The parables of Jesus teach object lessons about the kingdom of God. And three parables in particular, the parable of the lost sheep, the parable of the lost coin, and the parable of the prodigal son, specifically teach about God’s unconditional, redemptive love.

Here we’ll walk through the “Lost Sheep” parable specifically. We’ll look at the purpose and context behind the story, as well as the encouraging and profound lessons we can learn from it.

We’ll cover:

• What happens in the parable of the lost sheep
• Meaning and purpose
• Context
• Three Takeaways

It might look to be a fairly simple, short, straightforward parable. But there’s a lot packed into it.

What happens in the parable of the lost sheep?

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The parable of the lost sheep can be found in the New Testament, in Matthew 18:10-14 and Luke 15:1-7.

It can be helpful to look at these passages for yourself before we walk through it here.

We’ll start with a summary.

The story begins with a shepherd who has exactly 100 sheep. But one day, the shepherd notices that one of his sheep has run off.

Instead of cutting his losses, the shepherd decides to leave his flock of 99 sheep to head out after the missing one. After combing the mountains and wilderness, the shepherd finally finds his missing sheep.

We’re not told how long his sheep had been missing. It might have been hurt or hungry—certainly frightened. But instead of being angry at the sheep for making him go out of his way to find it, the shepherd is filled with relief and joy.

He tenderly places the sheep on his shoulders and takes it home.

The shepherd is happier to see his missing sheep than the 99 sheep that had remained in his pasture. He’s so happy he can’t keep it to himself. He calls his friends, his neighbors—everyone he knows—to tell them the good news and celebrate with them.

His missing sheep is home at last.

In the version in Matthew, Jesus closes the parable by telling listeners that:

“In the same way, it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should perish” (Matthew 18:14, CSB).

In Luke’s version, He ends by saying:

“I tell you, in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over the ninety-nine righteous people who don’t need repentance” (Luke 15:7, CSB).

How did Jesus go from talking about missing sheep to talking about sinners and salvation?

Let’s look closer at what the story means and who these characters represent.

What is the meaning of this parable?

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This cute little story is an analogy for God’s compassion toward every single human being—even those who struggle to follow Him, and even those who have turned away from Him. His desire is still to restore them and save them, just because they are His.

In the parable, Jesus is the shepherd. The 99 sheep are those who faithfully follow God. And the one lost sheep represents anyone who either gets led astray, confused, or decides to go their own way for a bit.

John 10 helps us make these connections.

In it, Jesus refers to Himself as “the good shepherd.” He uses this title to describe His intimate understanding, care, and devotion to His “sheep” (John 10:11).

This is a fitting symbol. Like sheep, we are ultimately helpless. We depend on Jesus to help us navigate our daily lives, challenges, and spiritual growth.

We also have a tendency to be led astray.

Some might get distracted and lose sight of Jesus. Others might decide they know an easier or more attractive path and try to go their own way. They might believe the grass is greener on the other side of the pasture, but when they wander away, they see that not only is the grass no better than the grass they had, but now they’re lost—alone and vulnerable in the dangerous world around them.

We’ve all been a lost sheep at some point.

Like the lost sheep in the story, the further we wander away from Jesus, the deeper we’re led into the influences of sin, which usually manifest in a self-serving way. But they never lead us to peace, love, or joy that lasts.

But no matter whether we’re currently clinging to God or wandering away from Him, we can count on Jesus when we call upon Him, just as sheep can count on their shepherd for protection, provision, and guidance.

Even though we can be quick to give up on others (and ourselves) after a series of mistakes or bad decisions, Jesus won’t. Ever.

He does everything in His power to come after us and save us because He loves us so much.

The ending of this parable recorded in the Gospel accounts confirms this lesson of God’s desire to save sinners (i.e., everyone). We learn that God doesn’t want a single person to be lost, and that nothing would make Him happier than a lost person being found and restored to their place at His side (Matthew 18:14; Luke 15:7).

This message is crucial for everyone to understand, but it also bears special relevance to the issues of Jesus’ time.

The context behind this Bible story

The parable of the lost sheep is found in two places in the Bible— Matthew 18:10-14 and Luke 15:1-7.

Bible scholars believe the parable in Matthew and the parable in Luke were given on two separate occasions during Jesus’ ministry.¹

Matthew’s version is believed to have been recorded in Galilee, either near Cana or Capernaum, during Jesus’ retirement from public ministry (that is, from the third Passover of AD 30 to Autumn of AD 30), possibly the same day Jesus advised Peter to pay the temple tax.²

Meanwhile, Luke’s version is believed to have been recorded in Peraea during Jesus’ ministry in Samaria and Peraea (that is, from Autumn AD 30 to the Passover in AD 31), possibly on two months before the crucifixion.³ However, no exact time or location is known for certain.

Whatever the case, it’s worth noting that both versions share a similar message but occur in different contexts.

Matthew’s version is given as part of Jesus’ counsel for working together as a body of believers. In Luke, it is given among a series of parables that all point to God’s desire to reunite all sinners with Himself.

Let’s look at the specific context behind each version.

Matthew’s version

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In Matthew’s version, Jesus is talking to His disciples (Matthew 18:1).

The disciples had been arguing about who would have the highest rank in Heaven.⁴ But instead of answering their questions about rank, Jesus directs their attention to a child.

He tells them to adopt the nature of children (Matthew 18:1-4). In other words, He asks them to focus on relying on and trusting in Him, the way children trust their parents or parental figures.⁵

While He’s on the subject of childlike faith, He warns the disciples not to cause “little children,” or new or struggling Christians, to stumble into sin or fall away from the truth as a result of how they regard or interact with them (Matthew 18:5-6, 10-11).⁶

Then, Jesus gives the parable of the lost sheep. The closing lines of the parable (Matthew 18:14) explain why these believers should not be made to stumble— because God values the salvation of every human being, just as the shepherd values every sheep.

This was an important lesson for the disciples, but also for the entire Jewish nation.

Because they were God’s chosen people for so long, tasked with representing God to the rest of the world, the Jews often saw themselves as superior to Gentiles (i.e., any other people group).

High-ranking Jews like the Pharisees even saw themselves as superior to other Jews—especially those who struggled with more obvious, publicly-shunned things, such as collecting taxes and prostitution (Matthew 21:31-32).

These attitudes were problematic for a multitude of reasons. Primarily, any person or group of people who see themselves as superior to others naturally causes division while simultaneously feeding pride.

That caused a significant rift in what could have been a community of believers who worked together to represent God.

So, since the disciples were starting to show signs of this mindset, there was a serious concern that they could discourage new believers from following Jesus.

The fact that Matthew wrote his account of the Gospel to teach the Gospel to Jews⁷ provides some insight as to why his book focuses on how new believers are to be treated. This had been a longstanding problem among his people.

Luke’s version

In Luke’s version, Jesus addresses a group of Pharisees and social outcasts with this story.

Let’s set the scene.

Jesus was eating with a group of tax collectors when Jewish religious leaders, or Pharisees and scribes, “began to grumble” among themselves. They were shocked and offended that Jesus would be showing kindness to and spending time with people they thought of as “sinners” (Luke 15:1-2, NASB).

Apparently they had forgotten the fact that everyone is a sinner.⁸

Jesus was fully aware of their attitude toward these people who were considered outcasts. He knew the religious leaders thought they were morally and spiritually superior. And He’d seen the way they looked for opportunities to condemn, punish, or judge others instead of offering forgiveness or grace.

This kind of attitude and behavior was founded on pride, which often conflicts with unconditional love.

And so, in response to their comments, Jesus tells the parable of the lost sheep. In contrast to the contempt of the Pharisees, this parable paints a picture of God’s love for every human being—no matter what label they carry or what they’ve done (John 3:16-17). Jesus drives this point home by following this parable with two more parables on the same subject.

First is the parable of the lost coin—a short story of a woman with 10 silver coins who loses one, searches for it with all her effort, and rejoices over finding that single lost silver coin (Luke 15:8-10).

After that, He tells the parable of the prodigal son—a story of a father who celebrates the return of his lost son, who initially left his father’s house for blatantly selfish reasons (Luke 15:11-32).

Both stories further emphasize the joy God feels when anyone who has gone astray, for whatever reason, turns back to Him.

Going back to the parable of the lost sheep, we can see Jesus’ closing line (Luke 15:7) does two things.

1. It points out the joy God feels when any of His children want to return to Him
2. It states that God rejoices over a repentant person more than those who “need no repentance” (ESV).

What could Jesus mean by this? Does it almost sound like He’s saying that He loves some more than others? Or that those who never leave Him aren’t as appreciated or celebrated?

Well, let’s unpack things a bit further. The Bible says in many places that no human being is righteous by their own efforts (Mark 10:18; Romans 3:10-12). But the Pharisees sure thought they were.⁹

Jesus speaks of “righteous people” ironically, using it to describe the way the Pharisees thought of themselves to make a point—that God is happier about repentant sinners than “righteous” people who think they don’t need to repent.¹⁰

While this parable works to correct the erroneous and harmful perspective of the Pharisees, let’s not forget—the “sinners” Jesus had been eating with were listening to the parable, too.

They would have heard Jesus describe the shepherd’s love for the lost sheep—the way he searched for it, placed it on his shoulders, and brought it home to celebration. Given that Peraea was a land of sheep fields, many of them might have been shepherds themselves and may have been particularly moved by Jesus’ story as they thought of their care for their own herds.¹¹

Even if many of the Pharisees ultimately disregarded the parable, Jesus also wanted to give hope to the others around Him. Even though it seemed like everyone else in their society had given up on them, He wanted them to know that God had not given up and would always be there to guide them.¹²

Even the fact that this version shows up in Luke’s account of the Gospel, which was written more for a Gentile audience,¹³ suggests that this parable was given to encourage those who felt lost, or like they weren’t good enough.

