Did Jesus Speak in Code?
While studying the New Testament, it becomes evident that the Lord Jesus Christ repeatedly spoke in parables to His apostles. You may wonder to yourself, “Why did He do this?”
Well, to be certain, He was not being secretive. He was acting as a wise teacher and a protector of souls.
When God reveals a truth or law, the recipients become accountable before Him for how they abide by that truth or law. Old Testament prophets spoke of the Messiah that would come into the world, Whom was Jesus Christ. Jesus revealed His Higher Law—one truth, one parable at a time.
God’s Higher Law brought greater spiritual enlightenment and power into His children’s lives during Jesus Christ’s mortal ministry. Those who experience this phenomenon receive a testimony through the Holy Ghost that Jesus Christ lives, and that His gospel is true. They experience peace, understanding, and the love of God. This brings them joy!
Today, Christians around the world espouse the universal truths the Master taught. However, with this Higher Law also comes greater responsibility—commensurate to the measure of truth revealed to them through the Holy Ghost.
Our compassionate and loving Savior is concerned about our progress and doesn’t want to overwhelm us. Whether we are in the early stages of our learning to follow Him, or we are seeking continued nourishment to strength us in building our testimony of, and conversion to, Him, He is there for us.
This is why the Savior taught to give the milk of His word before giving the meat. Sometimes He can only give us one sip of truth at a time, and sometimes He necessarily has to water down the milk. Nonetheless, we can rest assured that we are still receiving the Living Water that quenches our spiritual thirst so that we “…shall never thirst.” (John 4:14). As we fully give our heart to God, He can give us more nourishment to fill us to capacity.
Spiritual Accountability
It is important that we do not take sacred things lightly: If we do not keep the spiritual laws revealed to us from God, then it is to our condemnation. Actually, we would be better off to have not learned a sacred truth than to became aware of it only to casually discard it! When this happens, we form callouses in our spirit: We become hardened and resistant to further revelation from on high.
We learn in the New Testament how Jesus chose twelve apostles. One of them, Judas Iscariot, betrayed Him. While Judas served as a catalyst to expedite the Atonement of Jesus Christ–the pivotal reason why He came into the world–this betrayer came to ultimately realize the gravity of his situation:
By betraying the Savior for thirty pieces of silver, Judas nullified Jesus’ personal mentorship and all the spiritual enlightenment he had received while walking with the Lord Jesus Christ. Judas’ conscience flared up in guilt at the realization of how drastically he had rejected so great a Light:
Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned [Jesus], repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself. (Matthew 27:3-5)
We Cannot Be Saved in Ignorance
The higher the law, the greater the opportunity for spiritual magnification through Jesus Christ’s Atonement (His grace)—or, the greater the condemnation for hardening our heart against it!
Since God’s children cannot be saved in ignorance; every soul must have the opportunity to hear the gospel. After all, the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, as He taught it in its purity, is not just religion. We are of God’s spiritual DNA. We are His children. His law governs the universe, so why kick against the Rock of our salvation? His truths nourish our spirits. It is food to our souls.
So, when we receive this nourishment, we put ourself in the position of moving forward spiritually and drawing closer to God. By the same token, a person distances themself from God if they reject God’s truth and light (i.e. harden their heart) against that measure which is revealed to them.
In 1 Corinthians 3:1-2, the Apostle Paul said:
And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto [up until now] ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
A Catalyst for Spiritual Growth
The catalyst for growth derived from receiving God’s spiritual laws is intention: We must have the intent to live by the truths revealed to us once we receive them. Therefore, we are at the pinnacle of spiritual growth—or ultimately at the edge of the cliff of condemnation if we ultimately reject that truth. The spiritual crossroads lie before us in this, our mortal sojourn.
” … we are at the pinnacle of spiritual growth—or ultimately at the edge of the cliff of condemnation …”
When we receive information, it enters our mind, which serves as a weigh station. If we do what the Virgin Mary did—that is, ponder the truth in our heart—then we spiritually position ourselves to receive a witness of it through the Holy Ghost. When we receive this witness of the Holy Ghost, the truth becomes a part of us. When it becomes a part of us, we are spiritually enlightened, and our soul is magnified and fortified.
