“Jesus used many similar stories and illustrations to teach the people as much as they could understand.”
Parables are basically little stories that are used as teaching tools. They're like fables or allegories, but parables always use human characters. The word "parable" is translated from the Greek parabolē, which means "comparison, illustration, analogy."
Another way to put it is "earthly stories with a heavenly meaning." We can find TONS of these little bits of wisdom in Proverbs, Psalms, and many other places in the Bible too. Jesus used these stories to present God's Truth and moral lessons in a way that only believers could understand.
Why did Jesus teach in parables?
“To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them.”
At the beginning of Jesus' ministry, He would use common objects and topics such as salt, bread, sheep, farming, bondservants, etc. to explain what He wanted to teach. The people listening totally got it because He was speaking in terms the culture was familiar with—like how salt makes things salty.
Later, Jesus switched to only using parables (Mark 4:34a), which needed a little more explanation than simple metaphors. This seemed a more difficult way to teach, and His disciples were often confused by the stories too. They asked Him, "Why do you speak to them in parables?" (Matthew 13:10a).
Jesus spelled it out for them, saying that there were two kinds of people: those who can see and hear Truth and those who cannot (Matthew 13:10-17). For those who want to see and hear, they will understand the parables; for those who cannot see or hear (or refuse to), the stories will remain a mystery.
Why wouldn't Jesus want everyone to understand?
“Don’t waste what is holy on people who are unholy. Don’t throw your pearls to pigs! They will trample the pearls, then turn and attack you.”
Why would Jesus want to keep God's Truth a mystery from those who weren't interested? Because He knew that words of Truth are not-so-sweet to those who desire most to reject Him and God; there's no point in starting arguments with someone who doesn't care (Matthew 5:9; Hebrews 12:14).
Jesus was following the same advice He'd given the disciples earlier about not wasting effort on those who are stubborn, resistant, or aggressive toward the Word of God (Matthew 7:6). Parables sound like silly nonsense to someone who isn't looking for Truth in them, so that saves the trouble of fighting with their disagreements.
How to Interpret Parables
While believers may have "ears to hear," sometimes even an eager spirit will have trouble truly understanding. That's why Jesus outright explained some of His parables to the disciples. We're fortunate to have these writings to help us too.
Understanding parables can be extra difficult for Christians today because those cultural references are far removed from our stream of consciousness. But we can take the interpretations we DO have and use the biblical principles we learn from those to help us interpret other parables we encounter. (There are about 35 parables in the gospels alone!)
Step 1: Determine What's Being Taught
That may seem like a no-brainer, but it's important to know what we're looking for. Understanding context gives us huge hints as to who the message is for and what topic the parable is going to address. So look for those clues if it isn't obvious.
For example, sometimes Jesus would start a parable with something like, "This is what the kingdom of Heaven is like" (which He did seven times in Matthew 13). Sometimes the narrative itself would explain it plainly, like this: "Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else..." (Luke 18:9).
Step 2: Separate Big Truth from Details
In math, word problems often add in a bunch of details to enhance the mini-story, but what you really want are the numbers and their relationship to each other. Parables can be like that. We find lots of details which make the story seem real and relatable, but those aren't the "meat" of the message.
In the Parable of the Scattered Seeds (Matthew 13:3-9; Mark 4:2-9; Luke 8:4-8), Jesus gives all kinds of details to enrich the story—like how there are four types of soil. But the point of the lesson has nothing to do with the best kinds of soil for seeds. When Jesus later explains this parable to the disciples, He cuts right to it by explaining that different people receive God's Truth in different ways (Matthew 13:18-23; Mark 4:13-20; Luke 8:11-15).
Step 3: Compare Scripture to Scripture
This is a basic rule that works with all Bible study actually. God doesn't contradict Himself (1 Corinthians 14:33), so any Truth revealed in one place of the Bible will not be contradicted in another place.
Jesus proclaimed that He came to speak God's Truth, and His parables will never go against anything God has already said (John 12:49). His parables simply illustrated and enhanced understanding of what God had already set in place. We can see the lessons Jesus taught all over the rest of the Bible.
“Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.”
When Jesus finished telling some of His parables, He would conclude with, "Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear" (Mark 4:9, 23). This was kind of a call to believers, letting them know that this was no ordinary tale—that there was a hidden Truth in there for them to discover.
And, of course, for those who did not "have ears to hear," they probably shrugged their shoulders and moved on. May we all be ready with "ears to hear" when we read Jesus' stories.