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Monthly Question Page
Q. Could you please explain what a parable is, and also, why the Lord spoke in parables?
A. The word “parable” is from the Greek word Parabole, and this is derived from Paraballo, which signifies “to place beside,” “to place one thing beside another,” as in making a comparison, a “simile,” “similitude,” “parable.” A parable was not a fable or fairy-tale, but a story which illustrated a moral principle or truth regarding the ways of God.
When the Lord spoke in parables, a short narrative was related, which had a hidden meaning in its various details. When its interpretation was understood, it would stay in the mind more than if only the truths contained in the interpretation had been given.
The disciples asked the Lord why He spoke to the people in parables. He replied, “Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given” (Matthew 13:11), although some of the parables were so plain that the chief priests and Pharisees sensed that He was referring to them. “And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard His parables, they perceived that He spake of them” (Matthew 21:45).
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