The Parables of Jesus Revisited: An Innovative Approach to Understanding and Interpreting the Parables

By Wm. F. Bekgaard

With the exception of perhaps prophecy, more has been written and interpreted about parables than any other subject in the Bible. Many authors offer varying viewpoints and theories on these stories, but few explain how to discover which opinion is correct.

The Parables of Jesus Revisited shares a commonsense approach to understanding biblical parables and applying them to a twenty-first century society by removing any mystery or misunderstanding that surrounds them. Parables are figures of speech used to teach and instruct and should not be so cryptic that they cannot be understood. By discarding the use of allegorical interpretation and applying the storys literal meaning to our lives, we learn that each parable is meant to be read as a simple story, without any hidden meaning.

In Matthew 13:1315, Jesus spoke of people who could not understand these stories because of an unwillingness to hear the truth. But the parables were not meant for the faithless. Instead, they were meant for souls interested in hearing more about Christs message.

Learn how to interpret these parables through notes on the customs from the period, allegorical and literal interpretations, practical applications, and more. If you have ever wondered about the real meaning of biblical parables, The Parables of Jesus Revisited is the key to unlocking the truth.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Sep 19, 2011
• ISBN: 9781462038053

Wm. F. Bekgaard

William Bekgaard has pastored Missionary Baptist Churches for above 32 years.  He is a graduate of California Missionary Baptist Seminary with a BTh. and has taught in these churches for 40 years.  He has published a booklet "The Unique Baptists," the books "A Study Guide for the New Child of God" and "The Man of Sin in the Book of Daniel," and an unpublished work "Understanding The Parables without Allegory."

Book preview

Contents

Preface

Introduction to the Study of

the Parables

Parable of the Sower

Parable of the Tares and Wheat

Parable of the Mustard Seed

Parable of Leaven

The Twin Parables of the Treasure

Hidden in a Field and the Pearl of Great Price

Parable of the Drag Net

Parable of the Patient Husbandman

or the Seed Growing Secretly

Parable of the Importunate Widow

and the Judge

Parable of the Pharisee and

the Publican

Parable of the Ten Virgins

Parable of the Good Employer or

Laborers in the Vineyard

Introduction to the Three Parables

of Lost Things: Sheep, Coin, and Son

Parable of the Lost Sheep

Parable of the Lost Coin

Parable of the Lost Son

Parable of the Rich Fool

Parable of the Unjust Steward

Parable of the Good Samaritan

Parable of the Wicked Husbandmen

The Parable of Forgiveness and

the Unmerciful Servant

The Rich Man and Lazarus

Afterword

Bibliography

ENDNOTES

Preface

When I was saved, I had an overwhelming joy. There were two things in my life that caused this joy: the first was that heaven had been opened to me, and the second was that I was no longer alone. The realization that I had been delivered from that terrible place called hell dawned on me later. This was not on my mind when I accepted Christ. When God became a part of my life, he filled an emptiness that I always had sensed even though I wasn’t aware of what it was. When God filled that void, it became clear what had been missing in my life. I like to think that this is the condition of all men—knowing that something is missing but not being able to understand what it is. The gospel of Christ brings us the message of God’s love and sacrifice to truly make us complete in him and in ourselves. Now, in whatever circumstance I find myself, God is with me as my dearest friend.

Having begun a new life as a child of God, I wanted to know all I could about God and my relationship with him. I studied his word in earnest. I was blessed with good pastors, who taught with skill and understanding. I could not get enough! Several years after my salvation, I felt the call to preach. I entered a seminary and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in theology. I had taken three years of Greek and two years of Hebrew classes. I am not a language expert, but I do feel competent to find my way around in these languages.

While in seminary, I was called to pastor a small Missionary Baptist church in Wilmington, California. Next, I pastored a church in Carson, California. My own education did not end with my graduation from seminary, and I continued to study with the same zeal that I had had when I was first saved. In those years, I continually taught those under my ministry.

After thirty-four years of service, I retired from pastoring. For the sincere student of the Bible, there are two things I have learned that I want to impress on others: first, have a love for the word of God, and second, always maintain an open mind—be teachable!

In the subjects I taught in churches, the parables were always of great interest to the congregations. They were an early fascination of my own also. I listened carefully to what my mentors taught; I bought books on the subject and was initially thrilled by the knowledge I was gaining from other learned men. They gave such deep insight to the nuances of the secret, hidden meanings in each parable. Oh, how wonderful to come to this great knowledge of how ordinary things in the stories stood for other grander, loftier principles and ideas.

