This parable of Jesus is found in Luke 13:6-9. It is short, but powerful. Its lessons should serve as a warning to each of us.

The purpose of a fig tree is to bear figs. That may seem like a foolish statement, but it is important for us to realize that the Lord was not really talking about trees, but people.

The primary application of this parable was for the Jewish people of the first century. The Messiah was living in their midst and they did not accept Him. “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him (John 1:11). When Christ first delivered the parable, it was not too late for them to change. But if they did not repent, they would be “cut down.” They did not repent and the nation was destroyed in A.D. 70.

The lessons we should learn from this parable are frightening.

A fruit tree without fruit is useless. It is an anomaly, a waste of space. Jesus said, of His followers, in Matthew 5:13, “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.” The Lord said that those who are not faithfully bearing fruit for Him are “good for nothing.” That is pretty strong language, but it was Christ who said it. We should listen to Him and change before it is too late.

We are to bear fruit for God. See John 15:5, 8. This includes three things.

1) The fruit of the Spirit – Galatians 5:22-23. As you read those verses, do they describe you? Do they describe me?

2) Winning souls – Colossians 1:6. The gospel will bear fruit when sown into the hearts of honest men and women. Are you doing what you can to help save the lost?

3) Every good work for God – Colossians 1:10. Anything we are to do in the Lord’s service can rightly be described as bearing fruit for Him. What are you doing to serve God and others in the ways that the Bible teaches us?

Notice that the fig tree in the parable was given a second chance to bear fruit, one more year to do better. If not, it would be cut down.

Do you need to do better? How many “second chances” do you need? If you need to repent, maybe this lesson of the fruitless fig tree will help.

--Roger Hillis

This parable, like several others, is found only in Matthew’s gospel (chapter 18, verses 21-35).

The entire chapter provides the context for this parable. Chapter 18 begins with Jesus telling His disciples that one must be humble and trusting, like a little child, to enter the kingdom. Their question had been in the opposite direction, as they wondered who would be the greatest in the kingdom. The Lord tells them their thinking is incorrect and humility is far greater than pride and prominence.

After some other teaching about how to treat others, including a reminder of God’s great love for sinners (verses 11-14), Christ speaks of how to deal with a personal offense between two Christians. Verse 15 starts off with, “Moreover if your brother sins against you…” He tells them how to handle such difficult circumstances.

Peter, meditating on what Jesus has said about sinning against a brother, asks “How often do I have to forgive one who sins against me? Up to seven times?” No doubt, Peter felt he was being quite generous in his attitude. The Lord then delivers the news, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.”  Jesus always challenges our thinking and our attitude, doesn’t He?

Christ follows that statement with this parable about a man who owes a king ten thousand talents, a sum that would frankly be beyond anyone’s ability to repay.  It would amount to several million dollars. When the servant begs for mercy, the kind king removes the entire amount from the man’s account.

Forgiven of a debt he could never repay (that’s a picture of God’s mercy, by the way), the man goes out and demands payment from a fellow servant for a comparatively small and insignificant amount of money, approximately $18. Unable to pay it, the first servant has the second man thrown into prison.

When the king hears of this situation, he is incensed and delivers the initial servant “to the torturers” until he pays the entire amount. Verse 35 concludes the parable by reminding all of us that we must forgive others if we desire God’s forgiveness.

No excuses, no rationalizing, no exceptions. We must forgive others. How are you doing with that?

--Roger Hillis

Found only in Matthew 20:1-16, the parable of the laborers in the vineyard is one that teaches us two primary lessons.

First, it teaches us to get to work for the Lord. Second, it tells us that there is a reward for those who serve Him.

Jesus was first and foremost telling us that we need to be busy about our Father’s business. He wants us to work hard in His kingdom and to accomplish as much good as we can. Many verses tell of our responsibility to serve the Lord with all our hearts.

“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:22).

“For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister” (Hebrews 6:10).

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58).

In the parable, the Master (Jesus) clearly condemns idleness (verses 3 and 6). Many of the Lord’s parables teach us not to be lazy, slothful servants – the Good Samaritan, the two Sons, etc. In the parable of the talents, the Master said to the sinful, one talent man, “you wicked and lazy servant” (Matthew 25:26).

Notice that the landowner did not invite men into his vineyard to sleep, to play, to discuss sporting events or simply to visit and spend time together (verse 1). In the same way, God does not call us into His vineyard (the church) to relax, but to work.

And then, Jesus reminds us that there is a reward for those who serve God faithfully. Each worker received a denarius (an average day’s wage, approximately 18 cents, a fair and reasonable amount in that day).

The reward is His to give and it is based on His grace, not on the amount of work we do (that’s why the 11^th hour workers got the same amount, one denarius, as those who worked all day long). As the song says, “Heaven will surely be worth it all.”

No matter who you are, God wants you to serve Him. No matter what you’ve done in the past, it is now time to give God your all. Do His will, serve Him faithfully and reap a great reward.

--Roger Hillis

This parable of our Lord is found only in Matthew 25:1-13. It is one of three parables in this chapter and each one of them encourages us to be prepared for the second coming of Christ. 

