Sermon for Sunday, March 22nd, 2026 at First Presbyterian Church at Unionville, NY (BPC)
Old Testament Reading:
[Isaiah 42:18-25 ESV] 18 Hear, you deaf, and look, you blind, that you may see! 19 Who is blind but my servant, or deaf as my messenger whom I send? Who is blind as my dedicated one, or blind as the servant of the LORD? 20 He sees many things, but does not observe them; his ears are open, but he does not hear. 21 The LORD was pleased, for his righteousness’ sake, to magnify his law and make it glorious. 22 But this is a people plundered and looted; they are all of them trapped in holes and hidden in prisons; they have become plunder with none to rescue, spoil with none to say, “Restore!” 23 Who among you will give ear to this, will attend and listen for the time to come? 24 Who gave up Jacob to the looter, and Israel to the plunderers? Was it not the LORD, against whom we have sinned, in whose ways they would not walk, and whose law they would not obey? 25 So he poured on him the heat of his anger and the might of battle; it set him on fire all around, but he did not understand; it burned him up, but he did not take it to heart.
New Testament Reading:
[1 Corinthians 2:6-16 ESV] 6 Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. 7 But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”– 10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. 14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 16 “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
Gospel Reading:
[Mark 4:30-34 ESV] 30 And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? 31 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, 32 yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.” 33 With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it. 34 He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything.
Sermon Text:
[Matthew 13:10-17 ESV] 10 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11 And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: “‘”You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.” 15 For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’ 16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17 For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
Introduction
Why does Jesus speak in parables?
The disciples had that question. Maybe you have it as well.
Jesus has come to earth and the Gospel message is proclaimed – “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”
But yet, Jesus often spoke in parables which were not understood by all.
In the Gospel of Matthew alone, there are some 23 parables.
These include,
– parables Jesus specifically names like (1) The parable of the sower and (2) The parable of the weeds of the field.
– Then there are others that Jesus calls a parable but leave it to later people to name: (these are pretty obvious to name), (3) the parable of the mustard seed, (4) the parable of the Yeast, and (5) the parable of the tenants.
– Various other Jesus doesn’t call “a parable” but have the same structure: (6) the parable of the labors in the vineyard and (7) the parable of the lost sheep, being two examples.
These are familiar and much-loved stories in the Bible.
Notable, the Old Testament has some use of parables, but outside of Jesus in the Gospels, the New Testament authors use NO PARABLES.
I. What is a parable?
Now, I’ve said too much without yet explaining what a parable is. So let us get to that:
A parable is a comparison. The Greek “parabole” actually means “something cast alongside something else.” So a parable is a short simple story CAST ALONGSIDE a deeper truth. So the story can help explain that truth. Another common explanation of a parable is “an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.”
II. Why parables?
But again, “Why parables?”
Its not like this is English class. There are no extra points for speaking in riddles, metaphors, or similes. Is Jesus just showing off?
Why speak in parables?
Jesus doesn’t always speak in parables. In the earliest part of his ministry he is very straightforward in his teaching. But now that there are large crowds, and many people in addition to his trusted disciples, he speaks in parables.
One reason, you might think — and would have some validity — for Jesus speaking in parables is that “it is not yet his time.” He’s keeping things under wraps so as not to get arrested and crucified until the time is right. That is true, but tit is not the specified reason in our text.
But ultimately, as Jesus continues with more parables in Matthew’s Gospel, the reason he does so is TO REVEAL AND TO CONCEAL.
A. To Reveal and Conceal (v. 12-14)
This is the two-fold purpose of the parables: (1) to reveal and (2) to conceal.
Answering his disciples Jesus says “To you it has been GIVEN to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven.” BUT, to others (them; the pharisees and unbelievers) “it has not be given.”
So we say “reveal” and “conceal” (because … they rhyme); the text says GIVEN and NOT GIVEN. The “secrets of the kingdom of heaven” are given to some and not to others.
For those whom truth is given (or revealed) Jesus teaches them the key to understanding the parables at a later time.
[Mark 4:33-34 ESV] 33 With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it. 34 He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything.
The parables then function in a revealing way in that they help bring to mind the truths of God in a clear understandable simple terms. Tree and fruit, weddings, seeds, weeds, and hidden treasure. Things we all know.
But for those whom the truth is not given, God conceals that truth through the parable.
The Pharisees, with their opposition to Christ, would hear parables and dismiss them as meaningless, while those who sought the truth would come to understand.
This passage brings to mind one of my favorite subjects: cryptography. Writing and solving ciphers. That is what, it is said, was a real key to victory for the Allies in WWII. We could read the their coded communications, but they couldn’t read our codes; especially when the Americans did they code in the Navajo language; it turns out nobody could figure out Navajo. Well, these codes conceal information from the enemies, but with the right key, they are understood by your own side.
