Teaching In Parables
READ Matthew 13:34-35 and 13:9-15
If
God is no respecter of persons, why is it given to the disciples to know the
mysteries but to the people it is not given?
While we all start at the same place,
some soften their hearts, exercise faith, and choose good while others do not
(see Alma 13:3-5).
Light cleaves to light (see D&C
88:40).
Those with some are given more (see Alma
12:10).
So “given” in this passage means “as a
consequence of” – it is not special treatment because they are “disciples”.
They are disciples because they softened
their hearts to hear the message of God in Christ’s words – and the light or
intelligence or knowledge in those words cleaves to the light they already have
chosen to accept, and continues to grow.
Why
did Christ teach primarily in parables?
So as to not further condemn/damn those
who would not accept the teachings taught in plainness.
As a test to see if people would inquire
of the Lord and connect with Him, so that they would also “be given” or receive
light/truth/intelligence/knowledge (see 1 Nephi 15:8-11).
Why
was the Sermon on the Mount more plain than the Parables?
Because if people live the principles
taught in the Sermon, they will soften their hearts to inquire after the
mysteries taught in the Parables.
The Sermon seems to be Christ’s
introductory “first discussion” where He introduced the laws of light in plain
behaviors (by and large), while the Parables took them to the next level.
Parable of the Soils/Sower
READ Matthew 13:1-8
From
an agricultural (literal) perspective, what are the different kinds of soils
Jesus is describing?
Wayside = the hard packed ground that is
used as paths through the farm – they border the field but when the sower
flings his seed, some will be cast wide and land on the path.
Stony places = not “rocky ground” (or
ground with large rocks protruding from the earth) but earth that has a layer
of limestone rock only a few inches under the topsoil – you can’t tell from the
surface unless you dig down.
Thorns = this soil is full of weed spores
that are blown in from the wilderness – you can’t tell when the seed is sown
but the thorns grow up faster than the grain and choke the tender plants.
Good ground = deep topsoil over good
earth.
READ Matthew 13:18-23
What
is the seed?
The word of God.
What
do the different soils mean?
People with different states of the heart.
What
is represented by the wayside soil?
Not an evil person but someone who does
not understand the word of God.
Someone with a hard heart like a
compacted path.
There is no “crack” in their flint-like
hearts for the word of God to take root.
Why
are these “wayside soil” people like this?
They don’t care/desire to ask – they are
damned by their careless indifference (see 1 Nephi 15:3 or 1 Nephi 11:1 and 2
Nephi 32:4 for the opposite).
They don’t have the faith to ask (see 1
Nephi 15:7-9).
They harden their hearts with pride (see
Alma 12:10-11).
Their minds are darkened through unbelief
- believing things that are false (see D&C 84:54).
What
is represented by the stony soil?
People who genuinely embrace the word but
they don’t have “root in themselves”.
People who are initially interested in
spiritual things but have not developed the necessary spiritual depth; they are
still caught in “maya” or the physical world as their primary focus and the
lens through which they perceive everything.
What
does “root in themselves” mean?
Their level of commitment is not deep
enough.
Their capacity or desire for spiritual
things is too shallow to get them through the real difficulties of life – they
don’t have enough light/intelligence yet.
When the “heat of the day” is on, they
don’t have enough spiritual depth – they have no “well of living water
springing up” within them or deep enough roots to withstand that heat.
What
kind of heart is represented by the thorny soil?
They are easily distracted by the cares
of this world.
Their hearts are set on riches – they
love material things more than God.
The difference between the thorny soil
focus on the world and the stony soil focus is that the latter cannot see past
the lens of the world – they are like fish who don’t even realize they are
swimming in water because it defines their whole existence, while the thorny
soil heart actually loves the world they are in.
What
does the “deceitfulness of riches” mean?
They lack faith and crave the control and
security that comes with money.
But it is a false sense of security as it
can be gone in a moment, or they could die and leave it behind.
It can also be seen as a false positive –
i.e. the Lord blesses the righteous and I have been blessed with riches, so I
must be righteous.
Regardless, it won’t save them in the
only way that really counts.
What
does it take to understand the word when you hear it?
You must be meek and teachable like a
child (see Mosiah 3:19).
You must not harden your heart (see Alma
12:10).
You must give heed and diligence to what you
have been given already (see Alma 12:9).
You must not presume to know it all and must
never stop asking for more revelation (see 2 Nephi 28:35-30).
If
the good ground is “good”, then why does some produce 3x what other “good
ground” produces?
“In my Father’s house there are many
mansions” (see John 14:2) – there is not one “celestial glory” designation
because if we gain more knowledge and intelligence than another, we will have
an advantage in the world to come (see D&C 130:18-19).
It is up to our diligence in coming unto
Christ and our obedience to Christ after we have come unto Him (see 2 Nephi
32:6) – and everyone has a different experience due to their own choices, as
God is no respecter of persons.
Parables of the Kingdom
READ Matthew 13:24-30; 13:36-43 and
D&C 86:1-7
Why
does The Lord let the Tares grow up with the Wheat?