However, the more I learned, the more confused I became. Things were not as simple as I had been led to believe. I often found conflicting opinions and finally, faced the fact that most of what was taught was not consistent throughout or within the stories. This was explained to me in this way: You can’t make a parable walk on all fours. I wasn’t sure exactly what that meant, but it sounded good at the time. Although, this approach supposedly justified the inconsistencies of interpretations, doubt was setting in. Only when I considered the parables with the simple idea of throwing out all the mystery and hidden double meanings did they make consistent sense. If I were asked to sum up the teachings from the parables, I would say that they teach the extreme love and mercy of our Creator.

Wanting to share this idea with others, I put together a series of lessons on the parables using this system of literal interpretation. I could see it in the faces of the folks as they listened—suddenly the parables all made sense. It is portions of these lectures that I now set forth in print. I hope they will benefit even more people now.

William Bekgaard

Introduction to the Study of

the Parables

The parables of Jesus are a source of endless fascination by members of the Christian community. With the exception of prophecy, probably more has been written and interpreted about parables than any other subject in the New Testament. There seems to be no end to books on the topic, and nearly all contain different views, opinions, interpretations, or applications of the parables. While many authors agree on certain points in their interpretations, they are more often in contradiction. Because of this existing contradictory nature of the general study of the parables, confusion, rather than clarity, ensues. Thus the student of the parables is usually left with the option of arbitrarily choosing the author or interpretation that appeals to him or her the most and accepting that view. This is not the way to study or rightly divide the Word of Truth (2 Timothy 2:15).

By applying arbitrary meanings, a person is simply assigning a significance and value to the Scripture in harmony with his or her notions. Many use the parables to support preconceived ideas and theology. Often parables are used as a proof text when no other text will do, or for that matter, can be found. If we are to know and understand the truth, then we must allow the truth to teach us. Error comes from reading into the Word (forcing it) rather than learning from the Word. To understand the parables, a valid model of interpretation must be determined and applied. That is the goal of this book.

The Model of Interpretation

There are three major extended figures of speech used in Scripture. They are the parable, the fable, and the allegory. Each is unique and needs to be understood and compared, with its differences noted.

The Parable

A parable is an extended figure of speech. The word itself comes from two Greek words that mean to cast and alongside. It is a story used to teach. It is one truth cast alongside another to illustrate or teach something about that second truth. A. T. Robertson in his Word Pictures1 wrote, The word parable (to place alongside for measurement or comparison like a yardstick) is an objective illustration for spiritual or moral truth. The parable is a figure of speech used to teach or instruct, not to confuse or mislead, and not to be so hidden that it cannot be understood. However, as Jesus said, there were some who were dull of hearing who could not understand (Matthew 13:13–15). This lack of hearing is a lack of faith and belief, or an unwillingness to accept or receive the truth. With few exceptions, the parables were not meant for teaching the scoffers who were rejecting the kingdom’s message, or for the adversaries of Christ, but for teaching the ones of faith. To them, the parables were clearly meant to be used to teach and meant to be understood. Parables can be understood!

The Fable

Parables are not fables. They differ in this sense: fables speak of things as they are not found in reality, such as trees walking or trees anointing the bramble to be a king over them (Judges 9:8–15). Parable stories may not tell of actual events, but they are always true to the realities of life—even when they contain extraordinary features. They are stories of life, such as the story of the rich man and Lazarus and the account of hell, hades. Some try to assert that this story of hades is not true, because it is a parable and therefore is not a factual, actual account. But they do not understand that parables are exactly that—true to life and reality. Christ drew all his parables from reality, from common and familiar objects, places, or events.

The Allegory

With the exception of a few rare authors, all resort to the practice of allegorizing the parables. What does that mean? An allegory is a figure of speech where one thing stands in place of another or represents another, as found in John 15:1–10, where the true vine is Christ, the vinedresser is the Father, and the branches are disciples. When definite allegories are used by Christ, they are either explained or their meaning (what they represent) is manifestly understood by their context. If allegories are not explained or easily understood, then how can we know with certainty what they represent? Consider this point: when a person uses an allegory, it is only in his or her mind as to what he or she means by it. Unless that person explains it, or gives evidence as to what the meaning is, we can only guess what is represented.

