Preaching the Parables, Pt 4: Proclaiming the King of Kings and His Kingdom
“Context is king.” This is the paramount hermeneutic for all Bible texts, each having one exegetical point.[1] The Bible’s entire text, including the parables, has one ultimate homiletical point: Bow before Jesus the King of Kings!
Steven McCarthy points out in the first article of this series, “[the Gospel] has royal, or imperial, associations: the announcement of a new monarch’s ascension to the throne … a decisive victory heralded to … the front lines of battle … Jesus’ parables … are about the kingdom that his appearing embodies.”[2]
Many begin, “The kingdom of heaven is like”—six times in Matthew 13, which, quoting Psalm 78:2 in verses 34-35, alarmingly qualifies: All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.
Similarly, in Mark 4:11-12 quoting Isaiah 6:9-10, Jesus warns: … Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.
Herbert Lockyer discerns, “The parables … both attracted and sifted the crowd.”[3] Craig Blomberg concurs: “Jesus’ stories are … ‘weapons of warfare’ … They draw people into a seemingly innocuous story only to confront them with the demands of discipleship in ways that subvert conventional religious tradition and expectation.”[4]
Christ’s parables illustrate the inauguration of His Kingdom at His incarnation calling upon all people to determine whether they are among His citizens before its consummation. Blomberg asserts: “… all of the parables impinge on Jesus’ understanding of the ‘kingdom of God,’ whether that expression explicitly appears in the context of any given passage or not. For Jesus, the ‘kingdom’ referred more to a power than to a place, more to a rule or reign than to a realm.”[5]
Thomas Long explains that “… a parable is a literary performance in which a story, example, or image from our world of experience or imagination is compared to God’s kingdom.”[6] He extols:
… the true power of the parables lies … in the kingdom of God to which they refer … their deepest purpose is to disclose the kingdom of God, which … is not an idea … but … the inbreaking of the life of God into life and history … The parables take us to the places where the prayer “thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” is even now being answered. … not merely to talk about the kingdom of God but instead to take us to those places all around us where … God’s kingdom can be perceived and experienced … where … we can be “on hand for [the kingdom] which is at hand but not in hand.” The kingdom of God is not an idea but an event, and so should be preaching on the parables.[7]
John the Baptist prepared the way of the Prince’s arrival pronouncing, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matthew 3:2); Jesus and His disciples summoned the same (Matthew 4:17; 10:7).[8] The parables powerfully depict such demands of all Scripture:
Prioritize … first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. (Matthew 6:33).
Recognize Christ’s kingdom came near and within the presence of His audience by His own kingly embodiment (Luke 10:9-11; 17:20-21).
Accept His mysterious kingdom is not of this world (Mark 4:11; John 18:36).[9]
Rejoice that for His church Christ shall conquer His enemies with all kingdoms of this world having become under His reign for ever and ever (Psalms 45, 110; Revelation 11:15).
Lockyer passes on another’s detailed outline of Christ’s parables as the best, shared here in shorthand:
I. Parables of the Early MinistryTHE GOOD NEWS OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD
II. Parables of the Later Ministry
THE CHILDREN OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD
III. Parables of the Passion Week
THE KINGDOM OF GOD AS JUDGMENT.[10]
Everyone marveled at how Jesus spoke God’s great authority to convict decisive repentance or reviling.[11] Let preachers of the Messiah’s parables declare His princely discipleship to all like Psalm 2:10-12:
Be wise now therefore, O ye kings … Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
[1] See Dennis Prutow’s chapter 5, “Selecting Your Text and Deriving Your Exegetical Point,” in his magnum opus, So Pastor, What’s Your Point? (Lancaster, Pa.: Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, 2013), available here: reformedresources.org/so-pastor-whats-your-point-hardcover. The author is indebted to Dr. Prutow, his professor, colleague, and one of his main mentors especially regarding preaching, while employed and earning his M.Div. at the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh.
[2] placefortruth.org/preaching-the-parables-pt-1-christ-in-the-parables.
[3] Herbert Lockyer, All the Parables of the Bible: A Study and Analysis of the More Than 250 Parables in Scripture (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1963), 18. George Eldon Ladd describes Christ’s kingdom mystery as “… proclaimed to all even though it is understood only by those who believe.” George Eldon Ladd, A Theology of the New Testament (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1993), 92.
[4] Craig L. Blomberg, Jesus and the Gospels (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1997), 258. In his article, “Preaching Jesus’ Parables with Power,” Wayne E. Shaw explains: “The parables give us pictures of what that Kingdom is like. They paint vivid theological colors and patterns on the canvas of our lives. They develop three corallory themes: God’s graciousness, the demands of discipleship and the dangers of disobedience … They dramatize the eternal consequences of how we choose to live. The parables divide their hearers, then and now, into two camps: Jesus’ disciples and His opponents.” Source: preaching.org/preaching-jesus-parables-power. John Calvin writes, “Parables reveal the kingdom’s secrets to those with eyes to see, and they hide them from those who refuse to hear the truth (Matt. 13:11). Based on Matthew 13, these secrets tell us that God’s salvific reign has not manifested itself cataclysmically, but comes first through the humility of Jesus. Despite the expectations of first-century Jews, the day on which all enemies of Israel are eliminated will come only after the Messiah atones for sin and extends His reign through the preaching of the Gospel — even to the foes of His people (vv. 31–33; 24:14).” Source: learn.ligonier.org/devotionals/parables-kingdom. “Jesus tells us in Matthew 15:12–15 that He speaks in parables to hide the secrets of the kingdom from some and reveal them to others (Matt. 13:12–15).This does not mean His parables are full of esoteric information that only a select few can grasp with their minds. Christ’s enemies often understand exactly what His parables mean (see 21:33–46); the problem is their refusal to trust His teaching about Himself and God’s kingdom … A person’s final response to the parables reveals whether or not he is elect … we must be thankful that He has made us, who are no more deserving than the reprobate, to see the kingdom (Matt. 13:16–17).” Source: learn.ligonier.org/devotionals/purpose-parables.