Because much of the wheat is tender
(faith is weak) and very few would be saved if the Lord allowed the angels to
destroy the wicked too prematurely.
After all, His work and glory is our
immorality and eternal life and He demonstrates extreme patience and mercy by
extending the “growing season” or “probationary period” as long as He can in
the hope that more of us might come to ourselves and be saved.
Although the analogy doesn’t work that
way in real life, it’s like we are Tares that become Wheat through our choice
to repent, at some point during the growing season – if the Tares are destroyed
immediately, that transition won’t have time to take place.
READ Matthew 13:31-33
Why
is the Kingdom of God like a grain of mustard seed?
Like in Daniel’s interpretation of the
King’s dream, the Kingdom of God is the stone cut out without hands that will
fill the whole earth and grind the great Kingdoms of the World to powder, but
initially it is thought of as an insignificant small stone, like a grain of
mustard seed but will become so large that it fills the entire earth and will
destroy the nations of the world.
What
are the birds of the air and what does it mean that they come to lodge in the
tree?
Birds = the angels of heaven.
One of the signs of the Kingdom of God on
earth is the presence of angels who lead people back to God (see Alma 13:24,
Alma 24:14, Helaman 5:11).
Angels are attracted to the kingdom of
heaven on earth as light cleaves to light (see D&C 88:40).
Why
is the Kingdom of God like leaven in three loaves?
Like Lot’s family in Sodom, the light
from the few righteous saves the rest from a premature destruction.
The light from a candle lights all who
are in the house; your lives are not your own – if you have some light, you
have an obligation to share it with others.
READ Matthew 13:44-46
What
are the similarities in these two parables?
Both the treasure and pearl are found or
discovered.
Both did not belong to the man.
Both require selling all that the man had
to acquire them.
What
are the differences between these two parables and what can we learn?
In the treasure parable, the man happens
upon the treasure – it doesn’t say he was a treasure hunter, so this is a happy
chance for him – but he does recognize the value when he finds it; the treasure
is hidden – although he sells all he has to buy the field, the fact that the
treasure is in it implies that the worth of the treasure is much more than just
the value of the field (without a treasure in it) and he would not have been
able to afford it (otherwise why rehide the treasure) if the owner realized
what was hidden in the field; also, the treasure was so big, it couldn’t have
been removed without being obvious – the land where the treasure lay had to be
bought to be retrieved.
With the pearls, the man is seeking
“goodly pearls” – he knows what he is looking for and is an active seeker of
this “treasure”; the pearls are not hidden (at least not in the same way – he
is a diver opening clam shells to find pearls) but very expensive – most will
not have the money to purchase it or will not sacrifice all they have to seek for
it but that is what the diver has chosen to spend his time doing.
READ Matthew 13:47-50
Why
does the net (or Kingdom of Heaven) gather “every kind” – both “good” and
“bad”?
Because God is no respecter of persons.
He sends the rain (enables physical life)
and the gospel (enables spiritual life), for all people.
This first part of the process is
non-exclusive and non-exclusionary.
After
the fish are caught and brought to shore, what is the second part to this
process?
The angels pick through the “net” and
gather out the “good” fish to be kept.
This part of the process is exclusive and
exclusionary.
But the real trick is to figure out what
the Lord’s definition of “good” and “bad” are…which He is about to do in the
Parable of the Wedding Feast, because it is not what we assume.
Parable of the Wedding Feast
READ Matthew 22:2-14
Who
did the servants find in the highways?
Both “bad” (robbers) and “good”
(travelers).
What
is the difference between the “bad” people in the highways and the “unworthy”
invited guests?
The “bad” people (the robbers) in the
highways were still willing to come to the Marriage Feast.
The “unworthy” guests were not willing.
So, worthy = willing to go to the feast,
it doesn’t mean “good” or “righteous” as we normally define it.
This parable teaches us that the Lord
doesn’t care about “bad” and “good”, what He cares about is willing or
unwilling; He doesn't care about it because in His eyes, against the standard
of eternal law, we are ALL “bad” because none of us are “precisely like Christ”
and so cannot be saved (see LoF 7:9) – so His criteria cannot be about good or
bad – it is about either bad people who are willing to come unto Him or bad
people who are unwilling – there is no good but God.
What
is it that enables the willing “bad” people to enter into the Wedding Feast and
what does it represent?
Wearing a wedding garment.
The wedding garment is the atonement – it
“covers” their sins.
It is provided for all the guests by the
host; that only makes sense because if it is required to enter, the host would
never expect those in the highways who weren’t invited and were not planning on
attending the wedding, to be dressed to attend.
So
back to the Parable of the Net in Matthew 13, who are the “bad” fish that are
cast away?
The “invited” or “called” guests (Church
members) whose eyes are not single to God’s glory (they follow their own way,
despite appearing to be God’s chosen) and never attended the feast to begin
with because they were unwilling to come.
Any from the highway (“good” or “bad” in
the world’s or Church’s eyes) who refuse to partake of the Atonement and be
cleansed.
