Hope in the OT Kingdom Hope in Psalms Kingdom Hope in Gospels Kingdom Hope in Parables That Prophet The Abrahamic Covenant Heaven Destiny Origin Israel's Role The Mystery Revealed Paul & the Mystery Church in the OT - I Church in the OT - II Church in the OT - III Kingdom Hope in Hebrews Daniel's 70 Weeks Jesus & David's Throne Excessive Dispensationalism Dispensationalism's Future PD Debate Intro: Couch vs. Warner I. Opening - Warner I. Rebuttal - Couch I. Response - Warner I. Closing - Couch II. Opening - Couch II. Rebuttal - Warner II. Response - Couch II. Closing - Warner |
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Doctrinal Studies > Progressive
Dispensationalism > in the Parables of Jesus Copyright © Tim Warner
THE NATURE AND
PURPOSE OF PARABLES
Matthew
stated two
important facts in the above verses. First, that Jesus spoke to the
crowds
exclusively by parables. That is, he did not teach them using plain
literal
speech. His teaching to them was through cryptic stories that needed to
be
interpreted before they could be understood. Neither did Jesus expound
the
meaning of His parables to the crowds. He left them to wonder what they
meant,
knowing that those with “ears to hear”
would indeed hear and understand. Second,
this was in
order to fulfill a specific Old Testament prophecy, Psalm 78:2. Jesus
was the
prophesied One, the one to reveal what had been a mystery up until this
time, “kept secret from the
foundation of the
world.” His parables were one of the ways Jesus began to reveal
the mystery
kept secret from the beginning. After
telling the
parable of the Sower to the crowds, Jesus ended with His usual
comment:(Mark
4:9). Mark recorded an interesting exchange between Jesus and the
disciples
immediately after His telling this parable. “But
when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the
parable. And He said to them, ‘To you it has been given to know the
mystery of
the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in
parables, so
that ‘Seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear
and not
understand; lest they should turn, and their sins be forgiven them’.”
(Mark. 4:10-12). Jesus
did not
expound the meaning of His parables to the crowds or the religious
leaders.
Only when He was alone with His followers did He explain the meaning of
these cryptic
stories in plain language. The disciples asked Him why He did not teach
the
crowds plainly. Jesus’ reply may seem strange to modern Christians.
After all,
didn’t He come to offer salvation to the whole world? Yet, Jesus said
the
reason He did not teach the crowds plainly was because it was not for
them to understand
the mystery, but only for the
disciples. Jesus used obscure language with the crowds and religious
leaders “so that 'Seeing they may
see and not
perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand; lest they
should turn,
and their sins be forgiven them'.” (Jesus’ quoting Isa. 6:9-10).
In effect,
Jesus left them in their self-imposed state of blindness for a reason.
His
parables were meant to conceal as well as reveal, depending on the
audience. As we
read the
Gospel accounts of Jesus’ interaction with the religious leaders, it is
increasingly obvious that Jesus provoked them on purpose. The closer we
get to
the crucifixion, the more blatant and stinging were Jesus’ public
rebukes of the
scribes, chief priests, and Pharisees. Matthew 23 describes the climax
of this
antagonism, with Jesus’ open denouncement of the religious leaders as
“hypocrites” in front of the crowds of people
gathered at the According
to Luke, Jesus
met two of the disciples walking on the road to Emmaus shortly after
His resurrection.
For the very first time He clearly explained the purpose of the
crucifixion. They
were still in mourning, not recognizing Him, nor understanding the
reports of
the empty tomb. As Jesus joined them, He asked why they were so glum.
They
recounted the story of the crucifixion, saying that they had believed
Jesus was
the Messiah of Israel. Jesus responded, “’O
foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets
have
spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter
into
His glory?’ And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded
to them
in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.” (Luke
24:25-27). Wouldn’t
you have liked to be privy to that sermon? Can you imagine walking with
Jesus
as He unveiled every Old Testament Scripture about Himself, and the
reason for
His suffering? The two disciples certainly were deeply moved by this
speech.
