Book Description
When his disciples asked Jesus why he spoke in parables, Jesus did not say that the parables made his teachings easier to understand. Instead, he indicated that many people would misunderstand his parables. He suggested that they were spoken in a code that would only be understood by believers. "To you has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given," he said (Matthew 13:11).What secrets are these? They are the identity of Jesus-truly and completely God, truly and completely human, and the world's only Savior and Redeemer-and the mission of Jesus-to live a sinless life in the place of his people, and to offer that life as a sacrifice to redeem his people. Lacking knowledge of those secrets, the parables of Jesus appear to be lessons about how to live as Christians. Knowing those secrets, the parables are revealed as descriptions of how to have eternal life through the work of Jesus-his sinless life, his sacrificial death, and his victorious resurrection.This book guides the reader to understand the parables of Jesus according to the secrets of the kingdom of heaven. It helps the reader to become that disciple described by Jesus: "Every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old" (Matthew 13:52).