B. Hard Hearts (v. 15, 17)
Now, in verses 15 and 17 we see the problem of the hard-heartedness of the people who do not believe; that this causes Jesus to speak in parables.
He says:
15 For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’
And:
17 For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
Not only are their hearts hard, but it is the will of God NOT to reveal the truth unto them; so it is cloaked in parables.
We’ve seen this in previous places in Matthew. In fact, I almost decided to skip this section (of Matthew 13:10-17) because we’ve spoken on this point before.
I gave a sermon on Matthew 11 where we saw Jesus say:
25 “I THANK YOU, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children
And then he says:
26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
So that same theme continues now in chapter 13. Jesus REVEALS truth to whom he wishes to REVEAL, and he CONCEALS the truth from whom he wishes it to be CONCEALED.
This isn’t to blame God, for the sin is the heart-heartedness of man.
Nor is it to credit those who believe, for that belief is only possible by the work of the Holy Spirit in them.
We see God’s sovereign choice in election. “To you IT HAS BEEN GIVEN to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them IT HAS NOT BEEN GIVEN.” This is BEFORE their hard-heartedness. Indeed their hard-heartedness makes it worse, in a vicious cycle of unbelief. God withhold the truth; their hearts are hard, so God continues to withhold truth, and their hearts get harder. But for believers, it is blessings heaped upon blessings: “12 For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”
III. Parables can be understood.
Now, we should look at this point: “Parables CAN be understood.”
They are not understood BY ALL, but ESPECIALLY with the KEY of understanding – the explanations given by Jesus HIMSELF, the DISCIPLES (and we as well) CAN understand the parables.
I emphasize this because of a situation that I ran into at L’Abri Christian Fellowship in Switzerland back in 2016. The teacher there — who in my opinion was not qualified to teach — said that the parables of Jesus at not made to be understood. And that was quite shocking because Jesus explains here in Matthew that the parables ARE to be understood. They are to be understood by believers. What does that imply? It implies that my teacher was either NOT YET knowing that truth, OR… was not a believer. To be charitable, I assumed it was the former.
Parables ARE to be understood.
Jesus says, in regards to the parables, in Mark 4:9, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” And in Mark 4:23 “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” This was a call to listen to the parables; to seek the truth of God. May God grant us ears to hear His word.
Indeed, Jesus explains ALL the parables to his disciples.
[Mark 4:34 ESV] 34 He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything.
So we cannot say Jesus left thing unexplained. He doesn’t leave us hanging. And he does leave parables open to interpretation. He explains them all. Praise the Lord.
Now, two applications from these verse.
Application 1: We ought to be humble.
Now, if God conceals his truth from the proud, and reveals his truth to the humble, we ought to be humble.
That is the Scriptural message over and over. Those who think they know it all won’t listen to the Lord. Those who need the Lord and seek him will receive His truth.
Indeed, the man who believes himself superior listens to no one; he is his own God.
But the “great reversal” of the Christian faith is that we ought to recognize our lowly circumstances. The song say it best when it says “WE are weak, but He is strong.”
No one wants to be weak, but to the sooner we recognize our own weakness, the sooner we can rely on the strength of God. Then we are truly strong, for we have God on our side.
And with God on our side we can get through all of the days difficulties; we can forgive those who’ve said things which bother us; we can push through the physical work or physical pain, we can pray for our enemies, we can look to the Lord in all things.
All of that requires that we be humble. James 4:7 says “submit yourself therefore to God.”
Application 2: We ought to be humbled.
Now second, “we ought to be humbled.”
First was “we ought to be humble.”
Second is “we ought to be humbled.”
This is not a typo. The first application is about our status – we should be humble. This second application is about the result of the Lord has done – He humbles us. We ought to be humbled with a D. And that is because WE HAVE BEEN CHOSEN IN THE LORD have the truth revealed unto us; not for anything good that is in us, but because of God’s own good pleasure. That is humbling. He has done this for us; we have not earned anything; nothing but God’s wrath do we deserve and yet with Christ we get His love.
Indeed, not only is this humbling, it is to be recognized as a blessing, as indeed it is in our passage:
16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.
So, know this — Christian believer — you are blessed.
You are blessed because your eyes see the truth of God.
And you are blessed for your ears hear the truth of God.
And even if you shall one day be blind and death, you will still know the truth of God.
That is a great blessing. A blessing above all other blessings. To know that God has sent His only begotten son because of His love for His people, to die for our sins, and to reveal that truth to us in faith.
Praise be to God for Jesus Christ and the revelation of his truth, in parable, and in prose. In Gospels and Epistles. In truth and in love. All for us. Indeed, praise be to God.
Let us pray.