# The Bible's parables summarized

This is a summary of the parables Jesus taught in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, as well as their direct meanings and any controversies these parables have created.

- A parable means "cast alongside", or a type of [symbolic](symbols.md) story.
  - Jesus' intention was to speak everything in parables as a type of protective measure against people who were [unrepentant](https://theologos.site/devotion-chaos/) such as the Pharisees (e.g., Matthew 13:10-16,34-35).
  - It allows the truth to be revealed for those seeking it, and the truth concealed for those who don't want to hear it.
- One noteworthy concept is that these are only direct parables of Jesus, since some of them are more [symbolic concepts](symbols.md) without a [story](stories-why.md) (e.g., "I am the vine").
  - This directness is why John doesn't technically "have" parables.

## Jesus' parables (with 3 accounts)

The sower and the seeds (Matthew 13:1-23, Mark 4:1-20, Luke 8:4-15)

- What the parable was:
  - This is probably the most popular parable in the Bible, and is thoroughly recorded in all 3 accounts almost the same way.
  - A man sows seeds on various soil:
    1. The path's seeds are eaten up by the birds.
    2. The rocky ground's seeds spring up quickly but are then baked by the sun.
    3. The seeds growing with thorns are choked out by the competition for resources.
    4. The seeds that landed in good soil produced 30-100 times their yield.
- What the parable means:
  - This one is a rare parable that actually explains it all the way through.
    1. [The devil](spiritual-warfare.md) takes away whatever people hear and don't [understand](mind-understanding.md).
    2. Some people receive the word with joy but turn away when they experience [hardship](hardship.md).
    3. Some people hear it and receive it, but are distracted by this life's concerns and the [deception](people-lying.md) from [money](money-1_why.md) and are unfruitful.
    4. A minority of people hear the word and understand it, then produce 30-100 times what was invested into them.
- Controversies:
  - The parable has many theological implications.
  - Firstly, there is the unanswered question of [losing salvation](people-conflicts-christian-3_near.md) regarding the second and third categories.
  - There's also the issue over what the "soil" really is.
    - It may be the entirety of man's heart (all the soil being one type) or different aspects (where a person can have different places with different capacity to understand).

The mustard seed (Matthew 13:31-32, Mark 4:30-32, Luke 13:18-19)

- What the parable was:
  1. A man throws a mustard seed into his garden.
     - A noteworthy agricultural concept indicated in the parable is that a mustard seed is a very small seed but becomes a large tree.
  2. The seed becomes a tree and the birds of the air nest in their branches.
- What the parable means:
  - God's kingdom grows from seemingly unimportant things into what He wants.
  - Further, His kingdom supports a diverse range of life.
- Controversies:
  - There is a connection to "faith of a mustard seed" that has caused a mistaken attribution that the slightest hope in something will be enough to see God move mountains (Matthew 17:20).
    - This is in direct contradiction to the importance of asking God without doubting (James 1:6).
    - The rational conclusion is that faith is more of a refinement, and the faith of a mustard seed is an absurdly refined grain of raw and sincere trust in God.

The evil tenants (Matthew 21:33-44, Mark 12:1-11, Luke 20:9-18)

- What the parable was:
  - A dark parable with a sobering end.
    1. A landowner planted a vineyard including a wall, winepress, and tower.
    2. He rented out the vineyard to some tenants and leaves on a journey.
    3. Near harvest time, he sent servants to collect his share of the fruit.
    4. The tenants seized the servants: beating one, killing another, and stoning a third.
    5. He sends more servants in a second group, but the tenants did the same thing to them.
    6. Finally, he sends his son, believing they'll at least respect him.
    7. The tenants said to each other that they could claim the landowner's inheritance if they killed his son.
    8. The tenants seized the son, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
    9. It's pretty clear what the landowner will do to the tenants when he returns.
  - There are some variations to what actually happens to the sent servants in each version, but everything else is the same.
- What the parable means:
  - Jesus doesn't mince words and makes it perfectly clear that the Hebrew leadership persecuted and killed the prophets.
  - This is a powerful antagonism against Hebrew Second Temple culture.
- Controversies:
  - Some people have twisted this to imply that Jews should be persecuted.
    - The Hebrew people may be conceited about their status, but God will never be done with them until He comes back (Revelation 7:4).

