I feel
confident in saying that anyone who would find himself/herself reading my blog
is familiar with the way in which Jesus spoke to people in parables.
Most of the
parables people would be familiar with are those written explicitly as such.
However, one might contend, or at least I would, that we can glean more
implicit parables in the Sacred Scriptures and from a perhaps broader context.
I promise I will explain what I mean by this in my next post, but first it seems
prudent that we take some time to understand the need for parables, the reason
why Jesus so frequently spoke in this manner.
In the
thirteenth chapter of Matthew's gospel, just after proclaiming the parable of
the sower, Jesus’ disciples asked him:
"Why
speakest thou to them in parables?"
Jesus replied,
"Because to you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of
heaven: but to them it is not given. I speak to them in parables: because
seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they
understand."
Thus says verse
14 that "the prophecy of Isaias is fulfilled in them, who saith: By
hearing you shall hear, and shall not
understand: and seeing you shall see, and shall not perceive."[1]
Verse 14 is our
Lord speaking in the way that many have not yet had the cataracts stripped off
of their eyes that they might see, not yet had their ears opened to the word of
God that they might hear.
Why is it that
so many could not, still today cannot see and hear? St. Paul gives us two
explanations:
1.) God spoke as
early as to Moses that He “will have mercy on whom [He] will have mercy.”[2]
2.) “The sensual man perceiveth not these things that are of the Spirit of God;
for it is foolishness to him, and he cannot understand, because it is
spiritually examined.”[3]
Explanation:
1.) So, what does
the first explanation mean? Is this perceiving, this understanding based on
some discriminate and capricious favor shown by the Father upon random people? “What
shall we say then? Is there injustice with God? God forbid.”[4] What this means is that
all is within God’s perfect timing and sovereign Providence…timing and
Providence which most of the time we cannot understand. For as the
prophet Isaiah also wrote, “shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it: What
art thou making, and thy work is without hands?”[5] It is in fact all about
patience and entrusting all to God.
Even the pagan
philosophers recognized that “patience is a virtue,” so it is that in order for
us to become more perfectly united with God and to fulfill His will, in order
for us to become “perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect,”[6] we must develop more
patience. For our God who is perfect is also Love (Deus Caritas Est), and love is, among many other things as St. Paul
wrote, “patient.”[7]
It is as the
prophet Jeremiah wrote: “For I know the thoughts [plans] that I think towards
you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of affliction, to give you an end and patience.”[8]
This is the
same patience to which St. Paul exhorted King Agrippa when defending himself
against the accusations of the Jews: “I think myself happy, O king Agrippa,
that I am to answer for myself this day before thee, touching all the things
whereof I am accused by the Jews. Especially as thou knowest all, both customs
and questions that are among the Jews: Wherefore I beseech thee to hear me patiently.”
That is the
first reason why some cannot understand or perceive. Because he must be patient and keep asking, and because
it is not yet his time.
2.) The second
reason why, as our Lord said, some cannot “perceive” is given to us in
additional depth by St. Paul as he employs the word "sensual” or “natural”
(as it is also translated). In both translations, the underlying context to be
understood is one who lives not in, of and for the supernatural (not of this
world) but rather in, of and for all that is natural and pertaining to the
senses (of this world). By living in the natural, by living for the next
sensory pleasure, man simply cannot comprehend the supernatural, the things
of God, of Heaven, of eternity. Instead, he contents himself with the fleeting gratifications of the world.
Quite simply, perhaps the best example of this
blindness is when Pontius Pilate stood before the Holy Face of our Lord and
asked, “What is truth?”[9] He who is Truth was right
in front of Pilate, and he could not see…could not perceive because he was a natural, sensual man.
St. John
further clarifies:
“Love not the
world, nor the things which are in the world. If any man love the world, the charity of the Father is not in him.
For all that is in the world, is the
concupiscence of the flesh, and the concupiscence of the eyes, and the
pride of life, which is not of the
Father, but is of the world.
And the world
passeth away, and the concupiscence thereof: but he that doth the will of God,
abideth for ever.”[10]
If one live as a
prisoner to his own vices, as a slave to his lower nature, as the heathens live
to whom nothing is more foreign than to deny one’s passions, he will be
spiritually blind and deaf. But if he would accept Christ’s invitation to “deny
himself,”[11] to “go sell all [he] hast…and
come follow [Him][12] (possibly literally for some,
for others figuratively), then our Lord has given the promise that he who seeks
will find, he who knocks will have the Gates of Heaven opened to Him[13]…but always in His own
perfect timing.
Coming back to
the Gospels themselves, there are a number of other passages where Jesus further shows us this.
When the Jews
were really beginning to ratchet up the pressure on our Lord, he begins getting
more direct with them. Thus he finally says to them in John chapter 8:
“You seek to
kill me, a man who have spoken the truth to you, which I have heard of God...If
God were your Father, you would indeed love me. For from God I proceeded, and
came; for I came not of myself, but he sent me: Why do you not know my speech?
Because you cannot hear my word.
