It is interesting to think about the parables of our Lord Jesus and the rich background they provided for His teaching. It is true that He used parables to conceal His teaching from the froward (Mark 4.10-12). The parable protected Him from those who would have misunderstood His teaching. The parable revealed His message to those who followed Him. The device completely disarmed the hearer. Even opponents listening to Him forgot to raise their shields of defense until they finally realized that He spoke concerning them (see Mark 12.1-11).
I read a statement that provoked some thinking about the development of Jesus’ teaching. The author was explaining that he believed that Jesus used His ‘retreat’ time to prepare for His teaching. That may be true. But I tend to believe that preparation went on while he was a child, youth, and young man in His twenties. Jesus’ whole life before His three-year public ministry was geared toward the preparation for it.
Jesus may have remembered an incident from His youth that prompted the parable in Matthew 7.24-27. Perhaps He viewed two men building homes on foundations that were sound and shifty. It led Him to teach on the response to the Word of God: Heeding the teachings of Jesus was likened to the foundation of a wise builder; disobeying them was likened to a foolish builder.
Jesus may have noticed a farmer sowing seed which prompted teaching on the response of those who would hear and not hear His message (Mark 4.1-20). Jesus may have observed lilies in a field and incorporated them in a teaching concerning God’s love for His creation (Matt 6.28-30). Jesus may have noticed His mother trying to sow a patch of new material on an old shirt, and after the garment was washed, the shrinking of the new piece caused the older surrounding material to tear even worse. He used this to teach that it was not possible to combine certain practices of the OT dispensation with the New (Mark 2.21). Jesus may have noticed the smallness of a mustard seed and the large resultant produce. He used this botany lesson to teach on the kingdom of God (Mark 4.30-32).
Jesus used parabolic teaching that stemmed from His own observations and experiences in the rural environment of Galilee. He used His own surroundings and the surrounding of those He taught to clarify and apply His message. But only those who had ears to hear would actually take in that message. All of this causes the reader of Scripture to wonder and delight in the teachings of our Lord.
