As with most of my writing this article concerns construction and destruction, life and death. Words are the “building blocks” used in the construction, and they are the “food” for our state of being. Words of truth will build a building that will last forever. Lying words will build a house of cards that will fall in the slightest breeze. Words of truth give eternal life; lying words bring eternal death. We have been given the obligation and responsibility to choose which words we will use for our house and being.
Parables are stories that help those who dwell in the reality of the physical realm to understand reality that exists in the spiritual realm. The parable of the Sower (Matthew 13) is a good example of this. Here following are listed the physical realm elements and their spiritual realm counterparts. These symbols from the physical realm are representations of elements for the spiritual realm.
The Sower: The Son of Man (Jesus) (see the parable of the wheat and tares beginning in verse 24)
The Seed: The word of the kingdom (verse 19)
The Soil: Anyone who hears these words (verse 19)
The Environment of the Soil (edge of the path/patches of rock/in thorns/rich soil): The outcome of those who hear these words.
Why did Jesus not simply come right out and say clearly what He meant, instead of speaking in parables? There is an important reason that explains why Jesus spoke with Hidden Meanings, and it is to ensure that the preservation of the information that Jesus gave to His own disciples will remain fully intact down through the centuries (John 14:26, 17:8, 14, 20). Jesus spoke in symbols that only the Wise will understand (Dan. 12:10, Matt.13:10-13). This ensures that any tampering of the testimony of Jesus by the enemy will stand out like a sore thumb to those that understand that the phrase ‘words of Jesus’ actually mean ‘His words only’ (John 18:37). The enemies of truth waste no time and spare no effort to change the meanings of the elements and symbols in the parables of Jesus to fit the necessity of their own ‘alternative understanding’ in the writings over which they have control. Those that have written these ‘alternate understandings’ have done so in a way that is separate and distinct from the words spoken by Jesus to His eyewitness disciples in their gospels, because they think that no one will ever be observant enough to compare these dissimilar versions with the originals to see if there are differences. Yet, in the Message to the Assembly in Ephesus (Rev.2) Jesus said that this comparison WOULD take place at the end of time, and expose the testimony of false prophets and false apostles to the light of truth. Therefore, this ensures the preservation of the truth through the testimony of the gospels and prophecies of these eyewitnesses (Matthew, Mark and John). In addition, the mind of the Enemy believes that writing with hidden meanings will also protect his own lies from being discovered. For example, the seer Nostradamus used quatrains to protect his words from the religious authorities of the time, the Catholic Church. Many of his quatrains were not at all complementary of the church or its leaders.
Hiding information using codes, symbols, and numbers, is regularly employed by countries, secret societies, and cults. The parable of the Wheat and Tares is an example of this technique, using disguised information as a preservation technique. The tares/lies are left to grow alongside the wheat/truth so that the truth is not uprooted with lies before the time of harvest.
So, the reason for speaking with hidden meanings is to allow only those with eyes to see and ears to hear to have the ability to understand what is really being said. This keeps the true information out of the hands of those that would seek to alter it for their own purposes.
The disciples of Jesus asked their Master why He spoke to the people in parables. He replied, “Because the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven are revealed to you, but they are not revealed to them. For anyone who has (truth) will be given more, and he will have more than enough; but from anyone who has not (truth), even what he has will be taken away. The reason I talk to them in parables is that they look without seeing and listen without hearing or understanding” (Matthew 13:10-13).
The Evil One is the master of deception, and he has used a time tested technique that mirrors the truth, but distorts it to his advantage. He constructs parables and prophecies that closely resemble ones spoken by the Son of Man, but in them he incorporates his own spurious gospel. There is a vast difference between the words of the Son of Man and those of the Great Deceiver, in that the Son of Man gives you what you need to know, even if it is painful in application, but the Great Deceiver gives you what you want to believe, and makes it easy to follow. The words of life are the ‘narrow gate and hard road’, and require repentance and cleansing from sin; the end result is true righteousness. The words of death are the ‘wide gate and the easy way’ that leads to destruction, and require only faith/belief in the gift of salvation through the grace of ‘God’.
Consider that there are two different accounts of the parable of the Narrow gate and Wide gate, iterated in two different gospels. These two accounts sound similar, but the outcomes are quite different. Matthew was a disciple of the Son of Man, and wrote down what he heard his Master say. Luke was not a disciple, and never heard any words first hand from the Son of Man? He claims to have used witnesses in writing his gospel and Acts, but does not give any by name. His description of events and the retelling of the teachings of Jesus reveal that his witnesses were not reliable, and more than likely were relating accounts they themselves had “heard” either second or third hand. Because Luke was a convert of Paul he was duty bound to preserve and maintain the spurious gospel of his close friend, mentor and confidant, Paul.
The following accounts alternate between Luke 13:22-30 and Matthew 7:13-23, so that you will be able to note the differences.
(Luke) Through towns and villages He went teaching making His way to Jerusalem. Someone said to Him, ‘Sir, will there be only a few saved?’ He said to them, “Try your best to enter by the narrow door, because, I tell you, many will try to enter and will not succeed.” Luke 13:22-24.
(Matthew) “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and few there are that find it.” Matt. 7:13-14.
