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Jesus taught in parables to reveal important spiritual truths concerning the Kingdom of God. He used earthly illustrations so that people could understand, as our ability to understand spiritual things is limited. However, Jesus also spoke in parables to those outside his disciples' circle, so that they would not understand. This was not because God wanted to hide the truth, but because their hearts were unwilling to understand. The parables were meant to clarify, not conceal, the message. Those who rejected the word of God would eventually lose the ability to understand it. The gospel is like a veil to those whose hearts are blinded by things like pride or addiction. Only those whom God gave the capacity to understand would truly comprehend the message. The purpose of the parables was to help people understand, not confuse them. Welcome to our weekly exhortation. Thank you for joining me today. Thank you for your precious time. My name is Gila Miona, Servant of God, Servant of Jesus Christ. The disciple came up to Jesus and said to him, Lord, why do you speak to them in parables? What is the purpose of parables? In many of his teachings, our Lord Jesus uses deep speech of parables to talk to his disciples and to the crowd that come to listen to him. Why does he prefer to use parables to get his message out? Why does he teach in parables rather than using plain statements? We will come to that in a moment. He took me in. Praise the Lord. In fact, a parable is a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson as those by Jesus in the Gospels. There are over 30 parables of Jesus recorded in the New Testament. So, as I was saying, a parable is an illustration to help us to understand. It reveals the hidden meaning of spiritual truth. Parables reveal important spiritual truths concerning the Kingdom of God. It is a special kind of illustration which puts a divine truth into the picture of that illustration. Jesus says he uses earthly things so that we may understand. John chapter 3 verse 12. This means, when Jesus uses an illustration, his intent is not to conceal what he wants to say. Instead, it is in order to clarify what he wants to communicate. The truth is that Jesus knows that, as men, our ability to understand spiritual things is very limited. Therefore, he speaks to us using earthly pictures such as rain, wind, bird, soil, seed, etc. so that we may understand. But, to the question of his disciples as to why he teaches in parables, the Lord Jesus replied, It is so that those who are not part of the disciples' cycle could not understand. To you, he says, it has been granted to know, but to them it has not been granted. Let's read this passage. We find it in Matthew chapter 13 verse 10 to 17. There it is written, He goes on in verse 13 saying that, Praise the Lord. In this passage, it seems that Jesus is saying, In fact, if the purpose of parables or illustrations is to reveal the meaning of spiritual lessons, why did Jesus speak in parables to them in other depths they might not be able to understand? For whom them refer to, and to whom you refer to? In fact, the word you refers to his disciples, and the word them refers to people from outside. Hallelujah. We need to know that, God is not the cause of their inability to understand. For, if, despite the illustration of spiritual truth, people still cannot see nor hear, it is not the fault of Jesus, but rather of these people themselves because they do not have the will to understand it. Remember the parable of the growing seeds in Mark chapter 4 verse 26 to 29. The seeds in this passage represent the word of God and the soil, the hearts of man. So, after putting the seed in the ground, it will bud. But, if the seed grows little, or not at all, the fault must be attributed to the soil. This means, it is the hearts of man that are faulty, and not the seed. The growth of the seed is essentially linked to the quality of the soil on which it falls. Before concluding, let us understand that, he who stubbornly rejects the word of God, will eventually lose all possibility of understanding it. Conclusion You give the healing and grace our hearts always hunger for. Why did the Lord Jesus teach in parables, rather than using plain statements, while teaching his disciples and the crowd? Well, the Lord Jesus himself answered this question by saying, it was to hide the truth from those from outside. In other words, due to the incredulity of their hearts, they can't understand. Yeah, the gospel is like a veil for them. And this situation is explained by the fact that, their hearts have become insensitive. It is about willful blindness, as it is the case of the reluctant inhabitants of Judah in Isaiah chapter 6. You know, the devil blinded them by painting the flesh. And this blindness can be due to the veil of pride, wealth, addiction, or a thousand other things. The apostle Paul made the same observation in 2 Corinthians chapter 4 verse 3. He says, If our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. Those who are perishing are the unbelievers whose intelligence the God of this sanctuary has blinded. The apostle Paul agrees that, some seem incapable of grasping the gospel. The gospel is like a veil for them. They can't discern it. Praise the Lord. Third, The truth is this, the gospel is not veiled. Jesus does not use the parables to hide the meaning of his word, but rather to reveal them. However, to the disciples and those who were part of the disciples circle, it has been given the eyes to perceive and the ear to hear. This means, only those whom God gave the capacity to understand would understand. All the rest are deliberately blinded to the judgments. The Lord Jesus used the parables precisely with the intention that the hearer should understand. We can say that, a parable is more or less an illustration. It is a special kind of illustration which puts a divine truth into the picture of that illustration. Put it in this way, the answer is of course very plain. Jesus uses an illustration to help a person to understand and not the reverse. Well, we have come to the end of today's message. I do hope you enjoy it. If God wills, we'll be together next time. God bless. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom.