Why are there parables?

Answers

• Parables are what Christ used in the Bible to teach lessons. He used them to teach lessons to the children and everyone else, though only those who were willing to follow Him actually learned their true meaning.

• Jesus told parables while He was teaching, to help us understand what He was telling us.

• To confuse those who are not Jesus' direct disciples.Luke 8:9 And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be?8:10 And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.

• Parables have been used in a number of different contexts as a method of teaching. In the New Testament the Greek word parabole means 'a placing beside' or a 'placing of one thing beside another' with the idea of making a comparison. The parable is generally used to describe a teaching or story which is drawn from either nature or human experience, the aim of which is to teach or illustrate a spiritual lesson. There is a distinction between a parable which uses earthly things and gives them a spiritual meaning, and a fable which gives things attributes which they do not normally have naturally.
  

• Jesus frequently taught in parables in which He frequently taught truths connected with the kingdom of God. It has been noted by some that Jesus' withholding of the true meaning of the parables was a judgment upon them due to their being in some manner unworthy. Edersheim expands on this when he states in relation to them "They are all occasioned by some unreceptiveness on the part of the hearers, and that, even when the hearers are professing disciples." (Alfred Edersheim:The Life and Times of Jesus The Messiah, p400)
  

• Thus, the secret of the parables was most certainly available to all who sincerely sought it with a heart that was right. The spiritual analogy was not for those who did not wish to submit themselves and to follow Jesus as their master and so it remained hidden from them. Their lack of submission and receptiveness was their choice. At other times Jesus spoke plainly enough, as well as through His works.
  

• Jesus spoke in Parables because he learnt this method from his training in India and Tibet.