Altogether, both versions of the parable provide many surprisingly profound, timeless lessons. This story is just as relevant today as it was then.

3 Key takeaways—What does this mean for us today?

Besides its overall message of God’s unsurpassable, unconditional love, the Parable of the Lost Sheep teaches us about human value and redemption. It helps us better understand how we’re supposed to regard one another.

1) Jesus won’t give up on you

Jesus won’t give up on any one of us, just as the shepherd didn’t give up on the lost sheep.

The shepherd wasn’t satisfied with having 99 percent of His sheep in their pasture. He wanted to make sure every single one was safe and sound.

He traveled through the wilderness on his own, with no guarantee that he would find his sheep. Others might have even tried to discourage him, asking him if finding one lost sheep was really worth all the trouble.

But yes, it was worth it to the shepherd. Every one of his sheep was valuable to him. He knew them all personally.

Think about loving parents of a big family who leave their house to look for one lost child. The size of their family, or the number of kids they have, is irrelevant to the fact that one of their own is missing.

And when the lost child is brought back home, the siblings will no doubt join their parents in celebrating the return. And it’d seem rather petty for the children who remained at home to demand the same level of rejoicing just because they didn’t run away.

(Sure, there are broken homes and troubled families all over the world who don’t always show this kind of perfect love. But this kind of unconditional, familial love is widely recognized and upheld.)

All this is fitting because we are God’s children, and we all lost our way, ever since “the fall” in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3).

And Jesus came to live among humanity at great personal risk. He was willing to die to save us with no assurance that we’d each accept His salvation (John 3:16). The lengths He was willing to go to save us were so great that, to someone with earthly values and expectations, it might even seem foolish (Romans 5:8).

But we are each worth it to Him (Isaiah 43:4; Luke 12:24).

He knows us all by name (Isaiah 43:1). He loves us so much that He’d be willing to die for us even if there was only one sinner in the world who turned back to Him.¹⁴

Others might try to discourage us by telling us we’re unworthy of Jesus’ love or that we’ve strayed too far or too many times for Jesus to come and save us again.

But the truth is Jesus won’t ever give up on you. No matter how others have treated you. No matter what others have said to you. No matter what you’ve done or how often you struggle or make mistakes (2 Corinthians 1:10).

Lost people are just the kind of people Jesus is looking for (Mark 2:17).

His greatest desire is to restore our relationship with Him, and eventually, for us to experience the kingdom of heaven with Him.¹⁵

Jesus loves you, and nothing could ever change that.

He’ll always keep pursuing us (Jeremiah 31:3).

2) Jesus does the saving

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Jesus doesn’t expect us to find our way back to Him on our own any more than the shepherd expected the lost sheep to find its way home.¹⁶

After all, the lamb is the one that got lost in the first place. How was it going to find its way back without the shepherd’s help?

Like the good shepherd, Jesus is the one pursuing us (1 John 4:14, 19; Acts 4:12).

As the Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary points out:

“God has taken the initiative in effecting men’s salvation. Salvation consists, not in man’s search for God, but in God’s search for man. …man of himself can never find God. The glory of the Christian religion is that it knows a God who cares for man so much that He left everything else in order to ‘seek and save that which was lost. (Luke 19:10).”¹⁷

While we are helpless to save ourselves, we do have a choice in whether we allow Jesus to help us. We can run away from or refuse Christ’s efforts to save us.

Or we, like the lost sheep, can trust in Jesus and allow Him to carry us (Proverbs 3:5-6).

What does it mean to let Jesus carry us?

It doesn’t mean that we expect to coast along with ease. It’s more that we’re letting Jesus do all the legwork when it comes to salvation and sanctification. We’re not trying to earn forgiveness or make ourselves holy by the things we do or say.

Instead, Jesus is the one responsible for getting us from point A to point B. We accept the salvation He offers—but Jesus’ assistance doesn’t stop there.

Along our Christian journey, we’re called to continue trusting in Him. We submit our lives to Him and ask Him to guide us, allowing Him to transform our hearts so we may produce the fruit of a Christian character—becoming kinder, more patient, more loving, peaceful, gentle, faithful, and self-controlled.

We trust Him not to give up on us, and we trust in Him to lead us to a better way of life even when He works in ways we don’t understand.

And this level of trust, well, it’s not always easy for us to put so much faith in someone else. We’re usually more comfortable relying on ourselves, especially if people have broken our trust before.

But even though other people may fail us, Jesus never will (Isaiah 42:16). He is more than worthy of our trust—He proved exactly how devoted and loyal He is to us when He died for all of humanity on the Cross.

We don’t have to worry about being “good enough” to come to Jesus. He’s already there.

3) Nothing but rejoicing

Like the shepherd, when Jesus saves us, He can only think of how happy He is to have us back.

He doesn’t scold, judge, or punish us. Once He saves us, all our sins are forgiven and forgotten (Ezekiel 18:22; Isaiah 43:25).

That’s not to say Jesus is incapable of remembering what we did before. It’s just that everything we did pales in comparison to the joy He feels at our return.

Think back to the idea of having a son or daughter run away.

Distraught, you search everywhere for them, desperate to get them back and to keep them from harm. Then, maybe days later, they’re standing on the doorstep.

What would your first thoughts be?

Would your mind automatically go to all the times they argued with you or disobeyed?

Or would you be overcome with relief, wrap them up in your arms, and tell them you’re glad they’re okay?

Sometimes we struggle with letting go of the past. And when people in our family or in our community become hostile or estranged, it makes sense to feel the ripple effects of that. And if they come back, we might be tempted to focus on the things they’ve said or done before that caused confusion, frustration, or pain.

(The same can be true of the way we feel about ourselves.)

But while it can be difficult for us to put the past behind us, Jesus already has. It’s only the present that matters, because that’s when choices can be made. That’s when paths can be corrected. That’s when connection can happen.

If anyone has a reason to remember our sins, it’s Jesus, who died because of them. But because Jesus has forgiven us, we are enabled (and encouraged!) to forgive ourselves and others (Romans 8:1).

We can move on to embrace the new life Jesus has to offer us with joy and celebration.

And if you want to learn more about the incredible love of Jesus, learn more about the other parable that is told alongside this one.

The Parable of The Lost Sheep

Matthew 18:10-14, ESV:

See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.

 

What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?

 

And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

Luke 15:1-7, ESV:

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

 

So he told them this parable: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’

 

Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.”

1. Nichol, F.D., Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary And Bible Students’ Source Book, vol. 5, Seventh-day Adventist Church (1956), p. 815. [↵]
2. Ibid., p. 198, 221, 445. [↵]
3. Ibid., p. 198-199, 223, 814. [↵]
4. Ibid., p. 445-446. [↵]
5. Ibid., p. 446. [↵]
6. Ibid., [↵]
7. “Study Resources—Intros to the Bible—The Gospel of Matthew,” Blue Letter Bible. [↵]
8. Psalm 14:2-3; 51:5; 53:2-3; Ecclesiastes 7:20; Isaiah 53:6; Isaiah 64:6 [↵]
9. Nichol, p. 814. [↵]
10. Ibid., pp. 814, 816. [↵]
11. Ibid., pp. 814-815. [↵]
12. Ibid., p. 815. [↵]
13. The Remnant Study Bible, Remnant Publications, 2009. p. 1205. [↵]
14. Nichol, p. 815. [↵]
15. 1 Timothy 2:3-4; John 14:2-3; 2 Peter 3:9. [↵]
16. Nichol, p. 816. [↵]
17. Ibid., p. 447. [↵]

More Answers

The “Prodigal Son” is one of the many parables found in the New Testament, in the Gospel account of Luke.

Jesus used parables during His earthly ministry to explain “the secrets of the kingdom of God” in relatable ways (Luke 8:10, ESV). In other words, He told stories to the people around Him that would help them understand spiritual truths.

The “Prodigal Son” is an allegorical story that Jesus told to a skeptical group of people to teach them what God’s love really looks like and how it often contrasts with our self-centered human nature.

There’s much to learn from in this parable, like:

• What happens in Jesus’ story
• What the context tells us
• Who the characters are in the story
• How this story helps us today

Let’s begin with what actually happens in the story.

What happens in Jesus’ story?

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The word “prodigal” means to waste money or to spend recklessly, so the “Prodigal Son” is a story about a son who demands money and spends it frivolously, without thinking about the consequences.

We can read the full parable in Luke 15:11-32. We’re introduced to two sons who are working for and living with their father. The younger son asks for his share of the inheritance early because he thinks it will bring him happiness and independence.

(Spoiler alert: it does, but only for a very short time.)

His father agrees, and when the son gets his share of the estate, he moves to a distant land and quickly squanders his riches on “wild living” (verse 13, NASB).

Soon, the area he’s living in suffers a severe famine, and he becomes so poor that he can’t feed or house himself. Ashamed, he decides to go back to his father and ask for a job because the servants who work in his father’s house are living much better than he currently is.

To his surprise (and the surprise of his older brother), his father gets word of his return and runs out to meet him. He welcomes him back into his home, but not as a servant…as his son!

The father throws a huge feast to celebrate the return of the lost son. The elder son, however, is really upset about it all because he chose to stay home and continue working for his father but was never celebrated for it.

In the end, his loving father explains that everything he has also belongs to him, his elder son. But isn’t it worth celebrating that a family member, his own brother, “was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found” (verse 32, CSB)?

