This evening, I feel that the Lord and the context of Matthew 13 would like me to return to the question of OUR King’s speech. Note verse 1 once again – “The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side. And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore. And he spake many things unto them in parables….” On this particular occasion Jesus had a huge throng of people to listen to what He had to say. In order to give everyone an opportunity to hear His words, the Lord commandeered a small boat, and pushed out into the Sea of Galilee a short way. I don’t doubt that Christ had a strong voice – practiced through much public speaking – But the natural acoustical effects of the water meant that more people could hear Him, and they could see Him better as well. With an ideal situation – a large, attentive crowd, perfect acoustics, calm winds, recent miracles and everything else which opened the door for a great preaching service, on this occasion, and perhaps only on this day, Jesus’ message was entirely in parables.
Later the disciples, who had been greatly surprised by this, asked Him why this was the kind of speech that He used this day. “He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive.” I have already preached from this scripture, and I don’t plan to repeat what I’ve already said. But later, right in the middle of Matthew’s account of the seven Kingdom of Heaven parables, he makes an editorial comment which was obviously given to him by the Holy Spirit. This holy man of God was moved by the Spirit to present to us verses 34 and 35. And it seems to me that even though there is a parallel of thought with what Jesus said about parables, there is something more.
I spent Thursday afternoon meditating on this evening’s scripture, and nothing developed for me. Then on Friday morning, thinking that I would skip over it and move on to the end of the chapter, the Holy Spirit began to speak to me. And one of the first things was that just as Jesus’ parables were designed to conceal and reveal the truth depending on the ears, perhaps verses 34 and 35 might do the same thing among us tonight. Someone may think that I am wasting a perfectly good Sunday evening message dealing with this subject, but the person sitting next to you may get the blessing which you are missing. Matthew’s explanation about Jesus’ parables, may be an illustration of what is going on among us tonight.
First, I remind you that there are VARIOUS KINDS of PROPHETS.
“All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.”
A lot of early Bible commentaries made the mistake of saying that “the prophet” in question was Isaiah. There was probably some prominent scholar, years ago, who made that statement, and then like a bunch of little chicks all of his students repeated the incorrect words of the mother hen. The first man may have been thinking about what Jesus said early – not about what Matthew said. This commentator may not have been commenting on verse 35, but his students thought so. I bring this verse before you, because this is a reference to Psalm 78 – not from Isaiah 6:9.
This raises a peripheral point which needs to be restated from time to time. God has a variety of prophets which He can use – they have the same general ministry, but the specifics may be different. For example, we have the major prophets like Jeremiah, Isaiah and Ezekiel. As I have said recently, those three are called “MAJOR” prophets, probably only because we know more about them and their prophecies than we do of some of the others. Those three prophesied primarily about the Babylonian captivity. They said that it was coming, and they told the people how to prepare – to repent and turn to the Lord. And then they encouraged Judah in the midst of their suffering and captivity. Essentially, it was the message of the major prophet to repeat the words that the Lord had given to him. Some of those words spoke of the future, but many of their words were a condemnation of the past and the present.
Following the major prophets the Bible records the ministry of several so-called MINOR prophets – Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Haggai and others. Some of the ministries of these men were just as important as those of Jeremiah and Ezekiel. But we don’t know much about their lives, and we don’t have long records of what they prophesied. And again, some of what they said was related to the future and some was a condemnation of the present. Many of their ministries were exactly the same as that of Isaiah or Jeremiah.
And then there are yet other kinds or levels of prophets. Was Daniel a major prophet or a minor prophet? And what about Hosea? Was Daniel even a prophet at all? He was more of a politician or bureaucrat – not a professional prophet like Isaiah. He was more of an interpreter of prophecies than a prophet himself. Daniel broadens the definition of the word “prophet.”
But he doesn’t broaden it as far as the man called “Asaph.” Matthew quotes Psalm 78 in his explanation of Jesus’ use of parables, and he used the word “prophet.” Psalm 78 was a piece of poetry written by a musician. Psalm 78 is called a “maschil” – a teaching Psalm, and it is attributed to one of David’s favorite musicians. Some say that David actually wrote this song and gave it to Asaph, but I’m not going to agree. Was Asaph a prophet? Yes he was, but not in the same sense as Jeremiah or Ezekiel. During the days of the great revival under Hezekiah, II Chronicles 29:30 says, “Moreover … the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praise unto the LORD with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshipped.” Asaph was called “a seer.” The word refers to someone who has been given a divine gift to understand things which others don’t see. In setting up worship in the Tabernacle which David had moved to Jerusalem I Chronicles 25:1 says – “Moreover David and the captains of the host separated to the service of the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who should prophesy with harps, with psalteries, and with cymbals….” Asaph was one of those who could prophesy through the ministry of music.
What these things show us is that the word “prophet” should not be limited to foretelling the future. A prophet of God, is someone who has been given God’s message – whatever direction it might point. A prophet, like Jeremiah, may spend more time condemning sins while a prophet like Ezekiel talks about the future. One prophet may prophesy judgment while another may prophesy blessing. And there are prophets in the New Testament as well. Prophets of the New Testament, like John, might speak of the Tribulation and the Millennium, while prophets like Paul might reveal something entirely different – such as the Lord’s church.
There is a sense in which anyone who picks up the Word of God and shares what God has said, is a prophet of the Lord, even though his message may have nothing to do with future events. In other words, there is a sense in which I am a prophet of the Lord, even though it would probably be confusing to people if that was a title that I used about myself. For the sake of clarity, I think that I’ll personally avoid the word. And I doubt that the Lord will ever give you anything which He has not already revealed in His Word. Don’t look for new prophecies about the future in any of my messages.
