Speaking In Parables

by WILLIAM REYNOLDS | Category: General | Dec 1950

The Lord Jesus often spoke by parable in order to explain or enforce some divine truth (Matthew 13.10). Some of His parables were obscure; others were obvious. Some of them required private interpretation, and sometimes the disciples asked the hidden meaning of certain parables, as in Matthew 13.86 and Luke 8.9. Wherever there is a real desire on the part of an honest enquirer to know better what seems difficult at first reading, God's help to understand the matter will not be withheld. Indeed the parable was often used to provoke and invite inquiry, when a full explanation could be given. It was used as a sifting process; those who had ears to hear were helped, whilst others remained stiff in their ignorance and opposition, having neither eyes to see nor ears to hear.

In Matthew 21.83 we read, "Hear another parable: There was a man that was a householder, which planted a vineyard, and set a hedge about it, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into another country." Evidently he was a man of considerable means, and after such extensive outlay would expect good returns. Certain things must be taken into account before such a venture is made. Assuredly it was attended with hazard One of the chief considerations is the soil, and great care would be called for in its choice. A nice gentle slope, facing the sun, would be desirable. Then a fence was essential for protection from outside dangers.

In the experience of God's people, Israel, there came a time when they asked the question,

"Why hast Thou broken down her fenees,

So that all they that pass by the way do pluck her? The boar out of the wood doth ravish it, And the wild beasts of the field feed on it" (Psalm 80.12, 18).

In the parable, evei'ythlng is completed save the matter of obtaining reliable vihe-dressers. He would seek men in whom he had confidence>, and having chosen these he departs. Will these men com~ up to his expectations, or will they disappoint him? No doubt he hopes for the best. In Song of' Songs, chapter 8.12 we read,

"My vin~ard, which is mine, is before me:

Thou, 0 Solomon, shalt have the thousand,

And those that keep the fruit thereof two hundred."

The fruit may have been turned into money; each one having bis share according to arrangement; the Master his profit and the vine-dressers their wages. Up to this point it has been all outlay. He has waited patiently and now he expects a good return for the money spent. The weather has been favourable, free from blighting frosts, and everything indicates a bumper crop. So, in high hope the owner sends a servant to receive his rightful due. Could he have anticipated such hostility on the part of the vine-dressers ? Ev>idently they consider themselves quite safe. Their Master is in a far country and they may have asked themselves, "Why cannot we secure the profit for our own account?" The decision is made. The servant is beaten and returns to the Master bearing the marks and bruises received at the hands of the Wicked husbandmen. Other servants, more than the first, are sent and the treatment they r~ceived is given in Mark 12. as "beating some, and killing some."

Because of judgement delayed they become emboldened in their wickedness. What patience and restraint on the part of the owner! Well might he ask the question, "What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it?

Under the dou~ble figure, the workers in the vineyard are spoken of as the vineyard, "For the vineyard of the LoaD of hosts is the house of Israel and the men 6f Judah his pleasant plant" (Isaiah .~. 7).

"What more?" he asks. There is one thing more. He has a son, an only son, and although they had acted as they did towards his servants he entertained the idea that they possibly might reve?ence his son. Their hate, however, 'was a growing hate and their sin reached its peak when they said, "This is the heir, come, let us kill him," and so the son is brutally done to death. Fittingly the lord Jesus asks the question, "When therefore the lord of the vineyard cometh, what shall he do unto these men?" There can be but one reply-" He will miserably destroy those miserable men."

The chief priests and the Pharisees perceived that He spake of them. The truth is so thinly veiled in the parable that they have no difficulty in detecting that they have been listening to a condensed account of the history of the nation of Israel.

The parable of the vineyard deals with the kingdom of God, but in the parable that follows the subject is that of the kingdom of heaven, and it concerns a king's son.

The Son is the central object of interest in bot~h parables. In the first we have Israel's defiant attitude toward God and His Christ, their bitterest hatred expressed in the rejection an& crucifixion of the Son. It was a causeless hate. I have searched in vain for any cause why men should have acted thus toward the Sent-One of the Father. Sowing blessing with a lavish hand He reaped but bitterest hatred. On the other hand I have tried to find a cause why God should love me; and if it were causeless hate on the part of men it was equally causeless love on the part of God.

The king decided to show the high esteem in which he holds the son, and he takes advantage of the occasion to bestow favours on his subjects. He issues his invitations to those who had previous intimation, for it is the few who receive such favours. Men who hold an important place in the government of the country, men of distinction~ enjoy many favours. One would. have thought that those invited Ones would have felt honoured by receiving the gracious invitation, but no, it was just the reverse. It made no appeal to them and only served as an opportunity to show their disloyalty.

Suppose one in the service of the Government of his country had made arrangements to address a public meeting at such and such a time and place, if the king demanded his presence he is immediately released from the responsibility to fulfil that engagement. It is not that these men beg to be excused, and that the concerns of the daily life demand their attention. No, it is a deliberate refusal. It is not that they cot~ld not come, but that they wo~ld not come.

Other servants are sent to say that all things are now ready, come and share in the feast, but they made light of it and went their various ways. "And the rest laid hold on his servants, and entreated them shamefully, and killed them." Why such inveterate hatred? Had they received a raw deal at the hand of the lord of the vineyard? Had the king by oppressive laws caused their bitter hatred? By no means.

Grace reigns in the Person of the enthroned Son, and patience lingers, but in view of such crimes patience is no longer a virtue and justice calls for judgernent upon such wicked men. "The king was wroth; and he sent his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned their city." This I understand refers to the siege and sack of Jerusalem when about two million Jews perished, and their city and temple were left in ruins.

The invitation beoadens and widens. It was once limited and confined by the words, "Go not into any way of the Gentiles," but, on the refusal of those w>ho were invited, God turns to another people, the little Flock, and finds in them those who render to Him the fruits in their seasons.

In the latter parable others heard and responded to the invitation; guests were furnished and the hall was filled for the marriage feast. The messengers with their message still continue to sound out the

royal proclamation, Come for all things are ready; come to the marriage feast.

In these two parables two lines of truth are clearly indicated, though the attitude of Israel to the Son is alike in both cases. The parable of the marriage feast has to do with the bestowal of grace, without any thought of work and a return for grace shown, but that of the vineyard emphasizes the thought of work and a return made to the owner of the vineyard. From the most unlikely places, highways and byways, and the most unlikely persons, there are those who hear and accept the gracious invitation. Many royal dainties are on the king's table to which all responsive ones are welcomed.

It is written of the prodigal that when he began to be in want, a want which none of those who may have participated in riotous living at his expense, when he had plenty, did aught to relieve, and he was sent to the fields to feed swine, "He would fain have been filled with the husks that the swine did eat; and no man gave unto him" (Luke 15. 16). His false friends left him destitute and depressed. Worldlings cannot find abiding satisfaction in earth's elusive joys. The pleasures of sin are but for a season.

It was one disappointment after another that brought the prodigal home, and what a change! No longer-" He began to be in want," but " They began to be merry"! It was the beginning of that which would never end. So it is written,

In Thy presence is fulness of joy;

In Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore"

(Psalm 16.11).

This statement covers time and eternity. Should any one read this brief article who is still unsaved I would most earnestly urge such an one to respond without further delay to the gracious invitation.

Come, for all things are now ready."

<Author:WILLIAM REYNOLDS>

WILLIAM REYNOLDS | Dec 1950
General