After reflecting on this incident, they said to one another, “’Did not our heart burn within us while
He
talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?’”
(Luke 24:32). That same afternoon, Jesus appeared to the rest of the
disciples
gathered in Now it
all began to
make sense to the disciples. Those strange words and actions of Jesus
the night
of His betrayal, when He told them all to drink the wine as a symbol of
His
blood of the New Covenant, and eat of the bread as a symbol of His body
broken
for them, suddenly became clear. On this resurrection Sunday, Jesus
took them
through the entire Old Testament, explaining each and every prophetic
Scripture
that referred to Himself and the atoning work of the Messiah before
entering
into His glory. You can bet that the disciples spent considerable time
soaking
in the meanings of Isaiah 53, Psalm 22, and many other passages that
are much
more obscure. Yet, there they were, suddenly clearly understood by the
disciples. The Messiah had to provide the atonement for sin. The New
Covenant
had to be inaugurated with the blood of the Messiah Himself, before He
could
enter into His glory, and rule in His coming Kingdom. All those animal
sacrifices they had offered year after year were merely prophetic of
Christ and
His atoning work. The
mystery had been
revealed by Christ through the prophetic Scriptures. It was there all
along.
But, it was not understood either by the religious leaders, the crowds,
or even
Jesus’ own disciples. It had to be kept secret for one very important
reason.
Had all this gotten out before the crucifixion, God’s eternal plan
could have
been derailed. Paul tells us why. “But
we
speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God
ordained
before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age
knew; for
had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”
(1 Cor.
2:7-8). The crucifixion was necessary. Therefore, secrecy from both the
Jews
and demonic powers was necessary until after Jesus was crucified. This
is why
Jesus spoke to the crowds and religious leaders in parables, and why
when
teaching His disciples he spoke plainly of His second coming, but not
the
reason for His first coming. TWO KINDS OF
KINGDOM PARABLES Matt 13:31-33 In
both of these
parables, the Kingdom begins very small. A mustard seed is extremely
small.
Yet, a very large tree grows slowly from a single seed. Likewise,
leaven is but
a small pinch of powder, added to the dough. Yet, it eventually leavens
the
whole loaf during the baking process. Both of these parables indicate
that the
Kingdom would begin in a very small way, and grow over time into
something very
large. Of
course, this
idea seems to conflict with premillennialism, which sees the Kingdom as
coming
exclusively at the second coming of Christ in a blaze of glory, and is
immediately a universal Kingdom. How do we as premillennialists account
for
this? On the other hand, amillennialists cannot properly account for
the other
parables that place the Kingdom on earth after the judgment and second
coming. The
parable of the
mustard seed and the parable of the leaven both referred to Jesus’
founding His
Church. He started with only a small band of disciples. Yet, His Church
has
grown into a world-wide body with millions of believers. Eventually it
will
contain a remnant from every tribe, nation, and language on earth (Rev.
5:9).
Yet, Jesus called this the “Kingdom,” in the above parables, during
this
gradual expansion in the present age. Are we
to assume
then that the Kingdom has already come, and there is no future rule of
Christ
on earth, as amillennialists teach? Absolutely not! Jesus gave more
Kingdom
parables that fully support the premillennial understanding of the
Kingdom. What
many premillennialists have failed to see is that the Kingdom comes in
two
stages. First, it came as a seed. Jesus called out of THE WHEAT AND TARES
This
parable is
critical, not only because of the clear end-time details, but because
it covers
the entire age in which we live. It is impossible to chop this parable
up, and
put its application outside of the “Church age,” as pretribulationists
are fond
of doing with Jesus’ teaching. The reason is that the wheat and tares
are left
to grow side by side from Jesus’ time through the present age until the
harvest
— Christ’s coming. Since the parable obviously includes this time in
which we now live, the harvest necessarily concerns Christians. Later
in the
chapter, Jesus explained this parable to His disciples as follows: Matt 13:36-43 There
are several important
points we wish to make from this parable. Second,
notice the “wheat” living among the tares are the “sons of the
Kingdom.”