What does the context of Luke 15 help you understand?

To better understand the parable, we have to zoom out a bit and notice what’s happening around Jesus.

When several Pharisees, a class of religious leaders in Israel, saw Jesus talking and eating with “tax collectors and sinners,” they started to complain (verses 1-2, ESV).

The Pharisees were an influential religious group among the Jews, but they were focused on works and reputation. Jesus’ ministry, however, was focused on community and restoration. So they felt offended and threatened by Jesus’ actions.

Jesus told three parables in response to the Pharisees’ complaints.

The first, “The Parable of the Lost Sheep,” is about a shepherd leaving 99 sheep to go find just one that got lost.

The second, “The Parable of the Lost Coin,” is about a woman who lost one of her 10 coins and got on her hands and knees to search for the one she’d lost.

“The Parable of the Prodigal Son” was the third in this series, and it stayed with the theme of demonstrating how God values every individual equally. But this one put that theme into a human scenario.

So while all three stories illustrate unconditional love, the “Prodigal Son” is different because the focus of the story is love between people and the restoration of one who left his family for selfish reasons.

Who are the characters in the story?

Each character in the “Prodigal Son” is relatable because each one demonstrates real human experiences and emotions. So it’s likely that you’ll see part of yourself in at least one of the characters, though possibly in all three.

The father

The father in the story is a wealthy member of the community with two sons who he loves very much.

When his youngest son asks for his inheritance early, the father surprisingly grants him his request.

The very act of granting his younger son’s audacious request shows that he values freedom of choice, experience, and independence.

And when he later meets his wayward son on the road back home, he tells his servants to clothe him with the best robe, shoes, and jewelry! Then he tells them to prepare the fattened calf, the choicest meat that was usually reserved for a special occasion.

The father values the restored relationship much more than anything else and welcomes his son home with open arms.

The elder son

The parable doesn’t provide much description of the elder brother/son. For most of the story, he is obedient to his father and stays home to work for him.

It isn’t until the end of the parable that we get to know the older son’s personality and mindset. When the younger son returns home and his father throws a party, we’re told that he’s angry and questions his father’s actions (verses 28-30).

He’s quite upset about the whole thing and refuses to celebrate with everyone.

We can tell by his response to his younger brother’s return that the older son feels like all of his hard work should be rewarded, and his brother’s return home should not be celebrated because of what he’d done.

The “prodigal” (younger) son

The main character of the parable is the younger brother/son who makes what could easily be considered an insulting request—to get his share of the family estate early.

Soon after he gets his money, he packs up and moves to a distant country so he can live his life on his own terms (Luke 15:13).

We can tell from his actions that he was probably tired of living under his father’s watchful eye. He wanted to do things his own way. Getting his inheritance early gave him the opportunity to pursue things he thought would give him more excitement and enjoyment.

But he realizes his mistake once he’s poor and living among pigs.

Luke 15:17 says, “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger’” (ESV)!

He decides to return home as a servant, feeling that because of what he’s done, he isn’t worthy to be called his father’s son anymore (Luke 15:19).

But before he even reaches his father’s house, his father meets him on the road, clothes him, and celebrates his return.

How can we use this Bible story today?

There are many lessons in the “Prodigal Son,” but how is any of it relevant for us in our day-to-day modern lives? How can we use these principles today?

Let’s look at the several relatable and relevant points of view we find in the story.

When we feel like the older son

It can be so easy to feel like the older brother in this story when we’re trying to do what we’re supposed to, and yet we see others (often who were not always doing what they were supposed to) getting praise and attention. And sometimes we rarely even get a “thank you” for a job well done.

Yes, it can be disheartening. And it can lead us to compare ourselves to others around us, wondering if there’s something we’re missing or not doing right.

And if others are forgiven of wrongs we’d never even think of committing…that can almost feel like an injustice! It can make us jealous, indignant, resentful—even to the point that we don’t want to be a part of celebrating their repentance.

Relatable as this may be, especially from our limited human perspective, acting on these types of feelings means we’re choosing to lock ourselves in a prison of negativity instead of living freely and soaking up goodness wherever we can find it. It means letting entitlement and resentment rule our actions instead of love.

So what can we learn from the older brother’s character?

We might wonder how close this older son really was to his father. He seemed to be more focused on doing the right things (especially with language like “these many years I have been serving you” in verse 29 [NKJV] or “been slaving many years for you” [CSB]) rather than maintaining a close, familial relationship. He didn’t seem to view himself as on the same “team” as his father and instead reflected a more transactional kind of relationship.

We could wonder the same about his relationship with his brother. Yes, sibling relationships can be tense and complicated. But that doesn’t have to mean that we wish them harm, or that we don’t care if they come back home—and refuse to celebrate if they do.

When we feel betrayed, brushed aside, forgotten, cheated, unappreciated, etc., it’s natural to start to see things like the older brother did and resort to fault-finding. But even though the world’s way is to “keep score” on people’s worth, we can remember that God, our Heavenly Father, loves and celebrates us all equally.

Plus, when we “rejoice with those who rejoice” (Romans 12:15, ESV), we allow the goodness they receive to spill over into our own lives.

When we feel like the younger son

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Sometimes, we can feel like the prodigal son.

It can be so tempting to receive something early that we know will belong to us eventually. Or sometimes we think that if we could just do some things our way, we’d be significantly happier.

Especially if we’re often thinking about or experiencing part of something we want to have more control (or just fewer restrictions) over, it can be so hard to be patient. Sometimes holding back might even feel just plain wrong!

When something seems so close, we might think we just need one more dollar, one more opportunity, one more obstacle out of the way and then we’ll truly be happy.

Sometimes we let waiting taint the gift because we start to feel ownership over something that’s promised to us, but it isn’t the right time for us to have it yet.

So we might demand our “share” early like the younger son did.

And when we receive it, we feel free—like a weight has been lifted off of our shoulders because we’ve been obsessing over it for so long.

But it’s a shallow, short-lived, and superficial freedom. For many possible reasons.

We might not be mature enough to handle the responsibility of the gift we’re granted. Or maybe the gift needs to “cook” a little longer before it’s ready to be received and experienced in full. Or maybe something else is happening altogether that God knows, but we don’t know.

But hindsight is 20/20. And the younger son became filled with shame because he realized how quickly he’d wasted an inheritance that was supposed to last him a lifetime, and possibly beyond his lifetime to his children and children’s children.

Going back to a parent (or a respected authority figure) in shame, especially if you’ve insulted them or taken them for granted, can be humiliating.

But the prodigal son’s choices, though selfish, opened his eyes extra wide to exactly what he had taken for granted while living in his father’s house.

He realized his mistake, took accountability for his actions, and understood that he ruined his relationship with his father. That’s what prompted him to return to him as a servant, rather than as his son.

Even though he’d lost everything, he returned home in a better state of mind—with humility and hope that he’d at least be able to live a decent life, even if he couldn’t return to the high place he had before.

That’s commendable.

Being grateful for little is a much better mindset than taking a lot for granted.

When we feel like the father

Even if we’re not parents, we can still empathize with the father who just wanted his loved one back home.

One of the deepest pains we can experience is rejection.

When we love someone and express that love by preparing something for them with the utmost care, and they don’t recognize or accept it—that just hurts. Plain and simple.

The father had no idea if he’d ever see his son again, and knowing that surely crushed him.

It must have been excruciating watching his son pack up and leave home. But this father knew he’d done his best to raise his son well, and now he was an adult. So he didn’t stop him from leaving. He allowed him to make his own decisions for his own life.

Even though rejection can cut deep, it doesn’t cancel out the love a person has for one of their own. Though it would have seemed so easy (maybe even appropriate) for the father to say, “I told you so,” or ask, “What were you thinking?” it didn’t even cross his mind when he saw his lost son had returned.

He didn’t reflect anger or resentment or even pain once he heard the news. Instead, he poured all of his energy into loving his son rather than criticizing him. His deepest desire was that his estranged son would come back home—and that eclipsed everything else.

Love is so risky because it doesn’t force someone to return that love.

True love is freely given, and it doesn’t try to control.

And true love forgives.

The father was so full of relief when he heard his son was returning home that he ran to meet him (verse 20) and immediately threw him a huge party (verse 22-24).

We’ve heard the old adage, “If you love someone, let them go.” That’s exactly what the father did.

And if we’ve ever had to let someone go, whether that’s a child, a sibling, a parent, a friend, or even a mentor or mentee…how sweet would that relief and joy be if they willingly come back into our lives!

Seeing God’s character in the story

Photo by Christian ErfurtTara Winstead

But where is Jesus in all of this? Why did He tell this story to the Pharisees?

The father in the story represents Jesus Christ.

Sometimes Jesus will give us what we are asking Him for even though He knows we aren’t ready for it, and even when He knows it will draw us further away from Him.

But he is always waiting for us to return home.

And when we return with a humble and repentant heart, like the prodigal son did, Jesus rejoices and embraces us not as His servant, but as His child.

Anyone—no matter their background, culture, or history—can come to Jesus and receive His love. And all of heaven will celebrate (Luke 15:7).

This is the lesson Jesus had for the Pharisees, His disciples, and all His followers who were listening that day. And it’s still a lesson He wants us to understand today.

The Prodigal Son tells us that we can return to God even when we’ve left Him. And He will always welcome us home (Ephesians 2:1-9).

All we have to do is take the first step toward Him, and He will meet us on the way.

Want to learn more about other parables Jesus told in the Bible?

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We might think we don’t have much to offer. Or feel scared to try something and risk failing.