In the early days of the Civil War, an allegory was made about the rebel General Jackson. In the first battle of Bull Run (Manassas), it was noted that Jackson stood his position like a stone wall. The story spread, and he became known as Stonewall Jackson. The name stuck. But what was the meaning of this allegory? The original comment is attributed to General Barnard Elliot Bee Jr. During the battle, Bee called for Jackson to advance but Jackson remained in his defensive position, Seeing this Bee remarked, There is Jackson, standing like a stone wall. Some who heard Bee thought he was making a criticism against Jackson. However, it was later interpreted as a compliment to Jackson that he stood his ground without flinching.² Which meaning is true? Who can tell? However, there is quite a difference in the two meanings of that original allegorical statement. If Jesus used unexplained allegories in his parables, how can we know with any certainty what was in his mind, what he meant by them? We cannot know unless we receive divine revelation explicitly explaining them. Otherwise, we are left with guesses.

When unexplained allegories are employed, they appear to be so obvious in their meaning that there is little dispute. However, it is a fact that when the system of allegorizing is used for the characters, the elements of the parables, there arises great controversy and a multitude of representations, which are very often diametrically opposed in their explanations. It is not uncommon to read three interpretations and find three different opinions, all given with equal surety. Using the allegory principle leads to confusion, as frequently the allegories made are only partially applied because of contradictions within the story itself, the realities of life, or the entirety of the Word of God. Allegorizations are often contradictory within the context of the same parable. As we go through the parables, we can see these contradictions constantly reoccurring. In many such cases, authors will include a disclaimer that the allegory cannot or is not intended to be practical at all points. They are concluding for us that their allegorical method is faulty and cannot be fully applied. The allegory pattern just doesn’t work. If Christ does not tell us the allegory he is using, we are left with suppositions and conjectures. However, if the use of the allegory is set aside, it is surprising how parables become so simple, clear, and obvious.

So, is the use of allegorizing the components of the parables a valid way to interpret them? Or should only the literal meaning be applied? If we resort to allegorizing, we are open to problems of explanation. For example, a popular interpretation of the parable of the leaven is that the meal represents the kingdom of God, and the leaven represents evil. If these two allegories are correct, then the conclusion is that the kingdom of God will eventually be overtaken and become thoroughly corrupt with evil (leavened). This contradicts biblical truth. Rather than admit that the allegories are wrong, many commentators resort to explaining away the problem. Here is a quote by Alfred Edersheim, a very well-known and respected author, stating his interpretation of the parable of the ten virgins: And here we must remind ourselves of the general cannon [law], which, in the interpretation of a parable, details must not be too closely pressed.³ There is no such cannon law, except in the minds of those who insist on the use of allegorizing.

The best valid model of interpretation of the parables is not to allegorize any of the elements of their stories. When the prodigal son is mentioned, he is just that—a wasteful son. He represents no one, he stands in place for no others, his actions are his own, his character has no double meaning, and he is not a type signifying an example of any group.

Once this practice of allegorizing is cast aside, it becomes amazingly simple to understand the truths of the parables. They really are very simple stories, without any hidden, secret code or meaning.

The Audience

Great consideration must be given to those who heard these parables when they were first spoken, which is a point that is often lightly treated or disregarded. Parables were told to teach particular audiences in particular circumstances. Nearly every parable was a response to a specific situation encountered by Christ. This is contrary to the popular view that what Jesus said was primarily for us today, for our understanding and not for the original listeners or their edification. As it was defined, parables were meant to teach. They were intended to bring men to understand truths concerning the kingdom of God. The original audience, hearers of the parables, had a limited understanding of many things that are well known to us—who now have the completed the New Testament. We must ask exactly how much knowledge would they have had of the church, the new covenant, the new priesthood, the new form of worship, and new system of commandments and ordinances. They knew of the temple and the synagogue, but these were very different from the church that Jesus was building. Would they have understood things of which they had no knowledge? The preferred approach is to assume that Christ spoke to them on their level—not beyond them. When an interpretation is assigned, the question needs to be asked: would they have understood this meaning? If they almost certainly would not have, the interpretation is probably not valid. Remember, Christ was teaching them, and we now learn from their lessons. So we must put ourselves in their position, at their level of understanding and knowledge, and in their circumstances. This is a consistent principle of hermeneutics, the study of biblical interpretation.

Our valid model of interpretation should include the two questions: What did they know? What didn’t they know? The best assumption is that Christ was revealing (teaching) them the truths of the kingdom of God that they could understand and that they needed to understand.

Features of Parables

Within each parable there is usually a point of exaggeration. It may not be readily apparent to us unless we are familiar with the customs,