Why Does God Speak In
Parables?Rev. Alison Longstaff, July 19, 2015
Bath Church of the New
Jerusalem
Isaiah 6:6-10; Matthew 13:10-15;
Sacred
Scripture 97
You will indeed listen, but never understand, and you will indeed look,
but never perceive. For this people’s
heart has grown dull, and their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut
their eyes; so that they might not look with their eyes, and listen with their
ears, and understand with their heart and turn—and I would heal them.’ (Matthew
13:10-15 NRS)
At first glance, today’s Bible
passages imply that God stops some people from understanding the Word. They imply
that those who do somehow understand the inner message within the Word are
given to understand and receive more and more wisdom, while those who don’t understand
not only miss out on the inner meaning, but will be stripped of what understanding
they do have. Jesus says: “The reason I
speak to them in parables is so that ‘seeing they do not perceive, and hearing
they do not listen, nor do they understand.’
He then quotes a passage from Isaiah to emphasize his point. In it the wording is even more harsh:
Go and say to this people: “Keep listening, but do not comprehend; keep
looking, but do not understand.” Make the mind of this people dull, and stop
their ears, and shut their eyes, so that they may not look with their eyes, and
listen with their ears, and comprehend with their minds, and turn and be
healed. (Isaiah 6:9-10)
Today’s passages say that if the
people understood, they would turn and be healed. Does this mean that God prevents some people from hearing and
seeing?
These passages imply that to “be
healed,” we must first manage to figure out the secret inner message to the
“parables” and then we get the
“abundance.” But what if I’m not smart
enough? If my spiritual IQ is less than
stellar, am I doomed to be stripped of my little rather than granted abundance? Am I doomed to miss out on the “healing?” Why would God prevent some of us from seeing
and hearing the truths of the Word?
This picture of God isn’t fitting
with a God who loved us so much that He came to earth and suffered and died for
our eternal salvation. So let’s look in
deeper.
Matthew thirteen in particular opens with, “That same day Jesus went out of
the house and sat beside the sea. Such
great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while
the whole crowd stood on the beach.” (1-2)
There is a wealth of meaning in
these few lines. When it says Jesus went out of the house and entered a boat, it
is preparing us for a paradigm shift. A boat is a structure that enables us to maneuver
safely over great depths of water, to stay dry, to access the resources of the
deep without drowning, and (especially in the days before cars and trains and
planes) to travel long distances more quickly and efficiently than we could
over land.
The crowd is standing on the
beach. They have followed Jesus as far as they can, and cannot follow him farther. They have hit a barrier—the sea. They stand on the beach, at the very edge of
the sea—where the land ends and past which these mortals could not travel and
survive very long without specialized equipment and/or extensive swimming
lessons.
Swedenborg tells us that water means
knowledge, and that seas represent a large body of knowledge (a gathering
together of many waters). This means that a sea illustrates a vast collection
of knowledge available in one great mass; in this setting, it represents
revelation. We need Divine aid in
navigating revelation effectively and safely.
We might find revelation (the sea) beautifully supportive or wildly threatening, full of bounty or ready to tear our life apart, all
depending on our equipment, our training, and especially the weather.
This story in Matthew is a
particular discussion of how the Divine message within revelation finds
accommodation to our mortal condition.
We stand on the shore, longing to hear it. A few of us might have boats too, but if we
are honest, Jesus doesn’t even need a boat. He can walk on water. Even in our
most optimistic and beautifully confident moments of faith (Peter), we can
imitate the ability to walk on water only temporarily. Our understanding is too limited—our
comprehension too hopelessly mortal—and we are quickly swamped. We sink too
easily. Only Jesus has the ability to navigate the depths without assistance—He
is the Word incarnate. His being in a
boat is an accommodation to our human
condition, because the crowd couldn’t have handled it if he had simply walked
out and sat on the water.
In the story, Jesus moves from
solid ground to water, and we follow as far as we can. From the vast sea of wisdom, God bends
himself to teach us.
Matthew thirteen is packed with
parables. Indeed, almost right away in
thirteen do we find the disciples asking, “Why do you speak to them in
parables?” indicating that this chapter may address that very question. The
word parable comes to us from the Greek word “paraballo,” meaning “to throw
alongside” or “to compare.” A parable by
definition then, holds a parallel or symbolic meaning. It reveals more than our first glance might
assume. The listener is asked to make a mental leap in order to follow the
deeper line of thought. A parable invites
us to stretch our minds, to think about things in a new way: a parable is a
kind of puzzle that teases our minds into new insight. It can be seen at face value, or interpreted
for a deeper meaning.