But these tips can help. We can:

• Ask God for help to see what talents we have.
• Ask how and where we can use our talents.
• Pray about how to use our talents for God’s glory.
• See where our church or our community needs our talents.
• Pray for wisdom about where to spend or save money.
• Think about what we have that could bless others.

Like all Bible parables (and onions), it has layers.

When we peel back those layers, we find practical guidance for living fulfilling, productive, and meaningful lives. It teaches us the importance of using our God-given gifts while we wait for Jesus to return. And at its core, it’s about understanding Jesus, His character, and His perfect plan for our lives.

Here’s a sneak peek of what you’ll learn:

• The big picture of the parable of the talents
• The meaning of the parable and why it matters
• Understanding Bible themes of stewardship
• Why the third servant’s character matters
• How Jesus’ parable applies today

So let’s start peeling back the layers—starting with the basics.

The big picture of the parable of the talents

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A rich man was about to travel to a faraway country. But before he left, he gave everything he owned to his three servants. He gave ten talents to the first servant, five talents to the second servant, and one talent to the third servant.

Quick Fact: A talent was about 6,000 days’ wages (20 years’ worth of paychecks).¹ (That’s a hefty chunk of change.)

The first two servants invested their talents and doubled their profits. But then there was the third servant—sometimes referred to as the “lazy servant,” “slothful servant,” or “worthless servant.” He buried his master’s money in the ground and made absolutely nothing.

After a long time, the master returned. He found the first two servants were faithful with the company finances, so he gave them bonuses.

But the third servant immediately started making excuses for his actions. And he attacked his boss’ character while he was at it.

So the master gave him some intense (but fair) critique. He took back the talent, entrusting it to His first servant to invest instead. And oh yes, he fired the lazy servant.

Sounds harsh at first, but let’s dig a layer deeper.

The meaning of the parable and why it matters

Here’s the short answer. This parable helps us understand that everything we have is a gift from God. No matter how big or how small. And we’re responsible for how we use those gifts while we wait for Jesus to return.

Let’s see what that means in reality.

In the New Testament, Jesus told parables to simplify and drive home important points. He intentionally used symbolism or examples that were familiar to those He was speaking to.

So what points was He making with this parable?

First, let’s see what the details represent:

• The Master: Jesus
• Faraway country: Heaven
• Servants: People who claim to follow Jesus Christ (a.k.a. Christians)
• Talents (or minas, in Luke): could be money, gifts, skills, time, health, etc.
• Master’s return: Jesus’ return to earth at the Second Coming
• Settling accounts: When Jesus judges how His people used what He gave them

Next, it’s helpful to understand the timing.

Jesus told this parable when He was near Jerusalem. He was about to die for the sins of the world, get resurrected, and leave earth for heaven.

He starts by saying, “For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country…” (Matthew 25:14, NKJV, emphasis added).

Jesus knew His disciples didn’t understand that He was leaving. Most were still hoping He was about to take over Israel as king and start ruling and conquering.

Jesus wanted them—and everyone in the future—to know that even though He would ascend back to heaven, He would come back. And until then, His servants (the people who accept His gift of life) have responsibilities.

Going down a layer, we find even more themes, like:

1. Everything we have is a gift from God (we don’t truly own any of it).
2. No skill, gift, talent, or resource is too small to use for God.
3. Using our gifts for God blesses others, and ourselves.
4. The more we use what God gives us, the more we can gain.
5. To use our gifts well, we need to know God better.
6. Understanding God’s character creates confidence, not fear of failure.
7. Mistakes happen, but we can own our mistakes and ask for help.
8. God gives each of us only the amount of responsibility we can handle.
9. We reflect Christ and the kingdom of God by how we use our talents.

It’s not a complete list. But it does paint the picture of loving guidance from a caring father. Not someone waiting for the people He saved to slip up like the third servant seemed to think.

Understanding the Bible’s theme of stewardship

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First, what is a steward? According to The Merriam-Webster Thesaurus, it’s “a person hired to perform household or personal services.”²

That means stewardship is the work of taking care of something for someone else. Stewards are not the owners but the caretakers of what the true owner entrusted to them.

What did Jesus entrust His people with? Well, let’s look again what the talents in the parable can represent.

• Money (the obvious)
• Talents and skills (like writing, healing, building, singing, etc.)
• Health (both mind and body)
• Time (the most precious resource)
• Gifts of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:7-11)
• Attitude, character, and speech³
• Influence

When Jesus went to heaven, He left His people in charge. The servants in the parable represented their master in business while he was gone. And Christians represent Jesus on earth while He’s in heaven.

Jesus holds Christians accountable for how they manage His gifts—whether they’re worth one dollar or one million dollars.

When God’s people are faithful with what He gives them to manage, He blesses their work and gives them more. But it’s not about overwhelming us with more work. It means God entrusts us more and more with important tasks, responsibilities, and opportunities.

“His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master’s joy” (Matthew 25:23, CSB).

The two faithful servants in the story didn’t see their master’s goods as their own. They saw the talents as something for them to manage, improve, and return to Him later.

Their master recognized their hard work and responsibility. And he knew he could trust them with more responsibility.

The first two servants understood their master’s expectations better than the third servant. And it made them better stewards.

Let’s explore the third servant’s character in more detail.

Why the third servant’s character matters

It’s tempting to pity the third servant’s fate at the end of the parable. Or to find it unfair because he got the least amount of His master’s money. It can even make us think of the saying, “The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.”

“So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 25:28-30, ESV).

But when we peel back the layers, we see it’s less about the money—it’s more about character:

• He had the least responsibility, so the bar was low…and he still didn’t even try to do anything.
• He didn’t see the talent—or any potential profit—as his master’s property.
• He didn’t act like he knew his master’s character (though he claimed to).
• He proved untrustworthy with even a small amount of money.
• He defended his unwise actions, lashed out, and didn’t apologize.

One key callout is that he didn’t understand his master’s character.

The servant called his master a “hard man” (Matthew 25:24, ESV). But the parable shows otherwise.

The master replies, “Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers…” (Matthew 25:27, ESV).

His master wasn’t expecting anything crazy. Only for the servant to do his job and put the money where it could make a difference. And the master was eager to teach.

When it came to the first two servants getting more talents, it might look like the rich were getting richer. But they were still only servants managing their master’s goods.
In the book Christ’s Object Lessons, Adventist Church cofounder Ellen White says:

“The man who neglected to improve his talent proved himself an unfaithful servant. Had he received five talents, he would have buried them as he buried the one. His misuse of the one talent showed that he despised the gifts of heaven.”⁴

The first two servants understood their master and knew to put their talents to use. Perhaps they’d spent more time learning from their master.

The third servant didn’t seem to understand his master or how the household worked. And he didn’t show any interest in learning. If he didn’t know how to use his talent, he could’ve asked his master or fellow servants for help.

So even though the third servant’s fate might feel unfair at first, it was the result of his own choices.

Now let’s learn why that matters for us today.

How Jesus’ parable applies to Christians today

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In the parable, Jesus gives us instructions for using what He’s given us for the good of His kingdom until He returns.

When Jesus returns (like the master in the parable), He’ll take His faithful servants to heaven. Then He’ll restore earth to its perfect state and bring us back here to live with Him for eternity (Revelation 21).

That’s what it means in the parable to “Enter into the joy of your master” (Matthew 25:21, ESV).

But the third servant wasn’t working toward this. Like others who choose against Jesus, they would feel miserable in a world that operated on principles they aren’t interested in operating on. And Jesus knows that, so He’ll act for the good of His people and His kingdom.

By serving God and others with our talents, we step into His perfect plans for the world. We show by how we live now whether we’ll be happy, fulfilled, and faithful on the New Earth.

God created us in His own image—to live in harmony with His kingdom. He “saw all that He had made, and it was very good indeed” (Genesis 1:31, CSB).

God made good things, and He created us to make good things with what He gave us.

When God made the first humans, He told them to take care of His world. He put them in charge of things like gardening, animal care, creating families, and finding sustenance (Genesis 1:28-29, Genesis 2:15-24).

And that hasn’t changed.

It was part of God’s perfect plan. And even though sin entered the world (in Genesis 3), we still have responsibilities to manage for the kingdom of God.

Everything we have is a gift from God—time, money, houses, kids, pets, health, jobs, and so much more.

As Christians, God asks us to manage those things like they’re His—not ours.

And that includes the work we do, whether we’re fixing cars, singing songs, or selling shoes.

So managing talents really isn’t about money. That’s just one way to understand the concept. It’s about anything we have or can do that contributes to the world around us and reflects the character of Christ.

As Christians, we’re representatives of God’s kingdom. And we can use our influence (everything we have) to point people to—or away from—Jesus.⁴

And don’t forget the Gifts of the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12:4–11, like wisdom, faith, and healing. The Bible says we each receive those gifts for the “common good” (Corinthians 12:7, ESV).

That’s right—for the common good.

When the third servant buried his talent in the ground, he might’ve kept from losing it. But it wasn’t helping him or anyone else.

It was like it never even existed.

So while one could make the connection that burying his talent was like an act of protection, or like putting it in a savings account, that wasn’t the case. The talent wasn’t at risk. And the stock market or other highly-volatile investment options didn’t exist yet, so there would be no reason to worry about losing the talent’s value by investing it.

It was more like stuffing his talent into the back of a closet and out of sight—with no intention of ever using it. And if we see that in the light of neglected skills and responsibilities, it’s no wonder the master was disappointed.

Psalm 139:14 says we are, “fearfully and wonderfully made” (ESV). God has good plans for our lives (Jeremiah 29:11). And He gives us the tools, talents, and resources to fulfill those plans.

