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The Lord Yeshua is known for teaching in parables.
Why did He teach in parables?
Several reasons:
A parable is a short story that’s easy to understand. It’s used to explain things that are harder to understand, especially spiritual truths.
Parables are interesting.
They’re easy to remember.
Messiah taught in parables to make the truth clear to those who were willing to hear and obscure to those who lacked genuine spiritual interest.
Why did Messiah want to hide the truth from those who lacked interest?
For the same reasons He told us not to throw pearls before swine. Truth is a precious thing. It should be loved and respected. It should not be treated poorly.
And giving too much truth to someone who is not interested in the truth harms him. He hears the truth, rejects it, and digs himself deeper into a deadly hole.
And if he persists in rejecting the truth, since he knows more of the truth and has rejected it, his punishment will be more severe. So not giving too much truth is a mercy to him.
Matthew 18:1: At that time the disciples came to Yeshua and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
Peter was the one who got out of the boat and walked on the water with Yeshua.
When Yeshua asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”, it was Peter who answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” To which Yeshua gave this great reply: Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my community, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
When the issue of paying the temple tax came up, it was Peter to whom the Lord said: Go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours. Very cool.
It was Peter, along with James and John, who were with Yeshua on the Mountain of Transfiguration and saw Yeshua revealed in glory.
The disciples believed Yeshua was King Messiah. They were confident that He would soon retake control of Israel from the Romans.
He would need his most loyal followers to help Him rule. Who was the greatest among them? Who would be at his right hand, helping Him rule?
Peter? The two brothers, James and John, the sons of thunder? These were Yeshua’s inner circle. Or perhaps one of the others?
At that time the disciples came to Yeshua and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” This is what fallen human nature is like. We are selfish. We want to be first. We want to be the most important. We want to rule. However, Yeshua will not tolerate those worldly attitudes among His followers.
He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. What characterizes little children? They are simple. They are humble. They are trustful. They have no ambition to rule.
Those who don’t have the simple desire to serve God; and those who are not humble; and those who don’t trust the Lord and His Word; and those who do have ambition to rule others will not enter the kingdom of Heaven.
God uses positive and negative reinforcements to motivate us. He uses the carrot and the stick. Here’s some carrot: Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Here’s a thought from Hedrickson’s commentary on Matthew: “The only way to ascend is to descend. The way to rise is to sink. The way to become great is to become little. The way to rule is to serve” (paraphrase).
Here’s more carrot from Yeshua: And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. Here’s another thought from Hedrickson’s commentary on Matthew: “By welcoming any of those who belong to Messiah Yeshua, no matter how insignificant he may appear to the world, we are welcoming Yeshua the Messiah Himself, because it’s impossible to separate the Lord from those who belong to Him (paraphrase).
So, when we welcome a seemingly unimportant follower of the Messiah, we are welcoming the Son of God Himself. And the Son of God will reward those who welcome Him. So, every interaction with seemingly unimportant believers is an opportunity to be rewarded by the Son of God. Wow! Makes me want to welcome seemingly unimportant believers.
In the kingdom of Heaven, there are the great and the small. There are people with great abilities, and those with few – and those in between. There are those with great wealth and those who are poor – and those in between. There are those with power and influence and those who have none – and those in between. We must not think that because someone is not gifted or influential, he’s not as important as someone who is very gifted and very influential. Each one is exceedingly precious. Each one has exceedingly great value. Each one will be a great and glorious son or daughter of God in eternity. A great king. A great queen. Each one is to be loved, cherished, treasured. Each one is to be treated as valuable, precious, worthy, important. Each one is important to the Son of God. Each one is important to His Father. And they must be to us as well.
And if we don’t treat the seemingly insignificant follower of Messiah the way he should be treated? With respect? As being valuable, precious, important? If we ignore him? Mistreat him – so that he is hurt, offended, walks away from the Lord?
God uses positive and negative reinforcements to motivate us. He uses the carrot and the stick. Now for the stick: If anyone causes one of these little ones – those who believe in me – to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea …
There are good ways to die and bad ways to die. A good way to die: You have lived a long and successful life. You’ve married well. You are a 100 years old, in bed, surrounded by loving family and friends, and in no pain, you take your last breath.
A bad way to die? Scary Yeshua told them that having a very large, very heavy stone used for grinding grain, hung around your neck, and then being placed in a deep part of the sea, so that you sink very fast and very far under the dark, cold waters, and drown – is better than the punishment that will come to those who cause a seemingly insignificant follower of Messiah to stumble. Scary.
Why must we treat all of our fellow believers well, even if they are seemingly unimportant? See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. If the good angels, who are God’s great and glorious servants, are interested in the seemingly unimportant Christians and Messianic Jews, and care about them, and watch over them, and assist them, and protect them, shouldn’t we consider them important? Treat them well?
Yeshua reinforced this teaching with the parable of the lost sheep. What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. The man has a hundred sheep. He’s concerned about each one. Each one is important to him. He cares for each one. If one wanders off, he exerts effort to find it. And if he finds his lost sheep, he’s delighted.
This is easy to understand.
Now for the truths that are harder to understand. Yeshua told us what they are, so we don’t have to guess: In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish. God the Father loves each one of His sons and daughters, even the seemingly unimportant ones. He doesn’t want any one of them to be hurt or damaged. He doesn’t want the life of any of them to be ruined – particularly by our selfishness, our insensitivity, our lack of understanding of their worth.
We must consider them to be important – like God does. We must care for them. We must protect them. We must not hurt them or harm. We must treat each one right. We must treat them in a way that is worthy of the God who made them in His image, who loved them and saved them, and who will glorify them.