When our soul is magnified, our perspective is broadened; our understanding is deepened. When our soul is fortified, it becomes resistant to the evils of this world and resilient to the setbacks and hardships of life. Such spiritual grit allows us to experience joy and peace despite what may be going on around us or in the world at large.
“When we receive this witness of the Holy Ghost, the truth becomes a part of us. “
This is one of the greatest gifts God gives us when we wholeheartedly receive His gospel with the intention to strive to live it once we receive it.
The Gift of Agency
It is important to the Savior Jesus Christ, Who recognizes that our agency must necessarily be protected. Agency is the freedom to act, think and live without constraint of conscience. So, in teaching His disciples, the Lord put certain safeguards into place so that their spiritual growth could be cultivated while they be guarded against avoidable and unnecessary spiritual setbacks.
Such setbacks would likely ensue due to their noncompliance of singular principles of the gospel they were not yet prepared to live by, but would at some time in the future as they kept moving forward precept by precept. As they followed the Lord, and kept learning and pondering sacred truths they witnessed the Lord say and do, the time would come when they could comprehend what He had previously taught them and live by those truths.
This is why Jesus Christ spoke in parables. It was about cultivating faith, growing the spirit of conversion, and timing the spiritual development of His disciples. It was not just about the disciples taking in information, it was about their transformation in Christ. And it is the same with us today.
The Work of the Husbandman
Despite the Savior Jesus Christ dropping hints all over the place (as recorded in John, Chapters 14-17) that He was going to soon die then go to the Father, the apostles did not comprehend these things while He dwelt among them.
Some of those safeguards Jesus put into place are as follows:
- Avoidance of Premature Revelation—This is managed through portion oversight and pacing. The Savior gave his disciples nuggets of truth a little bit at a time. Much of what He taught was for futurity’s sake, so even though they could not immediately understand what He was saying, there came a time when they were be able to comprehend all the things He had taught them.
- The Use of Parables—To cultivate the intent to embrace the sacred truths the Savior taught them, Jesus used parables to elicit curiosity within their hearts while stirring the flames of desire to understand them. In a figurative sense, the apostles were invited to lean into what the Savior was teaching them and ponder His truths to satisfy their yearning for enlightenment. The Master Husbandman was and is a Masterful Teacher.
- Preparing the Vessels—Once the mold was cast, the apostles souls were ready to receive the witness of the Holy Spirit so that they could comprehend Jesus’ parables. This Gift (of the Holy Ghost) would not only enlighten their souls, but transform them from frightened disciples who deserted Jesus at the time of His arrest into the valiant Apostles of God who gave their lives for the Risen Savior.
- The Witness of the Holy Spirit—After Jesus ascended into heaven, the Holy Spirit was sent to confirm the things He had taught them, to help them to spiritually assimilate the truths so that they could then see the big picture of the salvation of God.
Through the Holy Spirit, Jesus’ disciples were able to comprehend the high and holy truths He taught them, which came to life within them. This enlightened their souls, quickened their minds, and stirred their faith.
Jesus, The Great Husbandman, was not merely informing them on sacred things–but literally growing their faith and magnifying their Spirits. Jesus is concerned about our end state. He is developing us, preparing us for Eternal Life—if we will allow Him do so.
Jesus told His apostles, “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now (John 16:12).” He later said: “These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father” (John 16:25).
We need not be identified by our past. None of us is perfect–before or after we begin our walk with Christ.
With all that the Lord Jesus Christ wants to teach us, all we need to do is decide today—with intention—that we will follow Him. And the wonderful thing about this is we can start from where we are and begin to learn of Him through the Word of God, prayer and the Holy Ghost—then strive to incorporate the things we learn into our lives.
“Jesus is concerned about our end state. He is developing us, preparing us for Eternal Life—if we will allow Him do so.”
By doing so, we will “Draw nigh [near] to God, and He will draw nigh to you (James 4:8).” This pleases God and helps prepare us to receive the blessings He has in store for us.
And if we listen closely to the Holy Spirit, He will guide us on our spiritual journey to live with Jesus Christ and God the Father for all eternity: “I go to prepare a place for you.” (John 14:2)