The faithful and wicked servants (Matthew 24:45-51, Mark 13:34-37, Luke 12:35-48)

- What the parable was:
  - It frames a question about a servant.
    1. A servant who is faithful and wise may be placed in charge of giving food rations to everyone in the household.
    2. When the master returns and sees how it went, he'll put that servant in charge of all his posessions.
    3. A servant who is wicked in the same context would behave differently if he found out the master would be gone for a long time.
    4. That servant would beat other servants, as well as eat and drink with alcoholics.
    5. The master of that servant will come at some point the servant didn't expect.
    6. He will then cut the servant to pieces and give him a place with the hypocrites.
  - This parable, like the wedding feast, breaks at the end from symbolism into an outright description of hell.
  - Mark's story is quite truncated, and Luke also omits some details.
- What the parable means:
  - Everyone is given their role in life, and God judges them for how well they performed it.

New cloth and new wineskins (Matthew 9:16-17, Mark 2:21-22, Luke 5:36-39)

- What the parable was:
  - These are two (technically three) different parables with the same idea.
    - Nobody patches an old garment with unshrunk cloth because the patch will pull away and tear it worse.
    - Nobody uses old wineskins to hold new wine because both will be ruined.
    - Nobody drinks old wine, then wants new wine afterward.
  - Luke covers the third parable while the other two don't.
  - Cloth will shrink after it gets wet, then dried off when hot.
  - During fermentation, wine releases gases that pressurize their container, and leather wineskins would naturally expand if they were new, but old leather has already expanded to its limit.
- What the parable means:
  - The kingdom of heaven requires something new that hasn't been there before.
  - This depicts the Law's uselessness for salvation, but also the changes necessary for those who wish to follow Christ.
  - Further, the "old wine" actually refers to the order of Melchizedek holding more significance than Aaron (Hebrews 7).

The lamp on a stand and salt (Matthew 5:14-16, Mark 4:21-25, Luke 8:16-18)

- What the parable was:
  - This is a short parable about light.
    1. When people light a lamp, they don't put it in a basket.
    2. Instead, they set it on a stand and it lights everyone in the house.
  - This closely connects within Matthew to the "you are the salt of the earth" expression.
- What the parable means:
  - The application directly in Jesus' teaching diverges a few ways.
    - Matthew's account states that you are the light of the world, and that you should let your light shine so the world sees your good actions and glorifies God.
    - Mark's account ties it to giving generously to others to see themselves treated generously by God ("with that measure you use, it will be measured to you, and even more").
    - Luke's account adds to Mark's account and also states how everything hidden will be revealed.
  - This parable also implies the inevitable [conflict](people-conflicts.md) and [persecution](hardship-persecution-church.md) that Christians must endure.

## Jesus' parables (with 2 accounts)

The weeds (Matthew 13:24-30,36-43, Mark 4:26-29)

- What the parable was:
  - The story is of a farmer and seed.
    1. A man sows good seed in his field.
    2. His enemy sowed weeds among the wheat while everyone was asleep.
    3. When his servants wondered what happened, he knew it was an intentional sabotage.
    4. They asked if he wanted to pull them up, but he said to let them grow together.
    5. At the harvest, the weeds will be bundled up first to be burned, and the wheat will then be harvested.
  - It's worth noting that the weeds were "tares", which were darnel or ryegrass, which resemble wheat during early stages of growth.
  - Matthew's is a bit more expanded and more often cited, while Mark's passage is a bit more condensed.
- What the parable means:
  - This one also has a recorded explanation later in Matthew.
    1. The Christ sows the sons of the kingdom in the world.
    2. The devil sows the sons of the evil one among the sons of the kingdom while the celestial beings weren't paying attention.
    3. When the angels wondered, God knew the devil's tricks.
    4. They asked if He wanted to remove them, but He said to let them grow together.
    5. At the end of the age, every cause of sin and people who practice lawlessness will be thrown into hell. Then, the righteous will shine like the sun the Father's kingdom.
- Controversies:
  - This one isn't as hotly debated, but has been used to describe the effects of "practicing lawlessness".