The more we put God’s gifts to good use, the more we reveal to others how wonderful our God (and Master) is. We can be a blessing to others—and we’re blessed in turn.

And as we’ve learned, it’s not always about money. It can mean we gain more opportunities, talents, or faith.

If we make a profit, we have more to give. If we learn new things, we can teach someone else. And in the process, we grow, feel fulfilled, and have more confidence in who God made us.

Key takeaways

The parable of the talents shows we all have skills, talents, and resources to manage. It’s about serving God and others with what we have—even if it’s only the breath in our lungs.

Nothing we have is ours. It’s all God’s and He can give us more. So there’s less pressure to hold onto it with a death grip.

The only way to fail (according to this parable) is to deliberately do nothing.

It’s not about earning our way into heaven or working for God’s favor.

Jesus used the parable to teach us how to live and enjoy the life He planned for us before sin existed. Then we’ll be ready to share His joy in a perfect world when He returns.

Want to peel back the layers on more parables?

1. Dybdahl, Jon L. Andrews Study Bible, NKJV. Berrien Springs, MI: Andrews University Press, 2010, 1286, note on Matthew 25:15. [↵]
2. The Merriam-Webster Thesaurus, Springfield, Mass: Merriam-Webster, 2005, p. 666. [↵]
3. White, G. Ellen, “Talents,” Christ’s Object Lessons, 1900. [↵]
4. White, G. Ellen, “Talents,” Christ’s Object Lessons, 2017, p. 230. [↵]

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Using an old way of thinking to do something that’s never been done before doesn’t always work. In fact, the two can be downright incompatible and doomed for failure.

Any system that doesn’t allow for growth will not stand the test of time.

Jesus tried to teach this lesson to the Pharisees using two illustrations in a parable: patching old garments with new material and putting new wine into old wineskins.

This short parable appears in three places in the New Testament: Matthew 9:14-17, Mark 2:18-22, and Luke 5:33-39. And as we study these analogies, we can find timeless lessons.

We’ll look at:

• Why the Pharisees questioned Jesus
• Unshrunk cloth on a new garment
• New wine in old wineskins
• How we can apply these lessons to our lives today

Let’s begin by looking at the context—the events that led Jesus to tell this parable in the first place.

Why the Pharisees questioned Jesus

The confrontation that prompted the garment and wineskins analogies was not a random happenstance. The Pharisees had taken notice of Jesus from early on in His public ministry.

But it wasn’t because they thought He was the Messiah. It was because they felt like He was dishonoring their traditions and breaking the religious laws they followed so closely.

Photo by Tanner Mardis on Unsplash

He was also gaining a devout following, causing them to become concerned that His actions and influence would threaten their power and position among the Jews.

For a long time, Pharisees were generally well respected. They were known for following Old Testament laws completely and literally. These laws went beyond the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20)—they included the mosaic laws (found in the first five books of the Bible) and other religious laws, often called “ceremonial laws” (found throughout the rest of the Old Testament).

In other words, Pharisees tried to seek internal holiness and purity through external means—by dedicating their lives to the strict application of the rules and rituals in the Old Testament, which were laid out for Israel after they were liberated from Egyptian slavery.

Jesus, however, was more concerned with restoring relationships with God and demonstrating what love looked like. It was time for Israel to mature spiritually.

So He healed the sick, raised the dead, cast out demons, preached new meaning into Scripture, reached out to “Gentiles,” and even “broke” the Sabbath…or the Pharisees’ understanding of the Sabbath (Mark 2:23-24).

Jesus’ ways didn’t fit within the Pharisees’ religious framework. From their point of view, as Pastor John Nixon II, MDiv, explains, He was “in violation of the well-known laws and religious rituals that all God-fearing Jews would have kept even from their youth.”¹

That, as you can imagine, directly conflicted with their efforts to enforce strict obedience among the Jews. New Testament professor Craig Bloomberg, PhD, points out that the Pharisees primarily “wanted to help people know where the boundaries of obedience and disobedience were…to make obedience possible in every area of life.²

And by doing so, they elevated themselves as prestigious, powerful, and favored by God above others—all while criticizing those who didn’t measure up.

To keep things this way, they also added their own rituals and requirements and applied Old Testament laws in extreme ways.³

For example, it was common for Israelites to fast once on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 23:26-28) and then on an “as needed” basis, but Pharisees routinely fasted twice a week (Luke 18:11-12).

And while tithing 10% of earnings was one of the laws of Moses (Leviticus 27:30-32), Pharisees would take it a step further and even tithe on the herbs they grew (Matthew 23:23).

So the problem wasn’t that Pharisees kept religious laws…it was that they fixated on technicalities while failing to practice the principles behind the laws, like “justice and mercy and faithfulness” (Matthew 23:23, ESV).

As a result, following these laws to the letter became a nearly impossible load for the people to carry (Matthew 23:1-4, Luke 11:46) because collectively, the Pharisees lacked compassion and empathy.

Which is why Jesus said of them,

“They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger” (Matthew 23:4, ESV).

 

“So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” (Matthew 23:28, ESV).

This is also what Jesus meant when He said He came not to disregard or destroy the law, but to clarify its interpretation and practice through His ministry (Matthew 5:17). All biblical laws pointed to Him and His lifestyle, which were based on relational virtues like love, mercy, and sacrifice.⁴

But the Pharisees were preoccupied with their own agenda and their own perception of the Messiah—a military conqueror who would restore the Jews as a nation by defeating their Roman oppressors.

So, just a few verses before the parable, we see the results of all these things simmering in their minds. They start grumbling and questioning Jesus when they see Him carefree and socializing with tax collectors and other “sinners” (Mark 2:15-16).

Tax collectors worked for the Roman government, so Jewish tax collectors were not only considered traitors to their own people, but they also were known to take more money than required and keep the extra for themselves.⁵

Yet Jesus had called Matthew, a tax collector also known as Levi, to be one of His disciples. Matthew then invited Jesus and the other disciples to eat with him at his house (Luke 5:29).

So when Jesus hears some Pharisees asking about the company He keeps, Jesus says, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mathew 9:12-13, ESV).

Then another question was posed, asking why Jesus’ disciples don’t fast like the disciples of the Pharisees or like the disciples of John the Baptist do (Luke 5:33).

Here is where Jesus sees the value of a parable to help the people understand the big picture. He uses the wineskins and garment illustrations to show that their rigid old ways of thinking are not compatible with the spiritual growth and maturity of Jesus’ ways, which are all about fulfilling the true intent behind the law.

Let’s take a closer look at both of these illustrations to get a clearer picture of what Jesus means.

Unshrunk cloth on a new garment

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Buying worn, faded jeans with holes isn’t unusual today. But in the days of Jesus, clothes with tears or holes were patched so they could remain functional.

Jesus appealed to this familiar concept when He pointed out that you don’t use a piece of new cloth to patch an old piece of clothing (Mark 2:21). The old garment is weak, worn, and already shrunk while the new cloth isn’t. The new cloth, then, would pull on the old cloth as it shrunk and would likely make a new tear.

The new cloth would just make the blemish on the original piece of clothing look more unsightly instead of making it look like one uniform piece of clothing. And if it creates a new tear, it becomes completely useless as a patch.

When the materials don’t match, they work against each other instead of together for the benefit of the whole.

In using this analogy, Jesus is saying to the Pharisees that:

1. Something that needs mending requires well-matched material, and
2. Jesus’ enlightened fulfillment of the law isn’t just a “patch” to be applied to the many laws and traditions the Pharisees follow.⁶

There needs to be a whole new system.

The Pharisees’ old system was spiritually immature because they couldn’t see beyond the rituals themselves. It didn’t match Jesus’ new approach to fulfilling the law and spreading the Gospel.

Jesus’ new system, later called “the Way” (John 14:6, Acts 24:14), was actually the beginning of early Christianity (Acts 11:26).

Want to learn more about how the Christian church started? Take a look at The Early Christian Church and Paul the Apostle: His Life and Role in Christianity.

New wine in old wineskins

After the cloth and patch illustration, Jesus included another helpful analogy.

Today, wine is aged in a variety of containers such as steel, cement, terracotta, or oak barrels.

But in the days of Jesus, people used animal skins, most often goat skins, to hold fluids.⁷

After fresh grape juice was put into these soft pouches, they would gradually stretch because of the gas produced from fermentation. That’s why wineskins were only useful for this fermentation process once.

Putting new wine in old skin that had already been stretched would make the skin burst.⁸

So new wine and old wineskins weren’t compatible because old wineskins lost their ability to expand.

New wine needed fresh wineskins that hadn’t been stretched yet and were still flexible.

Jesus uses this metaphor to show the Pharisees that their hardened hearts and old ways of thinking had lost the ability to grow. They became stiff and inflexible…like old wineskins.

Jesus’ new way required a new, deeper perspective of God’s plan of salvation and the whole intent behind it. His way required growth, adaptability, and flexibility…like new wineskins.

And that explains why the Pharisees didn’t recognize Jesus as the Messiah He really was. He didn’t fit into their assumptions and pharisaical system of thought. They poured so much of their self-worth into their own ways that they became stubborn and no longer teachable.

How these lessons apply to our lives today

When answering the Pharisees’ question about who He was spending time with, Jesus left them with a call to action—to “learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice’” (Matthew 9:13, ESV).

This can be a valuable lesson for us to learn, as well.

The Pharisees were obsessed with sacrifice and ceremonial purity. But without mercy, this pursuit leads to isolation and prejudice…favoring one’s own group and culture over another, as the Pharisees demonstrated.