[5] Craig L. Blomberg, Preaching the Parables: From Responsible Interpretation to Powerful Proclamation (Grand Rapids, Baker Academic, 2004), 23. He adds, “In my previous book on parables I devoted an entire half-chapter to the theology of the kingdom that may be deduced from Jesus’ parables.” Ladd says, “ … the Sitz ín Leben (“life setting”) of the parables is Jesus’ proclamation of the Kingdom of God [which] involves two great moments: fulfillment within history, and consummation at the end of history. It is precisely this background which provides the setting for the parables of the kingdom.” Ibid, 90. “The new truth, now given to men and women by revelation in the person and mission of Jesus, is that the Kingdom that is to come finally in apocalyptic power, as foreseen by Daniel, has in fact entered into the world in advance in a hidden form to work secretly within and among human beings.” 92. “The ground of the demand that they receive the Kingdom rests in the fact that in Jesus the Kingdom has come into history. God has done a new thing. He has visited his people in Jesus’ mission, brining to them the messianic salvation. The divine act requires a human response even though it remains a divine act.” 102.
[6] Thomas G. Long, Proclaiming the Parables: Preaching and Teaching the Kingdom of God (Louisville, K.Y.: Westminster John Knox Press, 2024), 24. Craig Blomberg says, “…A concise definition of a parable is that it is a short, metaphorical narrative. With or without an explicit comparison, it highlights aspects of the kingdom of God.” Source: thegospelcoalition.org/essay/introduction-to-the-parables. Lockyer writes, “By [the use of parables], He sought to commend to men’s understandings and hearts the spiritual truths of His kingdom.” Ibid, 18. Shaw advises, “Keep in mind that the central theme of the parables is the present and future Kingdom of God. The Bible is clear: the Kingdom is in our midst if we trust and obey the King, and one day all the kingdoms of this world will become the Kingdom of our God and His Christ.” Ibid.
[7] Long, xii, xiii, 33.
[8] “Parables must be studied in connection with the fuller exposition of divine truth, which Christ taught and inspired His apostles to teach.” Lockyer, 126. “Of thirty of our Lord’s Parables, about half are about judgment and the other exhibiting love and grace.” 129.
[9] To listen to a special lecture series by Edward Donnelly, “The Mysteries of the Kingdom,” given for the Reformation Society of Pittsburgh in 2009 at the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary as sponsored and recored by the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, visit reformedresources.org/the-mystery-of-the-kingdom-mp3-download-set/?searchid=80330&search_query=mysteries+of+the+kingdom+donnelly.
[10] Hilyer H. Straton’s as representatively outlined by George A. Buttrick. Lockyer, 133-136. He first writes, “Some arrange them in two groups:
- Parables dealing with the nature and development of the Kingdom of God
- Parables dealing with the right conduct of members of the Kingdom
For the most part a three-fold plan is preferred:
- Those which describe the Kingdom of Heaven as a divine force
- Those which describe it as a Church founded by the divine forces of the Word of God
- Those which describe the members of the kingdom in their disposition, walk and destiny.” 133.
[11] Matt. 7:28-29: And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Consider also Hebrews 12:25, 28-29: See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven … Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
For our God is a consuming fire. So Blomberg says of preaching Christ’s parables: “If we don’t get some folks upset with us, we have not recreated the dynamic of Jesus’ original parable.” Source: preachingtoday.com/exegesis/matthew/preaching-parables.html. Douglas Sean O’Donnell and Leland Ryke aver: “ …. because the parables describe various parts of the gospel of the kingdom—the rule of Christ inaugurated in the incarnation and consummated in the second coming—set your sermons within the context of the whole gospel story (death and resurrection of Christ) and response (repentance, faith, and obedience). The parables feature what the whole of the New Testament covers: gospel need, gospel proclamation, gospel response, and gospel ethics. In your preaching, follow Jesus’s pattern … [and] don’t shy away from some shock therapy! … Arthurs puts it this way: ‘Don’t disarm Jesus’ land mines,’ which are ‘explosive but concealed.’ I favor that shock therapy analogy because, while there is a concealed but explosive element to Jesus’s prophetic parabolic punches, shock therapy … can have positive results. We don’t want our people blown to pieces by our preaching! But we do want to let God’s provocative word shock their spiritual sensibilities … Shock therapy aims for the head; a defibrillator aims for the heart. For example, when Nathan told David the parable about the rich man and the lamb, it outraged David … back to spiritual health. Don’t be afraid to deliver the lifesaving shock found in many of the Bible’s parables.” O’Donnell and Ryke, “How to Preach Parables” (September 9, 2022). Source: crossway.org/articles/how-to-preach-parables. See also our church’s document giving an apology for not only teaching but heralding from our pulpit: puritanchurch.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Collected-Thoughts-on-The-Manner-of-Preaching.pdf.
To listen to a sermon by the author based on this text and building upon this article, visit
https://www.sermonaudio.com/sermons/121525440373665
