(Matthew 13:14-17) We continue looking at Jesus' answer to His disciples' question: "Why do You speak to them (the multitudes) in parables?" The use of parables was to conceal truth from a wicked generation of Jews who did not have "ears to hear" the truth Jesus spoke. It was a means of judicially blinding the nation, something we first see in Isaiah 6:9-10, but something which happened throughout the history of God's dealings with Israel. The parables were also given by Jesus to reveal the truth to His true disciples because they did have "ears to hear."
In this series, we study Jesus' use of parables as a teaching tool, looking at how and why Jesus used parables, as well as examining the major parables recorded in the synoptic gospels.