But Jesus’ ministry emphasized purity of heart, which is achieved through faith and dependence on God.

Coupling sacrifice with mercy, then, leads to building positive relationships with all kinds of people, as Jesus demonstrated.

Here are some ways to live out the spiritual lessons Jesus taught.

Use methods that fit the needs of the community and the Gospel mission, like Jesus did.

In this passage, Jesus isn’t saying that the older something is, the less useful it becomes.

He also isn’t saying that just because something is new, it’s automatically better.

Both have value, regardless of how old or new they are. This principle isn’t actually about age at all.

Something becomes useful in spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ if it’s compatible with the mission of the Gospel.⁹

That’s the measure we should be using.

Keeping tradition for the sake of tradition doesn’t always meet the needs of the community it’s supposed to serve.

Similarly, just being “new” doesn’t automatically fix a problem. It might be flashy and sparkly, but it may not meet the needs of the community it’s supposed to serve, either.

The method must match the need.¹⁰

For example, fasting was a spiritual practice in Jesus’ day that was associated with mourning, and weddings were (and continue to be) a time to celebrate. Weddings were so joyous, in fact, that “many rabbis taught that weddings took priority over many religious obligations.”¹¹

That’s why, right before the cloth and wineskin illustrations, Jesus answered the Pharisees’ question about fasting by saying:

“Can the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast. But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days” (Mark 2:19-20, NKJV).

Because Jesus was physically present with His disciples, there was no need for them to fast because they didn’t need to mourn. The “bridegroom” was with them.

The disciples would fast, though, once Jesus returned to heaven and was no longer physically present with them.

In this case, fasting (mourning) did not meet the needs of His disciples.

Jesus Himself met their needs.

Always be teachable.

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The Christian life calls for strong faith, but also a healthy amount of humility.

We have to remain teachable.

Living a Christian lifestyle means we’re constantly growing and improving in Christ. When we think we know everything, it gets in the way of us learning anything new.

Here are some questions we can ask ourselves to help us remain teachable:

• “How do personal or cultural assumptions and biases influence my thinking?”
• “To what extent have I been conditioned to believe things that might not be true?”
• “How do the beliefs I have uncritically accepted keep me from seeing things as they are?”¹²
• “Are there any old ways of thinking that are getting in the way of spiritual truths being revealed to me?”

Isaiah 55:8-9 says, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts” (ESV).

The Pharisees’ assumptions about what the Messiah would do and how He would do it blinded them to the “new thing” that was right before their eyes in Jesus Christ.

It’s easy to keep doing things how they’ve always been done. And traditions can be healthy and meaningful. But we also need to be willing to ask ourselves why we continue our traditions and be willing to grow beyond our comfort zones.

It takes some real effort, but we can learn to recognize assumptions and biases within our thinking that could affect our relationships with others and with God.

Don’t put God in a box.

When we remain flexible in our thinking, we give God infinite space to work in and through us in ways we can’t even imagine.

The principles Jesus demonstrated, like loving others, reconciliation, standing up for justice and mercy, having unwavering faith in God these are principles that have not and will not change.

But times change and cultures continually shift, so the methods God encourages us to use to practice these principles may look different.

When the Israelites were in Egyptian captivity, God saved them by parting the Red Sea so the Israelites could walk on dry land to their freedom (Exodus 14).

Many generations later, the Israelites are in captivity again, but this time by the Babylonians.

And the Israelites are discouraged and despondent and waiting to hear from the Lord.

It’s during this bleak time that God encourages the Israelites by saying, “Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert” (Isaiah 43:19, CSB).

He saved them before and He would take them out of captivity again—but not the same way He did it in the past.

Just because God used one method for one group at one time doesn’t mean He’ll use the same method at another time.

So if our thinking is rigid and inflexible, we might miss the blessing that’s right before us because it doesn’t look like we expect it to look.

Rigid thinking puts God in a box and limits what He can do in and through our lives.

He is a God of impossibilities (Matthew 17:20, Mark 9:23, Luke 18:27).

Ephesians 3:20-21 says, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever” (NKJV).

As we hold on to faith in Him, we can expect Him to do things in ways we’ve never seen before.

Accept your newness, too!

Photo by Clark Wilson on Unsplash

God makes us new, too.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17, ESV).

When a person gives their life to Jesus, that means their heart, their thinking, and their lifestyle will slowly change as an expression of love to Him.

Their old way of thinking and living will no longer be compatible with their new life in Christ.

That’s why there can sometimes be tension in the life of a Christian….tension between the old and the new.

When Jesus taught the disciples how to pray (Matthew 6:9-13), He said to ask for God’s “kingdom [to] come, Your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10, ESV).

Christians are called to continually pray for God’s will to be done in their lives and through His people.

And that will be revealed in the newness of our lives as we get to know Him more and more.

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2, ESV).

While becoming transformed and applying all these lessons might feel overwhelming or even impossible…like it’s just too much for one person to do…we can remember that God sent the Holy Spirit to help us (John 14:26, 1 Corinthians 3:16).

All we have to do is ask (Matthew 21:22).

Want to learn about more illustrations Jesus used in parables?

Related Articles

1. Nixon II, John. “Old Wineskins,” Takoma Park Seventh-day Adventist Church, January 5, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDRFIEbtMoc. [↵]
2. Blomberg, Craig. “Religious Backgrounds (Part 2),” biblicaltraining.org, https://www.biblicaltraining.org/learn/institute/survey-gospels-acts-nt511/nt511-04-religious-backgrounds-2. [↵]
3. DelHousaye, John. “Jewish Groups at the Time of the New Testament,” in The ESV Study Bible, Crossway, 2008, p. 1800. [↵]
4. Wilkins, Michael J. “Notes on Matthew,” in The ESV Study Bible, English Standard Version, Crossway, 2008 p. 1828. [↵]
5. Ryan, Joel. “Why Exactly Were Tax Collectors So Hated?” https://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-study/topical-studies/why-exactly-were-tax-collectors-so-hated.html. [↵]
6. Bayer, Hans. “Mark,” in The ESV Study Bible, English Standard Version, Crossway, 2008, p. 1897. [↵]
7. Keener, Craig. “Mark,” in NIV Cultural Background Study Bible, edited by John H. Walton and Craig S. Keener, Zondervan, 2016, p. 1689. [↵]
8. “Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers,” Biblehub, https://biblehub.com/commentaries/matthew/9-17.htm. [↵]
9. Nixon II, John. “Old Wineskins,” Takoma Park Seventh-day Adventist Church, January 5, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDRFIEbtMoc. [↵]
10. Ibid. [↵]
11. Keener, Craig. “Mark,” in NIV Cultural Background Study Bible, edited by John H. Walton and Craig S. Keener, Zondervan, 2016, p. 1689. [↵]
12. Paul, Richard and Linda Elder. “Essential Intellectual Traits,” The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking: Concepts and Tools 8th ed., Rowman & Littlefield, 2020. [↵]

More Answers

Have you ever been on the verge of sleep in the middle of a long lecture or sermon when suddenly the speaker takes a turn and begins to tell a story?

Interest is now sparked. We’re drawn to stories.

Stories are a point of connection, and they can be amazing tools to teach a lesson without boring listeners to tears with fact after fact, stat after stat, etc.

Jesus knew this. And during His ministry on earth, He told many stories recorded in the New Testament.

But not just any old stories. Matthew 13:3 tells us that “He told them many things in parables…” (ESV).

In fact, there are about 31 of Jesus’ parables in the synoptic gospels, which include Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

Considering this, Jesus Christ, who created us and knows us better than we know ourselves, surely had good reasons for using this method of teaching. So let’s learn more about the purpose and mechanics of parables. We’ll cover:

• What are parables?
• Why did Jesus use them?
• Looking at the parables in Scripture
  • Parables about forgiveness
  • Parables about love
  • Parables about stewardship
  • Parables about spreading the gospel
  • Parables about Christian living
  • Parables about Jesus’ soon return
• Are Jesus’ parables still relevant today?

Let’s start with definitions. Though the word “parable” isn’t all that common in today’s conversations, you’ll probably find its meaning to be familiar.

What are parables?

Parables are short stories that teach a moral lesson. Unlike metaphors or similes, parables use the whole story to teach a profound or fundamental truth.

That might sound similar to the definition of a fable, which is also a story meant to teach a general life lesson. However, most fables personify animals or other non-human elements, while parables tend to portray humans in more realistic or familiar situations. Additionally, parables are more likely to teach a spiritual lesson along with practical or social wisdom.¹

The Greek word for parable is parabolé, which means to “cast alongside.” The truth, in parables, is cast alongside a story to make it easier to understand and remember.

Parables are an excellent way to simplify a difficult concept, breaking things down into terms and situations we can understand.

They also can demonstrate the meaning and significance of a complex truth while showing how it can be applied to our lives.

The parables of Jesus used common parts of life—like farming, property management, or baking—to create stories that were relatable to His audience.

The religious leaders of Jesus’ time were not known for their ability to teach in easy-to-understand, interesting ways. They were more prone to quote long passages of Scripture with little application or interpretation.

Jesus used parables as a radical new way of reaching people of all ages, all abilities, all levels of education, etc. After all, to be able to apply deeper concepts to familiar constructs takes more than mere memorization of Bible verses. That’s why those who listened to Him “were astonished at His teaching, for He was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes” (Matthew 7:28–29, ESV).

Why did Jesus use parables?

Jesus used parables because He wanted powerful truths of Scripture to be available and understandable to everyone—not just to the elite religious scholars of the time.