The field is the “world” — that is this present world system in which
we live. Those of us who
have received the Gospel and subjected ourselves to Christ our King,
are now “sons of the Kingdom.” Third,
the wheat
and tares remain mixed together in the field until the harvest. There
is no
pre-tribulation rapture to remove the wheat seven years before the
destruction
of the tares. Both grow together until the harvest, and are harvested
at the
same time 1.
No one is taken to heaven 2. Fourth,
when the
harvest comes at the “end of the
age.”
the angels “will gather out of His
kingdom” all those wholly given to wickedness and lawlessness.
The words, “out of His Kingdom,”
imply that the
Kingdom was present during the former stage when the wheat and tares
grew
together. Yet, it is also present after the harvest. Jesus goes on to
say, “the righteous will shine forth
as the sun in
the kingdom of their Father.” Here
we have a clear indication that the Kingdom is present on earth both
before and
after Christ’s return, and the harvest at the end of the age. The
purpose of
the harvest is to eliminate those wholly given to wickedness, that is,
the sons
of Satan, planted by him. It is also to elevate the wheat to positions
of authority,
shining forth “as the sun” in
the
Kingdom. That is, to advance them to their positions as rulers of the
earth in
the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. CONCLUSION Notes: 1. Both are harvested at the “end of the age” (v. 39). However, in the parable, Jesus said the reapers were ordered to first gather the tares, bind them in bundles for the purpose of being burned (v. 30), and then gather the wheat in the barn. Nothing suggests that the tares were burned before the wheat is gathered into the barn, only bound in bundles. Jesus was using imagery familiar to the disciples who lived in an agricultural society. They were no doubt familiar with the common practice of separating wheat and tares at the time of harvest. The typical procedure was to gather the tares first, bind them in bundles, and leave them in the field. After harvesting the wheat, the fields were burned to get rid of the debris, including the tares left in piles of bundles. This scenario fits a posttribulation rapture perfectly. Joel 3:2, Zech. 14:2, & Rev. 16:12-16 indicate that the wicked opponents of Christ will be gathered and brought down to Jerusalem for the battle of the Day of the Lord. This corresponds to the gathering of the tares first — Satan’s devoted followers bent on defeating Christ at His coming (see Rev. 19:19-21). The gathering of the wheat would then follow the gathering and binding of the tares. Finally, the wicked would be destroyed. 2. The concept of the righteous being taken to heaven when Christ returns is not taught in any of Jesus’ parables or plain teaching to His disciples. It is a concept totally foreign to the Gospels. All of Jesus’ Kingdom parables point to either the present state of the Kingdom on earth, or to the inauguration of Christ’s political Kingdom at His coming. The inheritance of the righteous is always related to the Kingdom (eg. Matt. 8:11). Some have mistakenly supposed that Matthew’s use of the term “Kingdom of Heaven” refers to heaven itself. But, the parallel passages in the other Gospels use the phrase, “Kingdom of God.” Both terms are synonymous, meaning the Kingdom of God. Both terms are derived from Daniel’s prophecy of the Kingdom in Dan. 2:44. “And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed…” In reality, it is the Kingdom of the God of heaven, “Kingdom of God” or “Kingdom of heaven” for short. Many passages in Matthew make it clear that the “Kingdom of heaven” is what was promised to Israel(cf. Matt. 3:2, 4:17, etc). Also, the Sermon on the Mount equates inheritance of the “Kingdom of Heaven” with inheriting the earth. (cf. Matt. 5:3,5 & Psalm 37:9,11, 22). The idea is that the Kingdom of the God of heaven comes to earth from heaven. 3. That the angels gather the righteous at Jesus’ coming is further established by Jesus in Matt. 24:31. “And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” This is perfectly compatible with Paul’s description of the rapture in 1 Thess. 4. Paul wrote that the living would be “caught up.” The Greek word means “to seize, to carry off by force” (Thayer). |