Matthew’s account describes a narrow gate and a wide road (note – there is no gate to the wide road in Luke’s account). The difficulty is not getting through the narrow gate, but in finding it. Luke does not describe a gate, but a door. He does not say it is hard to find, but hard to enter. Matthew records this as being an initial teaching of the Master, and not as an answer to a question, as in Luke. The question presented in Luke’s account is absurd, and seems wholly out of place.
(Matthew) “Beware of false prophets who come to you disguised as sheep but underneath are ravenous wolves. You will be able to tell them by their fruits. Can people pick grapes from thorns or figs from thistles? In the same way, a sound tree cannot bear bad fruit nor a rotten tree bear good fruit. Any tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown on the fire. I repeat you will be able to tell them by their fruits”. Matt. 7:15-20.
This entire passage is absent from Luke.
(Matthew) ‘It is not those who say to Me, “Lord, Lord”, who will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the person who does the will of My Father in heaven. When the day comes many will say to Me, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, cast out demons in your name, work many miracles in your name?” Then I shall tell them to their faces: I have never known you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness”. Matt. 7:21-23.
(Luke) “Once the master of the house has got up and locked the door, you may find your self knocking on the door, saying, “Lord open to us” but He will answer, “I do not know where you come from”. Then you will find yourself saying ‘We once ate and drank in your company; you taught in our streets” but He will reply, “I do not know where you come from.’ Then there will be weeping and grinding of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves turned outside. And men from east and west, from north and south, will come to take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. ‘Yes, there are those now last who will be first, and those now first who will be last.” Luke 13:25-30.
Clearly in his account Luke is promoting the salvation that Paul teaches. Paul says that prior to the cross salvation was for Jews alone (Paul teaches this, but it was not true, salvation has always been open to any and all who would agree to the requirements of it) and this dispensation ended at the resurrection. The version of this parable in Luke would confirm that the resurrection of Jesus closed the door to the Jews, because they refused to enter (notice that Luke says the difficulty was not in finding the narrow “door”, but going through it). It is obvious to Paul and Luke that the narrow door is the Law (Ten Commandments), which they call the ‘old covenant’. The ‘new covenant’ of grace through the blood of the cross and of the resurrected ‘Christ’, is now the ‘way’ to enter the kingdom. Therefore, those from east and west, north and south, enter the kingdom after the door (Law/ten commandments) has been shut and locked. The gentiles enter by another portal, one which is wide and easy, which is the portal of grace. The only requirement to enter by this ‘wide door’ is faith in the resurrected ‘Christ’. For this to work properly they must believe that Jesus died for their personal sins, and through faith they die ‘with Him’, and now live in him. This goes against the very words of the Son of God, as witnessed by another of His disciples, John.
“I tell you most solemnly; anyone who does not enter the sheepfold through the gate, but gets in some other way is a thief and a brigand. The one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the flock . . . I am the gate. Anyone who enters through Me will be safe . . .” John 10:1-2, 9.
Note that in the altered version of this parable Luke clearly limits those who are locked outside the door of the house (Kingdom of Heaven) to those who were the actual Jews living during the time of the earthly ministry of Jesus. Yet in this scenario even those from the four corners of the earth (the Gentiles) can somehow circumvent this locked door and gain entry into the Kingdom, even though the Jews can’t. In Matthew
(Ch. 13 and 25:1-13) those who are outside the locked door have been deceived into believing that they have been working to fulfill the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19-21), are not working for the Lord who is the Savior, but are in reality working for the lord of this world. They have been deceived by a false gospel of salvation, and that is what they have been teaching. And they have been fooled by the power of their lord, who is the lord of this world (Satan), who is the source of their power and their teachings. These have been deceived by believing that they are working for the Son of God, when in fact they are working for the great deceiver. It would appear that they are not using a different source of reference, their resource has to be the Bible; therefore, those who are outside the shut door, have used the same book that those who are inside with the Son of God, have used. The evidence suggests that there is information in the Bible that is the result of the successful efforts of the evil one, who has “planted” it there. The wheat and tares are in the same field until the end of days; the end of days is the harvest.
Dear friends, it is important that you not be deceived. An honest person will never deceive anyone; but a person who is honest with others may not necessarily be honest with themselves. If you look at the teachings in Luke and Paul, and refuse to see any differences from the words of the true Teacher, as recalled and written by His students/disciples, then you are not being honest, you are deceiving yourself. I once had a pastor explain the “perceived” differences in the gospel accounts as the personal perspectives of the writers. He explained that if you ask three different people to describe an event that they witnessed, you would hear three different accounts. My answer was that this does not apply here; because both Luke and Paul were NOT eyewitnesses to the teachings of the Son of God. If you compare the actual eyewitness accounts one with the other, there are no differences in the teachings.
(John 14:25,26)(JB) I have said these things to you while still with you; but the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you.
Do you believe that God always tells the truth? Do you believe that God has the power and authority to preserve the truth? If you do, then be honest with yourself. No teaching of the Son of Man will contradict another one of His OWN teachings. Understand that the great deceiver is skilled in the art of distorting the truth. When truth is distorted it has the appearance of being true; but is proved false upon close and honest investigation. The writings of Luke and Paul are not to be trusted, because they contradict the eyewitness accounts. In the end, only those who know and obey the truth will have eternal life.
Rick Sterling