The teaching style of the current religious leaders was impersonal and mostly information-based. They were more interested in maintaining their elevated status, wanting respect and authority for all the Scripture they knew. And it wasn’t uncommon for them to use Bible verses out of context in order to support their own agendas.

Jesus’ methods were in contrast to this practice. He knew it would be more useful, meaningful, and memorable to teach through these simple, relatable stories.

Photo by Mike Erskine on Unsplash

Embedded in each parable are principles that are timelessly applicable. And as always, Jesus’ main message is that He loves us and wants every one of us to be in heaven with Him for eternity.

Jesus’ teaching style showed love and compassion while He told stories rich with meaning. His words gently guided the listeners toward truth without condemning or judging the crowd.

Here are 30 of Jesus’ parables divided into six categories.

• Parables about forgiveness
• Parables about love
• Parables about stewardship
• Parables about spreading the gospel
• Parables about the principles of Christian living
• Parables about Jesus’ soon return

Each section below lists parables by category, as well as a short summary and verse references so you can do your own additional research.

Parables about forgiveness

Jesus offers forgiveness whenever we ask for it (1 John 1:9). These parables are about God’s mercy and the peace we receive from extending that spirit of forgiveness to others.

The unforgiving servant (Matthew 18:23-35)

In this parable, a man was forgiven a large debt by his employer. However, after being forgiven, the man found someone who owed him a small amount of money and demanded immediate payment—reflecting none of the mercy he had just received.

One of Jesus’ principle teachings was the importance of forgiving others in the same way we’ve been forgiven for our sins. When we mess up, Jesus is faithful in forgiving us when we sincerely come to Him. In the same way, Jesus expects us to show that same spirit of mercy toward people who have wronged us.

The prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32)

A father of two sons watched his youngest take his inheritance and squander it. The prodigal son spent the money on parties and fake friends. When the money ran out, the son was so desperate and starving that he got a job at a pig farm. He even considered eating the pig slop because he was so hungry!

The son then realized that even his father’s servants received good food and accommodations. He decided to return home and ask his father to hire him. When he arrived, however, his father ran to meet him and welcomed him back with a party and rejoicing.

While this was happening, the elder brother was upset that his indulgent brother was being celebrated instead of his own diligent labor. He was focused on recognition for his work, rather than realizing He was already a fully-loved, appreciated part of the family. And his father would have reacted the very same way if he was in the place of his brother.

The parable of the prodigal son holds a beautiful message of redemption and unconditional love. The father in this story is a representation of Jesus. No matter how far any of us stray, the Father always welcomes us with open arms if we come back.

Parables about love

1 John 4:16 says that God is love. His character is love, and His message is love. Is it any wonder that Jesus took His time telling parables about His love for others and how we can have that same love in our lives?

The lost sheep (Matthew 18:10-14)

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A shepherd had 100 sheep but lost one. He left the rest of the sheep to search until he found the lost lamb.

Again, we get a new perspective of Jesus’ unfathomable love for humanity. It shows the length He will go to bring one lost person home. This parable shows how Jesus is interested in each individual, and that He would’ve still died on the cross even if only one person could’ve been saved.

The pearl of great price (Matthew 13:45-46)

A merchant was in the market for good pearls. When he found an expensive one he simply couldn’t pass up, he sold all he had to buy it.

In a like manner, Jesus gave everything He had to buy our redemption. That included giving His own life so we could have a way out of Satan’s powerful grip of sin, fear, and shame.

The friend at midnight (Luke 11:5-13)

This parable came right after Jesus taught His disciples how to pray. He showed them the Lord’s prayer as an example, then He continued with a story encouraging us to boldly bring our requests to God.

Jesus poses this situation:

What if a friend came to stay with you after a long trip, and you had no food to give them? Would you hurry to the house of another friend, even though it’s late at night, and ask them to give you food?

It’s not hard to imagine the response you might get.

“…‘Don’t bother me! The door is already locked, and my children and I have gone to bed. I can’t get up to give you anything’” (verse 7, CSB).

But the friend gives you food anyway. Because you asked.

Jesus wants us to know that we can come to Him in prayer with anything. No request is too big, too small, too silly or embarrassing, etc. He gives us permission to come to God “with shameless boldness” (verse 8, CSB) and ask Him for what we need. And He will answer our prayers.

“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened” (verses 9-10, NKJV).

The lost coin (Luke 15:8-10)

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A woman with ten silver coins lost one. She searched until she found it, then called her neighbors to rejoice with her.

This parable is similar to the parable of the lost sheep. It shows us the great love God has for every single person in existence, and gives us a glimpse into what happens in heaven when someone accepts the message of salvation. Luke 15:10 says,

“There is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (NKJV).

After reading this parable, there can be no doubt that God takes special interest in each one of us.

Parables about stewardship

It’s easy to forget that God blesses us with all the good things in our lives (James 1:17), even resources like money and time. Stewardship is about how to manage those resources in the most efficient manner, which shows our gratitude and faithfulness to God.

Maintaining good stewardship isn’t easy, but it’s an essential virtue in the development of good character. So Jesus made sure to address the subject in His parables.

The rich fool (Luke 12:16-21)

A rich farmer had a bountiful harvest—more than he could use or had room for. The man pulled down his barns and built bigger ones to accommodate the crops.

Sharing it didn’t even cross his mind—he was more concerned about always having more than enough food, so he could “take it easy; eat, drink, and enjoy” his life (verse 19, CSB).

The parables of Jesus often hold warnings about getting rich. The danger, Jesus says, is not in the money itself but in the way people start to trust in wealth and earthly power more than the real power and riches of God and His Kingdom.

The rich fool was so focused on the wealth he was hoarding that he neglected so many essential things in life: helping others, building friendships, and starting a relationship with God.

The ten talents (Matthew 25:14-30)

A man gave three employees a sum of “talents” (a form of currency/money) to keep for him before going on a trip. The first two invested their talents and made a profit, but the last employee buried his talent in the ground, making it essentially worthless.

God blesses people with talents. Talents are resources like money, time, or special abilities that can be used to further the gospel message and to show Jesus’ love to others.

In the parable of the ten talents, (which is a great play on words), the third servant buries the treasure he has been entrusted with instead of using it as an investment.

In the same way, when Christians are not willing to use their talents for the right cause, those talents become useless.

Parables about spreading the gospel

Part of Jesus’ mission on earth was to prepare His followers to be able to share His message of love and the plan for salvation to others. Jesus wanted to prepare people to tell the world about His astounding love for them. He wanted them to know He has a plan and is coming back.

The lamp (Mark 4:21-25)

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Jesus describes the impracticality of hiding a lamp under a basket. Why would we want to hide the light of something made to dispel darkness?

Matthew 5:13-16 also expresses this sentiment, noting that the “light” we have been given we should “shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven” (CSB).

Once we have an understanding of God’s love for us, it’s meant for sharing. And we can share the gospel by doing good things in our everyday lives and bringing glory to God.

The sower (Matthew 13:1-23)

A farmer sows seeds that end up on four different kinds of soil.

• The side of the road
• Rocky places
• Thorny areas
• Good soil

Jesus explains that this parable of the sower is about spreading the gospel and how people will accept it.

The seeds that fall on the side of the road get eaten by birds. That represents people who do not try to understand spiritual concepts. Like the birds, Satan snatches the truth from them.

The seeds on rocky soil refer to people who hear the gospel and get caught up in the excitement, but they do not continue to study or maintain their relationship with God. So their faith withers away. (Maybe it wasn’t real to begin with.)

Seeds that fell among weeds and thorns represent people who listened to God’s message, but the worries and preoccupation with life choked out the truth. They let fear get the best of them.

People who hear God’s message of salvation and surrender themselves to Him are like the seeds that fall onto good soil and grow into strong plants.

The mustard seed (Matthew 13:31-32)

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A man planted mustard seeds in his field. The seeds are tiny, but they grow into a huge tree that provides a welcoming shelter for many birds.

Jesus wanted to make it clear that He can work with even the smallest amount of belief. We all have to start somewhere! Regardless of the size of our faith, Jesus can grow it into something big and strong—something other people could even find refuge in.

Laborers in the vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16)

A vineyard owner went to hire workers early in the morning. He agreed to pay everyone a set price for the day, and hired several workers. Later in the day he hired more, and still later he hired even more. At the end of the day, all of the laborers were paid the same, regardless of how long they worked.

The ones who had been working all day questioned the fairness of that decision.

The underlying message is that all Christians are rewarded the same–a place in heaven and eternity with Christ. Whether someone was saved yesterday or 50 years ago, it doesn’t make a difference in God’s eyes. Adventists believe that we receive salvation through faith, not through merit by doing good things or donating money to a church.

Parables about principles of Christian living

The Bible is full of instructions on how to live life in a way that will ultimately bring us peace and happiness. When we follow the principles Jesus teaches in His parables, not only can we reveal His loving character to others, but we can protect ourselves from the harmful realities of living a Godless life as well.

The log in the eye (Matthew 7:1-5)

The individual in the parable was fixated on the fact that their brother had a speck of sawdust in his eye. Meanwhile, however, the speck-fixator had been walking around with a whole plank in his own eye.

Jesus was pointing out how easy it is to look past the flaws in our lives and pick at the faults in others. Judging others is not our job, according to the Bible. Rather, we should make sure we are living a life that glorifies God and show love to everyone we meet (Luke 6:37-42).

The good samaritan (Luke 10:29-37)

A Jewish man on a trip was robbed and beaten. Two church leaders passed by him, leaving him to die. Then, a Samaritan man found him and took him to an inn, where he paid for the man to be nursed back to health.

