The purpose of parables
Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?”And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.
Matthew 13:10-11
There are mysteries of the Kingdom that the Father has given us to understand but they require hungry hearts and ears to hear them. We are to be partakers of the wisdom that God holds for every season of life.
I want you to note, with emphasis here, Jesus says to YOU it has been given to know. It is the will of God for you and I to possess the secrets needed to successfully navigate His Kingdom.
Jesus told Peter, after he’d declared the revelation of Jesus being the Christ and the son of the Living God, he would build his church upon this revelation and the gates of hell would not prevail. Then Jesus said, “ I will give you the the keys of the Kingdom of heaven, Matthew 16:18-19. What if these keys were the secrets; the revelation that unlocks the successful operation of extending the Kingdom of God?
‘I will give’ is future tense. We learn from Acts chapter one that after Jesus’ resurrection he appears to his disciples for forty days speaking to them concerning the Kingdom of Heaven. I believe it was during these forty days that the wisdom, understanding and counsel came to them. Then on the day of Pentecost the power of the Holy Spirit was poured out enabling them to be witnesses to these new truths and to exercise the authority committed to them to administrate the Kingdom of heaven upon the earth.
Jesus speaks of the binding and loosing authority given, and if you research the Greek on this you will find this works when we bind and lose that which has already been bound and loosed in heaven.
We pray for the kingdom of God to come on earth and his will to be done as it is in heaven, both indicating our need for divine alignment with the Father.
As the church we must demonstrate the power and authority given us in the name of Jesus. I remember being taught when we were first born again that our prayers were to begin by seeking the will of our Father. It is this confidence of hearing and knowing; revelation if you will, that gives the assurance that our words are His. His words in my mouth carry the same power and authority because He has already decreed and released them out of His mouth. I am just the vessel He has chosen to speak through.
Every parable Jesus taught holds a key, a secret about His kingdom. It becomes our privilege and honour to mine them out and find the treasures within.