My second point, coming out of the first, is that OUR KING HAS A GREAT MANY METHODS OF SPEECH.
We should read all of Psalm 78 – from which Matthew takes his comment about Jesus’ parables. It would be a bit long, and perhaps counter-productive to my point, because it is basically an history lesson. But I would like you to read and hear the introduction – “Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old: Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done. For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children: That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children: That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments: And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not stedfast with God.”
We could talk about all kinds of extraordinary means of divine revelation. We could talk about dreams for example, because the Lord certainly has used dreams – Daniel and Joseph for example. We could talk about visions and extraordinary appearances of God or perhaps angels. Last week I overheard a discussion about some people who felt the moving of the Holy Spirit in their hearts. I certainly believe that the Lord can and does lead people by speaking to hearts, I am sure that from time to time God spoke directly to the hearts of some of His prophets. But when we are talking about what happened to some person yesterday, it is hard to prove that the leadership was God’s. We are exhorted to try the spirits whether they are of God, because Satan’s angels are plenty busy. This evening I want to lay aside whatever extraordinary methods the Lord might use today. As far as I am concerned there is only one revelation of God which is important – the written revelation.
But within what is now the written Word, the Lord used various means to communicate with His prophets. For example, God spoke verbally with some – face to face, you could say. On a couple of occasions He wrote things down for His prophets. Yes, He spoke through dreams and visions and through the visitation of angels. God gave His word to David and Asaph in music and poetry. God spoke through animals a time or two. Then there were all the physical illustrations that God used – fires and earthquakes come to mind. And then there were the more common things – Christ Jesus preached at times, and taught through lectures, and He used parables.
Now here is the thing which struck me on Friday, but which I missed in my meditations on Thursday. The introduction to this Psalm speaks about parables, but the rest of the Psalm is all Israelite history. There are a few cryptic terms and phrases, but this is not an allegorical song – it is plain and straight-forward. There is a reference to God’s furnishing a table in the wilderness, and kindling a fire against Jacob. It is said that God opens the doors of Heaven, giving Israel the corn of Heaven and angels’ food. This is definitely kind of poetic, but for the most part we have no trouble understanding such language. This Psalm is basically a statement of historical fact not parabolic symbols.
But I think that the point to be made is that even in the plain open history are parabolic lessons. This is talking about Israel, but at the same time we should be reading it as a parable for ourselves. If the Lord Jesus was talking about “sheep,” we might know that He was talking about us. And in a similar way, as He spoke of events in Israel’s history, they are in some ways events in ours.
Some Christians do not get very excited about studying the Old Testament especially the historical books. I believe that comparing Matthew 13:34-35 to Psalm 78 should condemn that attitude. Matthew tells us that the history of Israel is a part of God’s parable – teaching to the saints. If you get nothing out of it, then should we assume that you are not meant to hear? I hope that it can be said of you, “Blessed are your eyes, for the see; and your ears for they hear.”
My third point for this evening is that GOD HAS HIS SECRETS.
“All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.”
It would be utter foolishness for me to describe to you the secrets of God. There are a great many preachers who try to say that they can do such a thing, but I will not join them. That would mean that I knew the Lord’s secrets, and that would be nonsense. Has the Lord revealed all of His secrets? I can’t even guess how many more there might be. Some of them may be revealed some day after the return of Christ, but I am sure that there are many others which will always remain the secrets of God.
I do know that in Asaph’s day the Lord had secrets which He later revealed in Jesus’ Day. Many of the details of the incarnation and then of the crucifixion, were secrets in the Old Testament. Christ Himself was a particular and special revelation of the Father, showing us things never seen before. Then following the resurrection and ascension the Lord revealed more surprises through Paul and John. Our knowledge of the Tribulation has been greatly increased through the Book of Revelation – kept secret for a very long time. And then as mentioned earlier – the Lord’s “ecclesia” was a mystery up almost until the days of the Apostles. God has His secrets some of which have been revealed and/or hidden through His parables.
What was THE EFFECT of Christ’s parabolic ministry?
How many of Jesus’ hearers that day, threw their hands into the air in utter confusion? How many were disgusted that the Lord wasn’t more plain and open? But how many walked away with their eyes wide with wonder, having been given the grace to understand what had been said? How many were thoroughly confused, but they refused to give up, praying and searching the scriptures to learn what they couldn’t understand at that point?
You could say that Christ had a church service at the edge of the sea that day. The members had been busy and there were a great many visitors in attendance. The pastor was in great voice, and He had spent hours in the preparation of His message. But Christ didn’t try to entertain that big crowd, even though they could have been kept enthralled. Christ Jesus didn’t try to impress them, buy their friendship, or lock them into superficial discipleship. In fact He went out of His way to separate the sheep from the goats, so to speak, using His parables.
Out of the hundreds of people present there was undoubtedly a wide variety of response. But none of them had God’s authority to withdraw and quit their attendance before the King. As far as they may have been concerned, He might have stuttered during the entire message, but the Lord still had a message which they needed to hear. When the Lord has established His church in any community, it doesn’t matter if the preacher is as poetic as Asaph or as tearful and broken as Jeremiah, that man is a prophet of God – he should be heard. And if out of a dozen messages only one is a blessing or teaches us something brand new, then praise the Lord for that and pray that the next one will be a blessing as well.
“All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.”