Craig Blomberg refers to one of his colleagues, Professor Elodie Emig, who “once suggested to me a remarkably concise big idea that incorporates all three lessons of the similarly structured parable of the two sons in Matthew 21:28-32. In this parable in which a son who refuses to work in his father’s vineyard later changes his mind and goes to the vineyard, in which a son who says he will work in fact doesn’t, and in which the father pronounces the former rather that the latter as having done his will, the three prongs of the passage can be neatly summed up with the affirmation, “Performance takes priority over promise.”[1] This is the fourth and preferable way to interpret parables.
We have studied three ways parables are interpreted:
1. Some contend that parables should be allegorically interpreted.
2. Others distinguish parables from allegories. These scholars argue that each parable has only one meaning.
3. Some scholars teach that each main character in a parable provides a meaning.
In my opinion, the fourth method is preferable.
4. Then, some contenders see one main point to a parable, but the characters supply the main divisions.
Each parable has one main truth, but each character helps us interpret or develop the one main truth. Parables have three, two, and one main character, and some parables have no main characters. Let’s learn how to study and outline these parables.
Parables with three main characters
Many scholars see one parable in Luke 15 because in 15:3, Luke wrote, “He spoke this parable [singular] unto them.” The one big idea or main point of the sermon could be: Sinners must respond to the Father who seeks their salvation.
The three main divisions could be drawn from each main character and answer the interrogative Why must sinners respond to the Father who seeks their salvation?
I. Because God sovereignly seeks sinners who go astray (15:4-7) (Parable of the lost sheep)
II. Because God sovereignly seeks sinners who are valuable (15:8-10) (Parable of the lost coin)
III. Because humans have responsibility (15:11-32) (Parable of the lost son)
In the first two parables, God seeks. In the last parable, the father, who symbolizes the Father, does not seek but welcomes the returning sinner. The sub-points of the third main division could be:
A. The rebellious sinner repents (15:11-19)
B. The loving Father welcomes the repentant sinner (15:20-22)
C. The religious sinner does not repent (15:23-32)
Craig Blomberg notes that “approximately two-thirds of Jesus’ narrative parables presented three main characters or groups of characters in a triangular (or what some have called ‘monarchic’) structure, with a master figure (including kings, fathers, landlords, shepherds, farmers, etc.) interacting with one or more contrasting pairs of subordinates (good and bad servants, sons, tenants, sheep, plants, etc.). One thinks, for example, of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32).”[2] We have already demonstrated how these parables with three main characters could be outlined with the parable of the prodigal son above.
Parables with two main characters
Blomberg states that “The remaining one-third of Jesus’ parables seemed relatively evenly split between two-point and one-point parables. In the former category were those that presented a master and a single subordinate (e.g., the unjust judge in Luke 18:1-8), as well as those that contrasted a good and a bad example but without an explicit master figure (e.g., the Pharisee and tax collector in Luke 18:9-14).[3] The big idea for the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector could be: Sinners must be justified. The interrogative: Why must sinners be justified? The transitional sentence: Because of the following reasons.
I. Because sinners not justified will be humbled (Luke 18:9-12)
II. Because sinners justified will be exalted (Luke 18:13-14)
Parables with one main character
In the latter category of one-point parables were stories that had only one character (e.g., The hidden treasure and the pearl of great price in Matt. 13:44-46). The parables of the hidden treasure and the pearl of great price could be preached in a two-part series. Those who are not seeking but find salvation in the hidden treasure parable. Those who are seeking and find salvation in the parable of the pearl of great price. Alternatively, these could be combined into one sermon.
The main point being: How do sinners find salvation?
Some find salvation who are not seeking (The parable of the hidden treasure)
Others find salvation who are seeking (The parable of the pearl of great price) (because God has first sought them through the gospel and conviction of the Holy Spirit).
Parables with no main character
The main point of the sermon on the parable of the Drag-net could be: Believers and sinners must prepare for the coming judgment. The interrogative: How and Why must believers and sinners prepare for the coming judgment?
I. Believers must prepare for the coming judgment by giving out the gospel (Matthew 13:47)
II. The sinners must prepare for the coming judgment because God will cast the unsaved into the Lake of Fire (Matthew 13:48-50).
John R. W. Stott famously said, “Emotionally, I find the concept [of hell] intolerable and do not understand how people can live with it without either cauterising their feelings or cracking under the strain.”[4] This thinking led him to become an annihilationist. Contrast that with what John Piper wrote, “Jesus said more on Hell than any other person in the Bible” (click to open). Some make the argument of disproportionality or the punishment does not fit the crime. The sinner’s temporal, finite sin on earth does deserve eternal punishment in Hell. This reasoning does not comprehend the magnitude of our rebellious sin against our holy God. When we sin, it is not just against a fellow equally sinful human. David committed adultery, then murdered, and finally covered his sin for nine months. Yet, when he confessed his sin in Psalm 51:4, he lamented: “Against you and you only have I sinned.” It is as if David considered his sin against God so egregious that his sins against Bathsheba, Uriah, and Israel were insignificant. We tell a white lie, and in Heaven it is published: Scandal.
Sinners are not simply rejecting a free giveaway on Facebook at a comment-based giveaway; Sinners are repudiating the offer of eternal life purchased by God the Father with the life of His beloved Son, who suffered our eternal wrath on the cross. If the doctrine of hell bothers you, then flee to the cross and trust Christ as your Savior and be eternally free.
I thank God that the evening I got saved, Evangelist Bill Stafford preached 45 minutes on Hell.
Haddon Robinson stated, “Part of exegesis is to recognize that the form of literature ought to have some influence on the form of the sermon.”[5] The adage is especially applicable for parables: Allow the form of the passage to affect the form of the sermon.
[1] Craig L. Blomberg, Preaching the Parables: From Responsible Interpretation to Powerful Proclamation (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2004), 22.
[2] Ibid., 15.
[3] Ibid., 15.
[4] David L. Edwards and John Stott: Evangelical Essentials: A Liberal-Evangelical Dialogue (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1988), 313.
[5] Haddon Roberson, “How the Text Can Style the Sermon” in Preaching Today.