Jesus never wasted a moment during His days on earth. Every word He spoke had great purpose for His followers. I’m convinced that if Christians took the words Jesus spoke seriously and really understood them, they would live differently in this world. The Jesus we read in the Gospels and the Jesus presented in many churches and denominations are not the same.

Which Jesus?

That reminds me of something the Apostle Paul wrote the the Christians in Galatia –

I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed. Galatians 1:6-9

Much of what is being preached as the ‘Gospel’ in churches in the ‘Western’ world is a ‘false gospel’ – a ‘perverted gospel of Christ.’ That means many people who think they are Christians because they belong to churches and denominations that identify as ‘Christian’ have been fooled. The preachers and teachers are ‘accursed,’ (ἀνάθεμα, anathema – ‘cursed, a pronounced curse, destruction from a curse’) because they proclaim a message that is contrary to what God says is true. They are ‘accursed’ because they deceive people into believing a lie.

Remember that the Apostle Paul had preached the ‘truth’ of the Gospel of Christ in Galatia. The people who responded positively to the Gospel had begun their lives as Christians following the Holy Spirit who taught Paul and inspired him in preaching, teaching, and writing. By following the message of ‘false teachers’ these Christians had turned their backs on God.

O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? Have you suffered so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? Galatians 3:1-4

Notice that Paul wrote the Christians were NOT obeying ‘the truth.’ They had started their lives as Christ followers ‘by the hearing of faith.’ However, Paul wrote that they were ‘foolish’ because having ‘begun in the Spirit’ they bought into the lie that they could be made ‘perfect’ ( ἐπιτελέω, epiteleó – ‘to complete, accomplish’) ‘by the flesh.’

The Galatian Christians were swimming with sharks who took advantage of them after the Apostle Paul left the area to preach the Gospel elsewhere. When Paul heard what had happened after he left Galatia, he wrote the scathing letter we know as ‘Galatians.’ It’s obvious that he loved the Christians in Galatia and wanted what was best for them. He knew they needed some ‘tough love’ from their apostle, so he didn’t hold back. Paul told them the truth ‘in love.’ That’s what we need in today’s churches and denominations – ‘tough love.’

Parables

Jesus often spoke in ‘parables’ to the crowds of people who followed after Him. Parables (παραβολή, parabole – ‘a placing beside, comparison’) are ‘stories’ with a message of comparisons. He often told these stories about the ‘Kingdom of God’ (aka ‘Kingdom of Heaven’). Interestingly, people in the crowds didn’t understand what Jesus meant. That was for a purpose –

“And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: ‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, And seeing you will see and not perceive; For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.’ But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. Matthew 13:10-17

“All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: “I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world.” Matthew 13:34-35

Jesus would tell the crowds parables that they couldn’t understand, then privately explain the parables to His closest disciples. A good example of this is found in the same chapter of Matthew. Jesus told the crowds parables about the Sower, the Wheat and Tares, the Mustard Seed, and the Leaven. Once Jesus was alone with His disciples, He explained the meaning of the parables. Let’s listen in to see what we can learn that might help us understand our situation today –

“Therefore hear the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” Matthew 13:18-23

“Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.” He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” Matthew 13:36-43

The ‘Parable of the Sower’ gives us insight into how people hear and respond to the Gospel. The ‘Parable of the Tares’ explains how the ‘sons of the kingdom’ and the ‘sons of the wicked one’ live together in this world. Both of these parables should help Christians understand why they ‘swim with sharks.’

Jesus spoke dozens of parables during His earthly ministry. Many were prophetic and connected to Old Testament prophecies concerning Israel. However, Christians can gain wisdom from the Lord’s parables into how to wage spiritual warfare today.

[Podcast version of this study coming soon.]

Next Time

In the next part of our series, ‘Swimming With Sharks,’ I’ll begin naming some of the sharks that are swimming with us and how Christians can both identify and defend against their attacks.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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