For a little historical context, the Jews and Samaritans did not get along back then. The majority of Jewish people believed the Samaritans were condemned and unclean. This adds to the significance that after the religious leaders ignored the wounded man, who shared their beliefs and culture, the dying man’s sworn enemy had compassion on him.

The essence of Christianity is loving others, no matter their differences. Jesus often spent time with the “outcasts” of His society. Gamblers, cheaters, prostitutes, and people with contagious diseases. He treated everyone with the same amount of love.

The persistent widow (Luke 18:1-8)

A local judge who didn’t care about anyone’s well-being had the power to help a poor widow, but wouldn’t. The widow asked for his help again and again until the judge granted her request just to get her to stop!

While an exaggerated example, it was to make a point. This was another parable about persistence in prayer. Verse 1 explains that Jesus was trying to teach His disciples that they “should pray always and not give up” (CSB).

The barren fig tree (Luke 13:6-9)

Image by Simon from Pixabay

A man planted a fig tree in his garden and returned every spring to see if it was going to produce fruit. Years passed, and the tree never grew any fruit, so the farmer decided he’d cut it down.

But the gardener asked if he could fertilize it and dig around it first, on the condition that if it bears fruit after one more year, then it wouldn’t get cut down. But if it continued to produce nothing, the gardener agreed to cut it down.

This parable is a reference to faith that isn’t demonstrated. People who claim to be Christians but never do anything for Christ are like the fig tree that has no fruit. They might be Christians in name only, because they don’t show Jesus’ love in the way they live.

The new cloth and the old garment (Mark 2:21-22)

In this parable, Jesus presented a well-known fact at that time. No one would sew a new piece of cloth onto an old garment, because the tear would just become worse.

The new cloth, in this parable, represents the gospel. The old cloth is our old way of living. It wouldn’t make sense to mix the two, as the old cloth would ruin the new garment. Wouldn’t it be better to let Jesus take the old things in our lives that have been a burden for so long and replace them with His way of living?

The growing seed (Mark 4:26-29)

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The main character of this parable scattered some seeds on the ground, then went about his business. Later he found out the seeds had sprouted, but he didn’t know how. Growth came about, even though he wasn’t there to see it.

Jesus is making the point that sometimes Christians spread the gospel without even knowing. By living daily life in a way that follows Jesus’ teachings, Christians are a representation of His love. And without knowing it, they are planting seeds of curiosity or faith that can grow on their own until someone else comes along to nurture that growth.

That’s why it matters how we live. We’re representing Jesus always. We never know when we might be planting seeds that will sprout!

The two sons (Matthew 21:28-32)

A father asked his two sons to work in the vineyard. The first son downright refused, but later he was sorry for being rude and went to work. The second son assured his father that he would go work in the vineyard, but never did.

This parable demonstrates how actions do indeed speak louder than words. At first, we feel a tendency to get upset with the son that refused. He should have had more respect, right?

But in the end, his actions proved to be better for everyone than the seemingly agreeable son who didn’t come through. Our words mean little if not backed up by our actions as well (James 2:26).

The hidden treasure (Matthew 13:44)

A man discovered buried treasure in a field, so he quickly went home, sold everything he had and bought the land.

The point of this parable is that the reward for following Jesus is greater than anything the world can offer us. The farmer in the story is trading a few possessions for something of far greater value. In a similar way, Christians trade the earthly pleasures, that may appear pleasing here, for eternal life.

The Pharisee and the tax collector (Luke 18:9-14)

Two men went to pray at a church. One, a religious leader, stood and prayed aloud about what a good person he was, thanking God that he was not like other people and boasting about all he did for the church.

The second man, a tax collector, stood far away from anyone else and could barely lift his eyes as he prayed for forgiveness.

The stark difference between the pharisee and the tax collector lies in their attitudes toward prayer and how they viewed themselves. The pharisee was vain and self-righteous—he made sure everyone heard his prayer. And the tax collector humbled himself (James 4:10) before the powerful God he was addressing.

It’s not hard to guess which prayer was more sincere…

The leaven (Matthew 13:33-34)

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A little bit of leaven (or yeast) spreads throughout bread dough and causes the whole loaf to rise.

Some things in life are small or minor, but they have a wide-ranging effect. Just like a little bit of yeast causes the whole loaf of bread to rise, a little bit of faith can yield big results.

This can work the other way, too, however. Sometimes just one negative thought or one sin can spread all over.

The divided kingdom (Mark 3:23-27)

A kingdom in civil war cannot stand.

The main point of this parable is that there is no way to serve God and continue to do things that go against His will. It is impossible to serve God and Satan at the same time (Matthew 6:24). We can’t be allied with both sides.

The heart of man (Mark 7:14-23)

In this parable, Jesus taught that it’s not what goes into a man that defiles him, but ultimately what comes out of his mouth (or in his actions) that shows the real state of his heart.

At the time, religious leaders emphasized ceremony and ritual, especially when it came to avoiding things perceived as “unclean.”

And often, this was done at the neglect of a sincere, humble faith. It was the works that were upheld.

Jesus was expressing that what’s inside our minds is more important than ceremony. Our everyday speech and actions are the best indicators of the condition of our spirituality, because they reflect what’s inside of us.

Parables about Jesus’ soon return

Part of Jesus’ plan to save us is to return to earth once again, this time to take His believers to heaven. The next few parables help explain this exciting and anticipated event.

The wedding feast (Matthew 22:1-14)

People were invited to attend a wedding but made excuses about why they couldn’t go. This is because they really didn’t want to be there. So, the groom opened up the invitations to everyone around, even people from the streets, and they were happy to go.

The marriage feast is a representation of heaven. Jesus offered salvation (the invitation to the wedding) first to specially chosen people (Jews), but leaders and many others rejected that message—even while acting like they accepted it. This parable portrays that heaven is for everyone. It does not matter what background anyone has or what society believes of them. As long as people are willing to listen and follow Jesus, heaven is open for them. Heaven is for those who truly want to be there.

The ten virgins (Matthew 25:1-13)

Ten young women were at a wedding, waiting for the groom to arrive so they could attend the wedding. Five had prepared for the wait by bringing extra oil for their lamps, while the other five did not. When the unprepared five ran out of oil, they begged for more. They ended up leaving to buy more oil, but then they arrived too late, and were unable to attend the wedding.

The wedding in this parable symbolizes the second coming of Christ. Since we don’t know when Jesus is coming again, this story helps us see the importance of being ready at all times.

The weeds among the wheat (Matthew 13:24-30)

A farm hand noticed that his employer’s field of wheat was full of weeds, so he asked if they should tear the weeds out. But the farmer knew that because of how close things were growing, and how similar the weeds looked to the wheat, they would end up pulling out both the weeds and the wheat.

Similar to the parable of the log in the eye, this story reveals that it’s God’s job to pass judgment, not ours. On Judgment Day, God, who knows our hearts, will determine whether individuals have been faithful or not. Christians are asked not to discriminate against others, categorizing people as “wheat” or “weeds,” but to live in harmony and show His love to everyone.

The faithful and wicked servants (Mark 13:34-37)

A homeowner left to travel indefinitely, leaving his servants in charge of his house. The servants knew they had to consistently keep the house ready for their employer’s return, since they wouldn’t know when it would be.

The exact time of the second coming of Jesus is not for us to know (Matthew 25:13). Because of this, it’s important to always be ready, just like the servants left in charge of their employer’s household in his absence.

The net (Matthew 13:47-50)

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Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to the process of fishing. Nets are thrown out to collect fish, then fishermen sort through the catch later and keep the good ones.

Again, Jesus points out that it is not our place to judge, but to tell as many people about the gospel as possible.

The nets represent efforts to spread the gospel. That’s our job.

The rest is up to God. In the end, He will know which people have accepted His sacrifice and which people have truly rejected the gift of salvation.

The budding fig tree (Mark 13: 28-33)

Jesus pointed out that when the fig tree starts to grow leaves, it’s a sign that spring is approaching.

Have you ever watched for the trees along the road to go from a gloomy gray to a vibrant green? Jesus was using the example of waiting for the fig tree to bud as an indication of summer in relation to the Second Coming. Jesus provided us with signs that clue us into the nearness of His coming.

“So you also, when you see these things happening, know that it is near—at the doors! Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is” (Mark 13:29-33, NKJV).

The tenant farmers (Mark 12:1-9)

A man rented out his vineyard while he was traveling. He sent servants to check on the property, but the renters either beat them and sent them away or killed them. Finally, the owner sent his son, thinking that surely the renters would respect him, but they killed the son as well.

Half biography and half parable, this story stirred up trouble with the religious leaders in the audience. In the parable, Jesus was talking about the people who would eventually put Him, the Son of God, to death.

Are the parables of Jesus still relevant today?

Especially since the parables of Jesus Christ use symbols and situations to explore a concept, they continue to be relevant. In a time when hypocritical religious leaders made religion a burden, Jesus taught a radical new way of life.

Today, we live in a world where we’re bombarded with messages to look inward and follow our own inclinations. But Jesus pleads with us to look toward Him, the only source of happiness, peace, and balance.

The truth that He presented in each parable was relatable to everyone, no matter their economic circumstance or place in society. As long as their minds were open to the truth, they could understand.

Each parable holds special meaning for each reader, so we encourage you to take a deeper look and discover what Jesus might be telling you!

If you would like to further explore Jesus’ ministry on earth, check out The Life, Death and Resurrection of Jesus and The Son of God pages.

1.  Fable, Parable, and Allegory | literature | Britannica [↵]

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