The unwilling are the real “bad” people
because the Lord will forgive and fix anyone who is willing to offer their
whole soul to Him.
Parable of the Rich Man & Lazarus
READ Luke 16:19-21
Why
is the poor man named but the rich man is not?
Lazarus, the poor man, has attracted the
notice of heaven (and Christ).
The rich man’s name was likely well known
on the earth but his riches mean nothing to heaven.
Is
the rich man “deceived” by his riches; how do we know?
Yes – he thinks he is blessed from heaven
for having them; they are a sign to him of his standing before God.
If he wasn’t deceived, he would have used
the riches differently – to help Lazarus.
Deceived by riches = because you have
money you think you are blessed and you think you are safe; but the money lies
to you or you lie to yourself because of it and fail to spend your time seeking
the truth about yourself and your actual standing before God – and what it is
that can save you.
Why
did the Rich Man dress in the royal purple and crave the world’s attention?
The Rich Man’s name would have been known
by all his peers – while Lazarus’ name would not have been. His fame and fortune would have been envied
by all those who do not know God.
Because God does not know his name and he
does not have the attention of heaven.
As a result, he craves the attention of
the world to fill that awful gap in his heart; it is a sad, self-fulfilling
prophesy: he seeks after riches to make himself feel better – he gains the
riches but realizes they don’t make him feel better – so he doubles down by
seeking more riches, hoping that will help him or at least distract him from
the pain of loss (of proximity to God) in his heart and spirit.
What
can we learn of Lazarus’ circumstances?
He can’t walk (“was laid”) – he’s
dependent on others for his basic needs.
He’s covered in sores or boils and in
great pain as a result.
He is humiliated by the dogs licking his
sores – he can’t stop them – making him physically and ceremonially unclean (see
Psalms 22:16) – so he is ashamed as well as in pain.
He was sick and starving to death.
Who
is Lazarus?
He is stripped of pride, a man of sorrows
and acquainted with grief, with nothing to make him desirable to the rich man
or us – he appeared for all the world to be cursed, rejected and hated by God.
He is Christ Himself.
READ Luke 16:22-23
How
did Lazarus and the Rich Man’s fortunes change at death?
Lazarus was carried by angels, like on a
royal litter, to Abraham (the “father”) – he has entered into the Kingdom of
God.
The Rich Man was buried in the earth – no
heavenly greeting, no angels, no royal litter, only torment.
They have switched positions.
Why
is the Rich Man in torment?
Only in death does he see things as they
really are.
He realizes that the one who was
previously despised, rejected and acquainted with grief all his days is really
the close associate of Father Abraham (the type or symbol of Heavenly Father in
the sacrifice of his son).
He understands his own unworthiness in
the presence of a glorious Father and Son.
He realizes what he could have done to
minister to Lazarus (“do it unto the least of these is to do it unto me”).
He is in darkness and he is darkness –
his soul is not filled with light and it is a torment (which is ironically
symbolized by flames).
READ Luke 16:24-31
Why
does the Rich Man call out for water to cool him from the flames?
Death confines the man to the “pit
wherein is no water” (see Zech 9:11).
He is asking for baptism – for the
covenant relationship that will stop the torment and help him cross the great
gulf – but he is stuck where ordinances can’t be performed because it is too
late (implied that he had a chance to receive these ordinances in a time and
place where they were available but that has now passed).
Why
does the Rich Man receive no grace or charity in the afterlife?
Because he didn’t give any grace or
charity in mortality – although he had the ability to give in great measure and
relieve the suffering of others; he is judged by the standard of justice
against which he used to judge others (e.g. Lazarus was unworthy of his help
and concern).
The law of reciprocity is in place – the
merciful shall obtain mercy (see Matthew 5:7) but others cannot claim it.
Plus, baptism for the dead had not been
instituted by Christ when this parable was given – at some point “Lazarus”
would build a bridge across the “great gulf” and extend mercy to those who had
not given it to Him.
Why
does Abraham say that if the living relatives will not believe the scriptures,
they will not be persuaded though one rose from the dead?
The scriptures testify of Christ and are
filled with light – if the Rich Man’s brothers won’t believe the scriptures,
they won’t believe in the resurrection of Christ.
This is a message to the Priests and
Pharisees of Israel who are alive at this time but will not believe that Christ
is the Messiah as laid out in the scriptures by Isaiah and others, even though
He will bring back a man named Lazarus from the grave and return from the dead
Himself as a resurrected God.
What
is Christ preaching in this parable?
He knows who He is – the suffering
servant who is the Son of the Father.
That we must “hear His voice” in the
scriptures.
That we must do His works by relieving
the suffering of others.
That things in this world do not reflect
the truth – i.e. things (or people) as they REALLY are; in fact, they are
completely backward in this world to how they really are (and not just in
heaven but in this world – but we just can’t see the truth because our natural
eyes see such a small light spectrum – we don’t see the actual light (or
“dust,” for you fans of His Dark Materials…) that is in us and all
around us.
