This week and next, we will hear several parables in the Sunday gospels. Jesus often spoke in parables to teach his followers. In fact, there are over 100 parables in the Bible and Jesus uses at least 35 parables in his teachings. About 20 of them are found in Matthew’s Gospel – the one that is featured this liturgical year – so it’s especially helpful this year to understand them. But what exactly is a parable and why did Jesus choose to use them as a teaching tool?
The English word “parable” derives from the Greek word “parabole” which is an ancient translation of the Hebrew word “māshāl.” In the Old Testament, this word described a wide variety of literary forms such as axioms, proverbs, similitudes and allegories. When Jesus used this style, it was primarily to use events of daily life – seed that is sown, a mustard seed or a hidden treasure, as we hear in the gospels this Sunday and next – to illustrate an important truth. And, they are understood only by those who are open to their teaching. For everyone else, we hear Jesus quote the prophet Isaiah and declare:
You shall indeed hear but not understand,
you shall indeed look but never see.
Gross is the heart of this people,
they will hardly hear with their ears,
they have closed their eyes,
lest they see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and understand with their hearts and be converted,
and I will heal them. (Mt. 13:14b-15)
We want to be among those who open our hearts to his teachings and continue to undergo conversion as our Lord heals us of our sins so that we can enter into God’s kingdom. Many of the parables in Matthew’s Gospel teach us about the Kingdom of God, referred to as the Kingdom of Heaven in this gospel. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, we read:
- 546 Jesus’ invitation to enter his kingdom comes in the form of parables, a characteristic feature of his teaching. Through his parables he invites people to the feast of the kingdom, but he also asks for a radical choice: to gain the kingdom, one must give everything. Words are not enough, deeds are required. The parables are like mirrors for man: will he be hard soil or good earth for the word? What use has he made of the talents he has received? Jesus and the presence of the kingdom in this world are secretly at the heart of the parables. One must enter the kingdom, that is, become a disciple of Christ, in order to “know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven”. For those who stay “outside”, everything remains enigmatic.
Aware of the purpose of parables in the gospels, let’s examine the ones we will hear over these two Sundays to grasp their meaning and message for us. This Sunday’s first parable begins with an interesting sentence: “The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field.” Notice, first of all, that Jesus is teaching about the mysterious “kingdom of heaven.” Matthew’s Gospel records that the first words of Jesus as he began his public ministry were: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt 4:17). It is clear that Jesus has come to introduce the kingdom of heaven. Today’s gospel passage gives us an important insight into this kingdom. The “man who sows good seed in his field” refers to God offering his saving word to everyone. But, there is another player in the field – God’s enemy, the devil – who wants to hide God’s goodness and choke off access to God’s kingdom. We cannot root out the devil in this world but are assured that if we allow God to care for us like a good farmer, we will bear good fruit and be like the wheat that the farmer gathers into his barn, an analogy for God gathering his faithful into his kingdom.
This Sunday’s second parable compares the kingdom of heaven to a mustard seed. Jesus describes the tremendous growth that occurs – from a seed that he calls “the smallest of all the seeds” to “a large bush, and ‘the birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.’” With this parable, Jesus explains that God’s kingdom starts small but grows beyond our imagination. And, just as the large bush provides a safe, secure and inviting home for the birds, so the kingdom of God provides us with a safe, secure and inviting place for us to dwell.
The third parable that Jesus offers this Sunday compares heaven to yeast. Using only a small amount of yeast, the woman in the parable leavens a large batch of wheat flour, demonstrating that, with just a few followers, Jesus transforms the world into God’s kingdom.
Next week, we will hear Jesus, once again, teach us about the kingdom of heaven with two more parables. In the first parable, Jesus says that the “kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field which a person finds and hides again.” At a time before banks and secure storage facilities, this was a common practice but it had its risks. Jesus goes on to relate that the person who has discovered the hidden treasure doesn’t go and tell the owner who may not be aware of this great find but, instead, “goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” Jesus doesn’t comment on the morality of this person’s action but shows that attaining the kingdom of heaven is worth everything we have.
In next Sunday’s second parable, Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to a merchant in search of fine pearls. Pearls have been treasured down through the ages for their luster and good quality pearls have always been sought out. And, like the buried treasure in next Sunday’s first parable, a fine pearl is worth total surrender of everything; so is the kingdom of heaven.
Just like this Sunday, next Sunday’s gospel passage includes Jesus using three parables to describe the kingdom of heaven. In the third parable, Jesus speaks of the final judgment, when the righteous will be separated from the wicked in the same way as the good fish are separated from the bad fish after a net, “thrown into the sea,” collects fish of every kind.
Other parables that we will hear about this year from Matthew’s gospel teach us about the radical forgiveness that is expected of those who want to be part of God’s kingdom (we learn about that in mid-September in the parable about the servant who has been forgiven a great debt but refuses to forgive a fellow servant of his smaller one), God’s generosity to all who respond to his call, regardless of when they respond (that lesson is taught later in September through the parable of the workers in the vineyard) and the requirement to respond to God’s call through our actions (Jesus makes this clear in his parable of the two sons at the end of September).
Jesus longs for us to be part of the kingdom of God but we need to listen carefully to his teachings and follow him, rather than the devil, to that “place” where we find safety and security. Like yeast, we are to help make God’s kingdom arise in our midst, seeking it as that treasure of great price above all other things, responding with the same mercy that God has shown us, being patient with those who are slower to respond to God’s call than we have been and making sure that we not only say that we will work to bring about God’s kingdom but actually do the work that is required. Yes, our Lord’s parables provide us with very important insights into God’s kingdom and our faith journey if only we “have eyes that see and ears that hear” his saving word!