The yeast (Matthew 13:33, Luke 13:20-21)

- What the parable was:
  - The kingdom of heaven is like yeast a woman mixed into 3 measures of flour until all of it was leavened.
- What the parable means:
  - God's kingdom slowly expands until it fills up everything.
- Controversies:
  - There are questions on how far this goes, including debates about [hell's permanence](theology-heavenhell.md).

The lost sheep and lost coin (Matthew 18:12-14, Luke 15:1-10)

- What the parable was:
  - This one was more framed as a question than a direct story.
    1. A man has 100 sheep, but loses one of them.
    2. It stands to reason he'd leave the 99 to reclaim the one missing sheep.
    3. If he finds it, he'll carry it joyfully on his shoulders and celebrate with his friends neighbors.
  - The lost coin parable closely connects to the same visual picture as a question, and comes immediately afterward in Luke.
    1. A woman has 10 silver coins, but loses one of them.
    2. It stands to reason she'd light a lamp and search her house thoroughly to find it.
    3. If she finds it, she'll celebrate joyfully with her friends and neighbors.
- What the parable means:
  1. Some people will walk away from a relationship with God.
  2. God will go to great lengths to bring them back.
  3. There will be more joy in heaven over one repentant sinner than 99 people who don't need to repent.
- Controversies:
  - With some reflection, this casts quite a bit of [shame](mind-feelings-shame.md) on Christian culture, since people will often condemn repentant sinners.

The wedding feast (Matthew 22:1-14, Luke 14:15-24)

- What the parable was:
  - A lengthy parable about the kingdom of heaven.
    1. A king prepares a wedding banquet for his son.
    2. He sends his servants to call the people he invited, but they refused to come.
    3. He sends other servants to upsell how awesome it'll be.
    4. They ignored him, made lame excuses, and carried on with their business. Some of them seized, mistreated, and killed the servants.
    5. The king was furious and sent troops to destroy the murderers and burn their city.
    6. The king asked the servants to invite absolutely every single person they could find, good and evil, to the banquet.
    7. A man wasn't dressed in wedding clothes, and had nothing to say when the king asked him.
    8. The king had him bound hand and foot, and thrown into the outer darkness.
  - Luke's account omits some details in comparison to Matthew.
  - The popular verse "many are called, but few are chosen" comes at the end of this parable.
  - This parable, like the faithful vs wicked servant, breaks at the end from symbolism into an outright description of hell.
- What the parable means:
    - The kingdom of heaven has been made open to everyone, and that's partly because the Jews have failed in participating in it.
    - Further, the kingdom requires being "clothed" correctly, which comes through Christ.

## Jesus' parables (with 1 account)

The hidden treasure and pearl of great value (Matthew 13:44-46)

- What the parable was:
  - It's technically two parables with the same idea.
  - The treasure parable:
    1. A man finds a treasure in a field.
    2. He hides the treasure again.
    3. In his joy, he sells everything he has to buy that field.
  - The pearl parable:
    1. A merchant is looking for fine pearls.
    2. He finds a very precious pearl.
    3. He leaves and sells everything he has to buy it.
- What the parable means:
  - The pearl parable is the same thing as the treasure parable, but instead he's *looking* for it while the treasure simply indicates he finds it.
  - The idea comes across the same, however:
    1. A Christian has the hope of a direct relationship with God for all eternity.
    2. They can't really act on the authority and power they've been granted, so they restrain themselves from fully demonstrating it.
    3. However, the believer demonstrates this joy by willingly taking [every form of persecution](hardship-persecution-church.md) to gain it.
- Controversies:
  - This puts a unique spin on [evangelism](spiritual-exercises-evangelism.md), since the implication is to preach the Gospel to everyone.
    - While modern Christian culture has largely forgotten, early Christians maintained privacy regarding their lifestyle.
  - [Mormons](people-conflicts-christian-5_cults.md) really drag the pearl parable out of context, and one of their scriptures is "The Pearl of Great Price".