You are of your father the devil, and
the desires of your father you will do.”[14]
Therefore, our
Lord spoke to the masses not in order to preach riddles to confuse but in order that they
might be able to begin to understand. To put it in modern terminology, He spoke to them, in a way, in "laymen's terms," but in also in a way which was intended to "stir curiosity" and "call for intelligence" on the the part of the listener. In the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and
Luke, we hear Jesus frequently finishing parables by saying, “he who has ears
to hear, let him hear.”[15] And St. John mirrors this
same verbiage in Apocalypse.[16]
In addition to
the many words which Jesus spoke, His actions also mirrored his words. Recalling
Matthew 13:14, there are many parallels to this prophecy of Isaiah demonstrated
in the miracles performed by Jesus:
a.) In Mark 7,
they bring to Him a man who is both deaf
and dumb. Taking “his fingers into his ears, and spitting, he touched
his tongue: And looking up to heaven, he groaned, and said to him: Ephpheta, which is, Be thou opened.
And immediately his ears were opened,
and the string of his tongue was loosed, and
he spoke right… And so much the more did they wonder, saying: He hath done all
things well; he hath made both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.”[17]
 |
| Healing the Deaf & Dumb Man |
b.) One chapter
later, in Mark 8, He cures the blind
man: “And they came to Bethsaida; and they bring to him a blind man,
and they besought him that he would touch him. And taking the blind man by the
hand, he led him out of the town; and spitting upon his eyes, laying his hands
on him, he asked him if he saw any thing. And looking up, he said: I see men as
it were trees, walking. After that again he laid his hands upon his eyes, and he began to see, and was restored, so
that he saw all things clearly.”[18]
 |
| Healing the Blind Man |
c.) The same
happened during the conversion of Saul into the great Apostle Paul: “Falling on
the ground, he heard a voice saying to him: Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou
me? Who said: Who art thou, Lord? And he: I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. And
he trembling and astonished, said: Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?...Saul
arose from the ground; and when his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. And he was there three days, without sight,
and he did neither eat nor drink."
Finally, after
the three days were done, "laying his hands upon him, [Ananias] said:
Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus hath sent me, he that appeared to thee in the way
as thou camest; that thou mayest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy
Ghost. And immediately there fell
from his eyes as it were scales, and he received his sight; and rising
up, he was baptized.”[19]
 |
| Saul knocked off his horse and blinded |
d.) Finally, on
the Road to Emmaus, like Pilate having our Lord in their company, they could
not see: “It came to pass, that while they talked and reasoned with themselves,
Jesus himself also drawing near, went with them. But their eyes were held, that they should not know him. And it
came to pass, whilst he was at table with them, he took bread, and blessed, and
brake, and gave to them. And their
eyes were opened, and they knew him: and he vanished out of their
sight. And they said one to the other: Was not our heart burning within us,
whilst he spoke in this way, and opened
to us the scriptures?”[20]
 |
| The Road to Emmaus |
In the first
two examples, we see those who were broken (deaf, dumb and blind) come to our
Lord for help, and he makes them to hear, speak and see (natural, of the
world).
In the last two examples, it is Our Lord who – for a time – withholds the vision from the
others until it is right that they might see (patience and Providence).
Now, all the
way back to the beginning of this post, where Jesus’ disciples ask Him why he
speaks in parables. Though the question was no doubt a genuine one on the part
of his disciples, speaking in parables was not anything new to God's people. It
can be traced back even into the books of the Old Testament.
The First Book
of Kings says that “Solomon also spoke three thousand parables: and his poems
were a thousand and five.”[21]
And the Psalms
and Proverbs are full of references to such:
“I will incline
my ear to a parable; I will open my proposition on the psaltery.”[22]
“To know wisdom, and
instruction: To understand the words of prudence: and to receive the
instruction of doctrine, justice, and judgment, and equity: To give subtilty to
little ones, to the young man knowledge and understanding. A wise man
shall hear and shall be wiser: and he that understandeth, shall possess
governments. He shall understand a parable, and the interpretation, the
words of the wise, and their mysterious sayings.”[24]
So, I hope I have sufficiently outlined
the reasons why God has deigned throughout the ages to speak to men in
parables. This leads me to wish to call out one final thing that seems fitting
before moving on to my next post, what I will call the “Hidden
Parable.”
All of these examples of men deaf and
blind made to hear and to see seems to be a complete refutation of Sola Scriptura.
This is obviously a subject which has
received perhaps more apologetic attention in the last 500 years than anything
else, but I hope one who presently subscribes to that belief could really take
a moment and, as St. Paul said to Agrippa, “hear me patiently.”
In addition to everything I have
written (or rather merely cited), let us consider a few more things.
First of all, St. Peter made it clear
to us that the word of God is not for us to interpret on our own.
“Understanding this first, that no prophecy of scripture is made by
private interpretation. For prophecy came not by the will of man at any
time: but the holy men of God spoke, inspired by the Holy Ghost.”[26]
For some “Scripture Aloners,” this
verse may be one that has gone unnoticed until now. It may leave them
frantically dialing up their pastors for a refutation/explanation. For others,
they may have already heard what they believe to be a plausible understanding
of this verse.
Again, please “hear me patiently.”