According to Swedenborg, this
strange story is internally about how the Lord protects us from profaning the
Word. It is imperative that when we receive Divine truth it is with respect and
spiritual maturity, because without respect and spiritual maturity we can do
great harm to ourselves and each other.
And so the Lord speaks to us in parables. We are kept from understanding deeper truths
until we are spiritually ready.
Swedenborg says in The
Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture number 97:
The literal meaning
of the Word is a guard for the genuine truths lying within it. It may be turned
this way and that, and interpreted to one’s own understanding, without its
interior content being injured or violated. It does no harm that the meaning of
the letter of the Word is understood differently by different persons: but harm
results when Divine truths, lying concealed within, are twisted toward evil,
for in this way violence is inflicted on the Word. To prevent this, the sense
of the letter is a guard; and it acts as a guard with those who are in false
thinking from their religion.
Or as translator Michael David words
The Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture number 26:
“So, to prevent anyone from
coming upon the spiritual meaning of the Word, and screwing up what is really
true there, the Lord has posted security guards, who are meant by the
‘cherubim’ mentioned in the Word.” (SS
David 2004 26:2)
The Word exists among a humanity
full of mixtures of goodness and not-so-goodness. Some people (and some of our own inner
states) are more arrogant and controlling, and some are gentler and seeking mutual
well-being. Churches also come in all sorts
of mixtures of good intentions and a desire to control, ignorance or deep
scholarship, sometimes doing good and sometimes doing harm. The innocent parts
of us that are open to learning are represented by the sheep, the lost sheep,
and the gentiles in the Word as well as by the disciples. Those who wish to use the Bible to control
others and control the church are represented by the “Pharisees.” It is important to remember that the
Pharisees aren’t so much a group “out there,” but a part of your inner world
and mine. They represent a phase or
mind-set when we are sure we know what is right, and are putting our energies
and attention into religious rules and enforcement. In this mindset, we have fallen away from the
“Spirit” of revelation and sunk into legalism.
We have made the Letter of the Word the Law.
Salvation is not a one-time event
but a series of lifelong choices. You and I are on a path of spiritual
evolution. And until we are ready for deeper concepts, we are not ready. God guides and protects each one of us, every
step of the way.
With its appearance of impatience
and harshness, perhaps Matthew 13:10-15 actually hides words of great
gentleness and patience. God has plans
for our well-being and not for harm.
We do not need to worry and be
afraid. We simply need to grow in our
hearts and soften our need to control, and seek diligently for readiness and
wisdom. God does all the rest.
Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise
up to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all
those who wait for him. (Isaiah 30:18)
Do not be afraid. Seek and you will find.
Amen
The Readings
Isaiah 6:6-10 (NAS)
Then one of
the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in
his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with
it and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips;
and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is
forgiven.”
Then I heard the voice of
the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go
for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
He said, “Go, and tell this people:
‘Keep on listening, but do not perceive; Keep on looking,
but do not understand.’ “Render the hearts of this people insensitive,
Their ears dull, And their eyes dim, Otherwise they
might see with their eyes, Hear with
their ears, Understand with their hearts,
And return and be healed.”
Matthew 13: 10-15
(TNIV)
The disciples came to him and
asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”
He replied, “The knowledge of the
secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to
them. Those who have will be given more, and they will have an abundance.
As for those who do not have, even what they have will be taken from
them. This is why I speak to them in parables: “Though seeing, they do not
see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is
fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: “‘You will be ever hearing but never
understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this
people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they
have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with
their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’
SS 97
The literal meaning of the Word
is a guard for the genuine truths lying within it. It may be turned this way
and that, and interpreted to one’s own understanding, without its interior
content being injured or violated. It does no harm that the meaning of the
letter of the Word is understood differently by different persons: but harm
results when Divine truths, lying concealed within, are twisted toward evil,
for in this way violence is inflicted on the Word. To prevent this, the sense
of the letter is a guard; and it acts as a guard with those who are in false
thinking from their religion.
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