The net (Matthew 13:47-50)

- What the parable was:
  1. A net was cast into the sea and caught all sorts of fish.
  2. When it was full, the men pulled it to shore.
  3. They sat down and sorted the good fish into containers and threw the bad ones away.
- What the parable means:
  1. God is gathering everyone from all nations, tribes, cultures, and languages.
  2. When He is done gathering, we will all be gathered to the largest court hearing in existence.
  3. We will all be judged and sorted according to whether we are good or bad for the kingdom of heaven.
  4. The wicked will be cast into hell.

The servant who didn't forgive (Matthew 18:25-35)

- What the parable was:
  - This is a long parable with an incredibly dark story.
    1. A king wanted to collect debts.
    2. Someone owed the king 10,000 talents (a talent is ~20 years' labor, so about $1 billion).
    3. He couldn't pay it, so the king ordered all his possessions sold and he and his family sold into [slavery](people-slavery.md).
    4. The man begged on his knees for patience, and that he would pay back everything.
    5. The king was compassionate, forgave his debt, and released him.
    6. When the man left, he found another man who owed him 100 denarii (a denarius was about a day's wage, so about $10,000).
    7. He began to choke him and demand he pay back what he owed.
    8. That man feel down and begged for patience, and that he would pay back everything.
    9. He refused and had the man thrown in prison until he could pay his debt.
    10. Others around him were distressed about the event and told the king.
    11. The king summoned him and declared him to be wicked and that he should have given mercy like the king had given mercy.
    12. The king turned him over to the jailers to be tortured until he paid back everything.
- What the parable means:
  - This is stated plainly: Jesus is admonishing that the Father will treat everyone the same way who doesn't truly forgive their brother.
  - This has heavy implications that our souls are at stake when we don't [forgive others](hardship-forgiveness.md).
  - The idea here on forgiveness is echoed in the Lord's prayer (Matthew 6:12-15).
- Controversies:
  - To forgive is to lose [a type of power](power-types.md), so many people personally struggle with the plainness and severity of God's standards.

The two sons (Matthew 21:28-32)

- What the parable was:
  - This is a parable framed as a question.
    1. A man had two sons.
    2. He went to the first one and asked him to work the vineyard.
    3. The son said he wouldn't go, but then changed his mind later and went.
    4. He asked the same thing of the second son.
    5. The son said he would go, but then didn't go.
    6. It is pretty clear which of the two sons did their father's will.
- What the parable means:
  - Jesus spells it out plainly that tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before the Jewish chief priests and elders.
  - In other words, God cares more about what we do than what we say, especially if we end up doing what we should have done later.
    - This reflects in God's patience, which we often mistake for slowness (2 Peter 3:9-12).
- Controversies:
  - This isn't as controversial today across the world, but was a *major* sticking point against the Hebrew leadership.
    - Ideas like this one are part of the reason why Jews don't become Christians.

The ten virgins (Matthew 25:1-13)

- What the parable was:
  - The parable is a very dark depiction.
    1. 10 virgins took their lamps to meet their bridegroom, with 5 of them being foolish and 5 of them being wise.
    2. The foolish ones took their lamps without extra oil, while the wise ones took oil in flasks along with their lamps.
    3. The bridegroom was delayed, so they all fell asleep.
    4. At midnight, the cry rang out that the bridegroom was coming. All of them woke up and trimmed their lamps.
    5. The foolish ones asked the wise ones for oil, but the wise ones said to go buy some because they wouldn't have enough for themselves.
    6. The bridegroom arrived while the foolish ones were on the way to buy oil, and the ready virgins went in with him to the banquet, then the door was shut.
    7. The other virgins arrived and asked him to open the door, but the groom replied to say he didn't know them.
  - Village weddings began with the groom fetching the bride from her father's home at night, and friends would light the way with small clay lamps fueled with olive oil that could burn about 15-30 minutes.
- What the parable means:
  - This specifically says "at that time" about the kingdom of heaven, and is echoing the parable of the faithful and wicked servants, so it is referring to [Judgment Day](theology-end.md).
  - The virgins represent people, and God is only going to bring people prepared when He comes.
- Controversies:
  - Some people can see this as a cause for [anxiety](mind-feelings-fear.md), and some have even used this parable as fear-mongering to justify how their specific [eschatology](theology-end.md) is necessary to enter heaven.