Verses 14-30 contain the parable of the talents which helps us to realize that we must use the abilities and opportunities God gives us to serve Him and others in the full strength of our capabilities.

Verses 31-46 describe, in parable form, the end of time and the separation of the righteous from the wicked. It reminds us that we will all be judged by the Lord, in part based on how we have dealt with our fellow man. We are to be “good deed doers” whenever we have the opportunity and this parable shows us that, when we serve others, we are serving God.

The parable of the ten virgins teaches us to be prepared for the coming of our Judge, by describing five young girls who were ready to go the wedding feast and five who wanted to go but who made inadequate preparation.

There is an old song that says, “Everybody talking about heaven ain’t going there.”  Just because some people have expressed a casual interest in spiritual things doesn’t mean they will make the necessary preparation to go to heaven. No one is going to get into heaven accidentally.

We do not “work” to earn our salvation (see Ephesians 28-9, 2 Timothy 1:9, Titus 3:3-7). But God does call us to obedience (see Matthew 7:21-27, James 2:14-26, 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9). We are saved by God’s grace, His unmerited favor. But He has inspired the Bible to tell us how He wants us to live in this earth life in submission to His will.

The obedient will be saved; the rebellious will be lost. It is that simple. Which one are you? If you are not saved, it is not too late. But at some point, the door will be shut (verse 10). Then it will be too late. Don’t be left outside.

“Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming” (Matthew 25:13).

--Roger Hillis

The setting (or context) of this parable is interesting. Jesus has been teaching, as usual, the message of God. The first twelve verses of this chapter were delivered to “an innumerable multitude of people” who were gathering around Him to hear His teaching. As a matter of perspective, when Jesus fed the 5000 men with the loaves and fishes, that was a lot of people, but not an innumerable crowd. This was obviously even more than that, maybe many more. Imagine if you had been in that company of people, having the opportunity to listen to the Messiah as He was teaching words from God.

Right in the midst of His comments, a man from the crowd interrupts the spiritual feast to ask Jesus to mediate a financial dispute between him and his brother (verse 13). Christ quickly points out to him that He didn’t come into the world to handle such matters and then states clearly that they all needed to beware of covetousness, “for one’s life does not consist of the abundance of the things he possesses” (verse 15).

Jesus then delivers a parable about a successful farmer, from an earthly perspective, whose value system was out of touch with one who wanted to serve God. His crops were plentiful, so much so that he would have to build bigger facilities just to store them. He was essentially set for life. But he died that very night, leaving all of his material possessions to others.

The farmer indicates nothing to tell us he had a relationship with God, the one from whom all blessings flow (James 1:17). There is nothing that would lead us to believe he planned to use any of his possessions to bless others. Someone has said that the man obviously had “I” disease, for he only spoke of himself and what he had accomplished and what he would do for himself. He used the words “I” and “my” ten times in his short speech.

He was prepared to live a long time and to “eat, drink and be merry” for many years. But he wasn’t prepared to die. Which preparation is more important, really? And do we realize that is true in our own lives as clearly as we can see it about this man? Christ called this one a fool for failing to think beyond the material things he owned.

He concludes this parable by saying this: “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” That was said for the man who was mad at his brother and for the others who were there in that “innumerable multitude.” And it has been preserved in the Bible for us today to learn from, as well.

--Roger Hillis

Our Savior concluded the greatest sermon ever preached, the Sermon on the Mount, with the parable of the builders. It is found in Matthew 7:21-29 and a similar parable is located at Luke 6:46-49.

Two men each built a house. One built on a solid foundation of rock while the other build his house on sand. When faced with storms and floods and winds, one house stood the test. The other collapsed and was ruined.

The Lord tells us that the one who built on a rock foundation is the person who “hears these sayings of Mine, and does them.” He is called wise and the children often sing a song, “The wise man built his house upon the rock.” His house withstood the tests and trials of life.

But, as our children can tell us, “The foolish man built his house upon the sand.” When the storms of life came along, his house was poorly constructed and it was destroyed. This is the person who “hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them,” according to Jesus.

What a simple story to illustrate an important spiritual truth. The fact is that there are really only two categories of people in the world. Wise and foolish. Saved and lost. Righteous and unrighteous. The obedient and the disobedient. The good and the evil. Those who are going to heaven and those who will go to hell.

We would like to think there is some middle ground, some who are mostly obedient and will probably be saved and some who do a few wrong things and may or may not be saved, but it’s kind of “iffy.” To the Lord, everyone is either a believer or an unbeliever. And He clearly knows the difference.

And we can recognize the difference also, based on what Jesus said. The wise, saved ones are those who hear the message of the gospel and obey it. The foolish, lost ones are those who hear the word of God and do not obey it.

Human beings want to come up with all kinds of loopholes, exceptions, extraordinary situations, imaginary ideas and doctrines and commandments of men to try to get some of those foolish ones into heaven. The Lord will tell them, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness” (Matthew 7:23).

Hear God’s word and obey it. It really is that simple. Be a wise builder.

