Why did Jesus speak to us in parables?

Question

What are your thoughts on why He did this?

Answer 1

The disciples asked this question and Jesus said

He replied, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. This is why I speak to them in parables:
"Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:
" 'You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
For this people's heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.'But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
Matthew:13:11-17

Jesus was surrounded by people who wanted to kill him. The only way he could preach without the Pharisees understanding was to use parables.

In addition parables are easier to remember than a long sermon, and people love to hear stories over lectures

Answer 2

Christianity was a secret society, Jesus spoke in parables to the crowds and plain-text to his inner disciples. The parables went into the bible and the secret teachings were passed on to selected disciples and eventually written down in the Nag Hammadi.

"Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. [John 16:25]

Answer 3

One reason is that the religious leaders of the day were keen to catch him in saying things that they considered anti-God or dangerous. By speaking in parables, he could get his point across to people without giving those religious leaders the ability to prematurely arrest him or to run him out of town before he could reach people.

There is a really good discussion of why Jesus used parables at http://www.crossroads.ca/unique/un020529.htm.

Answer 4

Jesus spoke in parables because it was written in the old testement or prophecy as it was spoken then saying the new messiah was going to come and speak in parables... theres awhole chapter in mathew about Jesus speaking in parables. its easier for us to understand....

Answer 5

Why Jesus Taught With Illustrations

The Bible gives two noteworthy reasons why Jesus used illustrations. First, his doing so fulfilled prophecy. The apostle Matthew wrote: “Jesus spoke to the crowds by illustrations. Indeed, without an illustration he would not speak to them; that there might be fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet who said: ‘I will open my mouth with illustrations.’” (Matthew 13:34, 35) “The prophet” quoted by Matthew was the composer of Psalm 78:2. That psalmist wrote under the inspiration of God’s spirit centuries before Jesus’ birth. Is it not remarkable that hundreds of years in advance, Jehovah determined that his Son would teach with illustrations? Surely Jehovah must value this method of teaching!

Second, Jesus himself explained that he used illustrations to sift out those whose hearts were unresponsive. After he related to “great crowds” the parable of the sower, his disciples asked: “Why is it you speak to them by the use of illustrations?” Jesus answered: “To you it is granted to understand the sacred secrets of the kingdom of the heavens, but to those people it is not granted. This is why I speak to them by the use of illustrations, because, looking, they look in vain, and hearing, they hear in vain, neither do they get the sense of it; and toward them the prophecy of Isaiah is having fulfillment, which says, ‘By hearing, you will hear but by no means get the sense of it; and, looking, you will look but by no means see. For the heart of this people has grown unreceptive.’”—Matthew 13:2, 10, 11.

What was it about Jesus’ illustrations that separated people? In some cases, his listeners had to dig in order to get the full meaning of his words. Humble individuals were moved to ask for more information. (Matthew 13:36; Mark 4:34) Jesus’ illustrations, then, revealed truth to those whose hearts hungered for it; at the same time, his illustrations concealed truth from those with proud hearts. What a remarkable teacher Jesus was! Let us now examine some of the factors that made his illustrations so effective.

Answer 6

Jesus spoke .what he learned Jesus learned from Buddha teaching many of the words Jesus spoke and so did Buddha long before Jesus lived a few examples john15.12-13 this is my commandment, that you love one another as i have loved you, no one has greater love than this , to lay down ones life for ones friends, Buddha just as a mother would protect her only child at the risk of her own life so , cultivate a boundless heart towards all being, let your thoughts of boundless love pervade the whole world.. Buddha taught with Great. deepens while Jesus touched the surface of what he learned from the great teacher that he learned from it is no secret that Jesus was a learned rabbi, or teacher, Jesus you know the commandments. "you shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal you shall not bear false witness; you shall not defraud, honor you father and mother,,, Buddha said abstain from Killing and from taking what is not given , abstain from unchastity and from speaking falsely; do not accept gold or silver. if one studies or seeks beyond the organized church they will be amazed and when they are amazed then they will be disturbed and when they are disturbed then they will rule and find peace..

Answer 7

history shows that parrables and metaphores were commun ways to teach lessons to everyone in ancient near eastern times like when jesus was alive.
we still use parables to teach you just don't notice because you understand the modern day ones better because you can relate more.
fairy tales are an example of parrables. the boy who cried wolf
teaches kids to not lie.

Answer 8

Wasn't aware the bible was auto-biographical......therefore Jesus has never 'said' anything to anyone....the bible at best is a collection of parables, meant to teach lessons. Much the same as ancient greek and roman mythology....so the bible could really be classified as christian mythology

Answer 9

Maybe he was really bad at being blunt, so instead of saying "don't be a jerk" he instead said "whosoever acts unnaccordingly like Tom the sheepstealer from upper Gordovia shall find gread displeasure in the eyes of God".

Also, it's really hard to argue with a person that says a bunch of wierd stuff all the time.

Answer 10

Brevity is the essence of wit. Much of Jesus's words were allusions to Hebrew literature. Several thousand years, and several thousand miles away, it can be difficult to understand. That is why it is good to read the Old Testament. Also, he was introducing knew concepts (grok). Resurrection is a good example, not to be confused with reincarnation, or near death experiences. One man even asked if he had to go back into his mother to be reborn...imagine the rumors...