Let us move on and consider also the Book of Acts,
when St. Luke writes of the Eunuch who encounters St. Philip:
“Now an angel of the Lord spoke to
Philip, saying: Arise, go towards the south, to the way that goeth down from
Jerusalem into Gaza: this is desert. And rising up, he went. And behold a man
of Ethiopia, an eunuch, of
great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge over
all her treasures, had come to Jerusalem to adore. nd he was returning, sitting
in this chariot, and reading Isaias the prophet.
And the Spirit said to Philip: Go near,
and join thyself to this chariot. And Philip
running thither, heard him reading the prophet Isaias. And he said: Thinkest
thou that thou understandest what thou readest?
31 Who said: And how can I, unless some man shew me? And he desired Philip that he
would come up and sit with him. Then Philip, opening his mouth, and
beginning at this scripture, preached unto him Jesus.”[27]
Here is the nature of true humility,
one who recognizes his own blindness and ineptitude. Philip comes upon this man
reading the word of God, the prophecies of Isaiah. Philip asks if he thinks he
understands, to which the man replies, “how can I unless someone explains it to
me?”
And he beseeched one of Christ’s
apostles, one who was “sent out” (definition of apostle) by Jesus to “teach all
nations” and to “baptize.,”[28]
to teach him, to explain to him, and to baptize him.
Neither at that time nor in the future
would the Eunuch turn to his own wisdom to try and understand.
For this was the nature of what Simon Magus did and of what all of the early
heretics did (Gnostics, Manicheans, Montanists, etc.).
This is the very summit of pride, to
believe that we have a deeper understanding of the meaning of the infallible
word of God different than that which has been historically taught (and been
fully interpreted). That is exactly why St. Paul told us, “though we, or an
angel from heaven, preach a gospel to you besides that which we have preached
to you, let him be anathema.”[29]
Finally, to step outside of Sacred
Scripture, I understand that a number of different Protestant denominations lay
claim to and reference several of the early Church fathers. One among many of
these holy and venerable men is St. Augustine of Hippo.
Before going any further, this is
indeed mind boggling for me as St. Augustine was Bishop of Hippo. The
Catholic Bishop. The Roman Catholic Bishop…in the Roman Catholic Church…the
One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ. This is not something
that is debatable. This is not some corrupt way in which the Catholic Church drew
up fake documents to “claim him as one of their own.”
St. Augustine refers to the Catholic Church
countless times in his writings. If anyone thinks this is made up or
fraudulent, then they certainly wouldn’t be able to use any of his other
writings to support whatever their particular doctrinal disposition may be
because the whole thing would have to be considered unreliable.
So, with that being said, let’s take a
look at what St. Augustine says about those who place themselves as an
authority of scriptural exegesis:
"Heresies have arisen, and certain
perverse views ensnaring souls and precipitating them into the abyss only when
the Scriptures, good in themselves, are not properly understood."[30]
“You, who believe what you like,
believe yourselves rather than the gospel."[31]
“There is nothing more grievous than
the sacrilege of schism....there can be no just necessity for destroying the
unity of the Church.”[32]
The final quote above from Augustine is
no different than a continuation of what Jesus said to His disciples at the
Last Supper nor from the writings of St. Paul to the Corinthians.
“[He prayed], Holy Father, keep them in
thy name whom thou has given me; that
they may be one, as we also are.”[33]
“Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that you all speak the same thing,
and that there be no schisms among you; but that you be perfect in the
same mind, and in the same judgment. Is
Christ divided?”[34]
The nature of personal scriptural
interpretation is such that invariably (and indisputably) results in division,
not unity. What starts out as one trying to pursue God turns into one trying,
like Lucifer at the time of the fall, to be “like unto God.”
The man with true humility in his heart
responds to this question in the same way as the Archangel Michael did, “Who is
like unto God?”[35]
I used the term above "Scripture Aloners." This is a double entendre, for those who claim to rely upon scripture alone will also, many times, find themselves alone...as loners, on an island and in dispute, whether friendly or hostile, with others about the meaning of the Sacred Word of God. And thus sprout up more and more churches, more and more denominations, some 5-10 new ones per day globally. Not as one mind, but as many.
All such personal reliance and self-authorized isolation can be put aside once and for all by coming into the bosom of the Catholic Church, the solely appointed arbiter of Scriptural Truth.
Holy Mother Church alone can open ears that they may truly hear and understand, open eyes that they may truly see and perceive.
God Bless
~ Pax Domini sit semper Vobiscum
[15]
Matthew 11:15, 13:9, 13:43 ; Mark 4:9, 4:23, 7:16 ; Luke 8:8, 14:35
[16] Apocalypse
(Revelation) 2:7,11,17,29 ; 3:6,13,22 ; 13:9
[30] In
Evang. Joan., tract xviii., cap. 5, n. 1
[31] S.
Augustinus, lib. xvii., Contra Faustum Manichaeum, cap. 3
[32] S. Augustinus, Contra Epistolam
Parmeniani, lib. ii., cap. ii., n. 25
[35] Michael: from the Hebrew name מִיכָאֵל (Mikha'el) meaning
"who is like God?"
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