OUTLINE:

A Year+ In Review
• 117 Parts: "The Gospel, Salvation, and Sanctification"
• "The 'Difficult' Passages":
o 4 Parts: "The Gospels" + "The Gospel Context"
o 6 Parts: "Believing"
o 30 Parts: "Grace and Works"

What Do We Learn After the Gospel, Proper?
What did Jesus teach after He taught the Gospel in its proposition form? In other words, after presenting the clearest possible facts about entrance into the Kingdom of God, what did He do?

The Gospel of Matthew at 50,000'
If Jesus' ministry were represented as a topological map, we would see a clearly articulated valley right down the middle of it. One side would be labeled "Propositional" and the other "Parable".

"His own did not receive Him"
Jesus was the Jewish Messiah prophesied of in the Old Testament. His own people, led by Jewish leaders, rejected Him first. They had the privilege of receiving Him, but as a people, they did not.

Jn 8:24
"Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins."

"His own did not receive Him"
God promised the Jews a Messiah. He sent His own Son, Jesus Christ. He clearly introduced Himself, through word and deed. And they rejected Him. Once their rejection was consummated, Jesus' teaching changed from "propositional" to "parable".

Mt 23:24
"You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!" This is no different than any religious/legalistic person is even today.

Understanding the Parables
Due to the nature of parables, being word pictures meant to reveal profound spiritual lessons, it is imperative that you first understand the context of the parable (speaker (Jesus), audience, cultural norms, time, place, and circumstance).

Understanding the Parables
"He who has ears, let him hear" (Mt 13:9). Since the Jewish rejectors were spiritually deaf, they could not "hear" the spiritual lessons encapsulated in Jesus' parables; however, the Apostles would've had the most acute sense of hearing. Therefore, it behooves us to understand the Apostles whom the Lord gave "hearing" to.

Understanding the Parables
Jesus taught His parables to unexceptional men. The apostles were the primary receivers of the parables, and yet there was absolutely nothing remarkable about them. We ought to be very encouraged by this! (Mt 11:25)

The Apostles' Example
Jesus wants "infants" as disciples, not people who think they are already righteous!!! (Lk 5:32)

Lk 5:32
"I have not come to call the righteous [those who think they are] but sinners to repentance."

Understanding the Parables
"He who has ears, let him hear" (Mt 13:9). Since the Jewish rejectors were spiritually deaf, they could not "hear" the spiritual lessons encapsulated in Jesus' parables; however, the Apostles would've had the most acute sense of hearing. Therefore, it behooves us to understand the Apostles whom the Lord gave "hearing" to.

Understanding the Parables
Jesus taught His parables to unexceptional men. The apostles were the primary receivers of the parables, and yet there was absolutely nothing remarkable about them. We ought to be very encouraged by this! (Mt 11:25)

Asking For Help
Have you ever noticed how often the Bible encourages us to ASK for help from the Lord??? The humble person asks the Lord for everything! Receiving grace is a function of prayer, whether we are praying for ourselves or someone else is on our behalf.

Understanding the Parables
Jesus taught His parables to unexceptional men. The apostles were the primary receivers of the parables, and yet there was absolutely nothing remarkable about them. We ought to be very encouraged by this! (Mt 11:25)

"Uneducated" Men Understood the Parables
The apostles, especially Jesus' inner circle (Peter, John, & James), were chosen specifically because they weren't educated. Jesus chose character, faith, and purity over intellect.

"Uneducated" Men Understood the Parables
It's perfectly OK that folks like you and I don't understand something as magnificent as the parables the first time around. In fact, it makes us like the apostles that walked with the author and perfecter of our faith!!!

"Uneducated" Men Understood the Parables
Jesus' parables are unlocked, not by intellect, but by honest pursuit of the Truth. The Holy Spirit will reveal said truth to those with "ears" to hear with (Mt 13:9). The apostles prove this.

The Twofold Purpose of Jesus' Parables
• Hide the truth from self-righteous, intellectual unbelievers (e.g. the Pharisees)
• Reveal simple truths to those with childlike faith (e.g. the apostles)

Context is key!!!

The Encouraging Apostles
Satan's strategy is to make the apostles out to be superhuman and therefore relegate them unrelatable. However, in fact, they are the exact opposite! Jesus chose them knowing we'd be able to relate to them as fellow sinners who needed a Savior.

Catholic tradition holds that the Basilica is the burial site of St. Peter, one of Christ's Apostles and also the first Pope; supposedly, St. Peter's tomb is directly below the high altar of the Basilica.
- Wikipedia

The Encouraging Apostles
What the apostles lacked in intellect over the Pharisees, they possessed in humility over them. Human IQ is often the greatest handicap of all to spiritual growth.

Discouraging "Christians"
The higher the IQ, the more likely a person is to complicate the simple teachings of Jesus. Why? To assert their sinful desire to dominate others (teshuqa). The saving grace for any intellect is humility, something the apostle Paul learned in spades (Php 3:2-9).

"I far more"
Think of THE most accomplished theologian today. If Paul were alive today, he'd annihilate them if forced to compete with them on fleshly grounds (intellect, doctrinally, etc.).

"righteousness...on the basis of faith"
The standout exception we have to the rule (Paul) is most humbly stating that, as smart as he is, it means absolutely nothing. The righteousness that all men need is a grace gift, not an intellectual pursuit.