--Roger Hillis

Found in Matthew 13:24-30, this parable of Christ is only one of two stories that Jesus explained to His disciples (the explanation is found in verses 36-43).. Several modern versions of the New Testament refer to this as the parable of the weeds, while many still use the more specific term, tares.

According to W.E. Vine, the word, tares, comes from a Greek word, zizanion, and is defined: “is a kind of darnel, the commonest of the four species, being the bearded, growing in the grain fields, as tall as wheat and barley, and resembling wheat in appearance. It was credited among the Jews as being degenerate wheat… The seeds are poisonous to man and herbivorous animals, producing sleepiness, nausea, convulsions and even death.” (Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, page 1133).

Following on the heels of the parable of the sower, this parable shows us that there is more to be considered than just planting good seed. The Lord’s will, of course, is that the seed of the gospel of Christ would be planted in every heart and given opportunity to grow.

But the other side of the coin is that there is also a malevolent force to be dealt with, specifically, the work of the Devil. Satan is the “enemy” who sows tares (or weeds) into the hearts and lives of people as well.

In the parable, those who accept and obey the good seed are “the sons of the kingdom.” Those who receive and follow the tares are “the sons of the wicked one.” Those are the only two options, by the way. You cannot have it both ways, serving God on Sundays and the devil the rest of the week. If you live that way, you are a child of the devil.

At the harvest, which represents the Day of Judgment, the wheat and the weeds will be divided and the tares will be burned, which represents the eternal torment of hell.

One more point remains to be made. Jesus taught, in verse 38, that “the field is the world.” This shows us to breadth of the Lord’s commission to “preach the gospel to every creature.” We should tell everyone we meet about our Savior and the salvation that He offers to all of mankind.

--Roger Hillis

Christ’s parable of the sower is found in each of the synoptic gospels (Matthew 13; Mark 4; and Luke 8). It is not contained in the gospel of John.

We are blessed, in studying this parable, to have the Lord Himself explain it for us. In Luke 8, the parable itself is found in verses 5-8. Jesus’ explanation is in verses 11-15. Understanding how Christ interprets this parable should help us to be able to interpret other parables.

Jesus says plainly that “the seed is the word of God” (Luke 8:11). There are other passages where the same word picture is given with the word of God being compared to a seed.

The parable of the tares uses a similar illustration (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43). So does the parable of the mustard seed (Matthew 13:31-32).

1 Corinthians 3:6-8 contains comparable language. “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants in anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.”

The apostle Peter employs a similar word picture in describing the process by which people are converted to Christ. “Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever” (1 Peter 1:22-23).

The seed is sown in four different kinds of soil, representing four different hearts (or attitudes) of people who hear the gospel message. Each one brings forth a different result. Some prefer to call this the parable of the soils, but Jesus Himself calls it “the parable of the sower” (Matthew 13:18), so it’s probably best to stick with that.

--Roger Hillis

Parables were stories that Jesus told to help people who had good hearts to understand His teaching. Some have referred to parables as “earthly stories with a heavenly meaning.” When you study the parables, you should learn more about how to live so that God will be pleased with your life.

How to interpret the parables   

Here are four ideas for how to understand the parables better. These are not inflexible rules, simply suggestions for looking deeper into the meaning of these inspired stories.

1)  Find the central truth.

Overall, what was Jesus trying to teach? Parables always teach one main truth. There may be other lessons as well, but do not get too far away from the major thought of each parable.

2)  Read the verses before and after the parable.

As a matter of fact, that’s a good idea for any passage of scripture. The context sometimes explains the reason Jesus told that parable on that occasion. As an example, read Luke 15:1-2. Jesus answered the attitude of the scribes and Pharisees with three parables about God’s love for the lost

3)  Do not worry about the details.

Not every detail in a parable is important. Not everything represents something else that has a deep spiritual meaning. It is easy to get caught up in trying to define these specifics and sometimes this keeps us from knowing the major lesson Jesus was teaching.

4)  Two are interpreted by Jesus.

The parables of the sower and the tares are explained by Jesus. This leaves no room for misunderstanding. If we can examine how He explained those two parables, it should help us to understand and interpret correctly some of the others.

Purpose of the Parables

Why did Jesus use parables in His teaching? There are three reasons.

1)  To conceal the truth

Read Matthew 13:10-15. Some people were unworthy to receive God’s truth because of their attitude. They had closed their eyes, ears and hearts to God’s will. To them, the parables were just silly little stories with no meaning.

2)  To reveal the truth

Read Matthew 13:16-17; 34-35. Jesus told parables to draw a comparison between earthly things they could understand and spiritual lessons they would have difficulty with. To people with good hearts, parables would illustrate the truth.

3)  To preserve the truth

Everyone loves a good story. The parables would be easily remembered, along with the spiritual truths they teach.

 --Roger Hillis

Hello everyone. Lord willing, I plan to post a series of articles about the parables of Jesus, beginning on June 1. I trust you will find them interesting, challenging and helpful to your walk with God. Hope you will join us regularly.

--Roger Hillis