Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables;
without a parable he told them nothing. — Matthew 13:34
Like an artist who doesn’t explain their work but shows it to you, Jesus tells parables and expects his hearers (and we are hearers more than listeners!) to enter them and figure out a meaning.
This is not easy.
It’s hard to get inside a parable. A parable doesn’t have just one meaning. You need to use the ears of your heart. The heart best holds the fragments that suddenly make a whole. You need to prepare for a surprise. But can you really prepare for a surprise? We pay attention. We practice wondering and curiosity and this helps us to get inside a parable.
Parables are a little bit dangerous. The moment you think you understand a parable you probably missed the point. And the moment you think you will never understand a parable it seizes you and can change everything.
The word “parable” comes from the Greek word, parabole – literally, “thrown alongside.” Parables are stories thrown alongside the ordinary things of life, like sowers throwing seeds or bakers hiding leaven in the bread. Parables prompt comparisons and contrasts between the two.
It was a way of inviting us to use our imaginations to imagine what God’s beloved community might look like so we would recognize it, right here in our own lives.
Parables help us glimpse the Kingdom of God, God’s beloved community, that is beyond us, within us, and among us. The kingdom of God is here now, small and seeming of little consequence. The kingdom of God is now here, silent and thriving underneath sight and sound.
Deep, mysterious, and desirable … The kingdom is both here and not yet. And we live and move and have our being in this awesome invitation and terrible tension.
Keeping Company with a Parable
Read “The Mustard Seed” (Matthew 13:31–32) or another parable of Jesus that has stayed with you over the years—or one that continues to puzzle you. Read it once each day for a week.
Rather than asking, “What does it mean?” ask: What catches my attention today? Where do I see this parable unfolding around me? How is this parable reading me?
If you’re inclined, take a photograph each day of something small that carries unexpected life—a flower pushing through pavement, a bird nesting, bread rising, moss on a stone, a child’s kindness.
Or keep a page titled “Mustard Seed Moments.” Each evening, write one small sign that God’s beloved community was quietly present that day. By week’s end, don’t look for a conclusion. Instead, notice how the parable has begun to live in you.
[Matthew] Here for the Finding
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