Deeper Truths: A study featuring lessons from Kenneth Bailey’s book, Jesus through Middle Eastern Eyes
A 12-week study: This on 21 May 2026
Lesson 11: The Parables of Jesus (pt 2 of 3)
To watch the video: https://youtu.be/1kE7C1tJP_4
Introduction
Tonight we continue our 3-week series with which we will conclude our 12-week deep dive into the subjects and commentary of Kenneth Bailey regarding culture and Christianity, through his magnus opus, the book Jesus through Middle Eastern Eyes. It seems like yesterday when we began and now, we only have this and next week to bring this study to an end. I’ve seriously enjoyed preparing our lessons and watching so many of you dig with me into the subjects we’ve considered. Mostly I’m honoured and humbled to have been selected to help us all focus on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. (Hebrews 12.2)
Some of you have wondered and asked questions like this: “What do Jews think about…?” or “What did the Jewish people say happened in the story of…?” or “What did Jews think about Isaiah 53 before the Crucifixion?” and such. What you are asking is the single and overarching view of what will be later called Judaism. Fair enough. Imagine if I asked you, “What is the Christian view of homosexuals?” or “Do Christians believe in caring for the poor?” or “Do Christians believe in communion becoming the actual body and blood of Christ?” Some of you would be quick to answer. Others might be more reluctant due to a family member or an invoice that is imposing itself in your life and in your inbox. In other words, there is no universal “Christian” view on many things.
So, it was in Bible days AND IN THESE days in the Jewish world. Listen to this quote from a book from 1996 in the US.
“So varied was Jewish society in the land of Israel in this (intertestamental) period, and so varied were the Jewish groups, that scholars no longer speak of Judaism in the singular when discussing this formative and fertile period in Jewish history. Instead, we speak about Judaisms. In this time and place, there existed a number of competing, even rival Judaisms.” J. Andrew Overman (Church and Community in Crisis: The Gospel according to Matthew [Valley Forge, PA.: TPI, 1996], 9)
Tonight we will unpack four of the parables Jesus taught and try to find the surprises and the shocks, and the kernels of power that the Messiah made clear. Remember that parables are designed to do two things: 1) to hide the Truth and to 2) unveil the Truth and convict people. (Isaiah 6. 8-10, Matthew 13.11-13)
Let’s get into each story and the deeper meanings. You don’t have to look further than the 13th chapter of Matthew’s Gospel for a series of parable after parable.
1) The Parable of the Seed Sower (Really, the Parable of the soils!) (Matthew 13.3ff, Mark 4.3ff, Luke 8.5ff)
Even though Bailey didn’t even mention it as a featured chapter, tonight I want to highlight this parable of all parables as primary. Yeshua says it in his translation, or rather his interpretation after he finishes the story as Mark records.
Here’s the original we hear:
“Behold, the Sower went out to sow; 4 and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. 5 Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. 6 But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. 7 Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. 8 And others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. 9 He who has ears, let him hear.” (Matthew 13.1-9)
When Mark records this and the disciples ask him for clarification, Yeshua replies, “Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables?” (4.13) In other words, if you don’t get this one, you won’t be able to understand any of what I’m teaching!
I love this parable. It’s the Parable of the Soils. There is one substance—the Word of God. There is one Sower. And that Sower is lavish in his sowing. He’s not discriminating in the sharing of what he has. There are four reactions. It’s all based on the soil. And the soil might be understood as the condition of the heart.
Remember Yeshua taught in the Sermon on the Mount not to cast your pearls before swine. (Matthew 7.6) This is the same idea. Except he widens the thought. People may originally be swine or not, but in the Soil Parable, people have a chance to change. What originally is not even close to the rich soil, can become rocky, then that which is rocky and resistant to the Word can morph into thorny ground, and not ready. The way I see it simply is that this is the power of the progression of the Word in the lives of the field, that is, those who come to him.
Dear friends, faith comes. (Romans 10.17) Hallelujah, faith comes by hearing. Amen. It’s the Word which is received and which causes more faith to grow in each of us. I love this parable because it’s full of hope, not only for me, but for those whom I love.
Case in point. I spoke with a Jewish man five months ago on Facebook. We had several conversations since and he was very resistant to the truths of Jesus, although he liked a Christian church in his neighbourhood. He was raised like me, Orthodox, very committed, but had some issues with the synagogues in his area. He pulled away.
But over time, he has been listening to the Word, and last week he and I met in person, and he is so close to receiving Messiah. I believe he will be a 100-fold producer for the Lord.
I tell you the story so you can see progress, and that is one of the most important takeaways you can ever hear and learn from me. Faith comes. And it can come to you. How? When?
What did Jesus say? He who has ears, let him hear.” Keep your ear to the Lord, not to the TV news, not to the words of the naysayers. Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Hear, oh Israel. Faith comes.
Klyne Snodgrass is considered one of the most important evangelical scholars on the parables of Jesus of Nazareth. His major work, Stories with Intent, is often viewed as one of the most comprehensive modern treatments of the parables.
What makes Snodgrass especially respected is that he tries to hold together five things: First, the historical context, 2) the Jewish background, 3) the literary structure, 4) proper theology, and 5) practical discipleship, without becoming either hyper-allegorical, or overly sceptical.
He consistently argues that the parables are meant to provoke response, not merely transfer information. Snodgrass argues the parable is fundamentally about differing receptions of Jesus’ message, and differing responses to the kingdom of God. He says the Sower sowed generously. This reflects the generosity of God’s kingdom proclamation.
One of Snodgrass’s most important insights is that Jesus’ ministry appeared mixed. Some folks rejected, others fell away, others were shallow and some were hostile. The parable explains that mixed responses do not invalidate the kingdom. That would have been enormously important for the early disciples. Maybe you will enjoy reading his works.
2) The Parable of the Compassionate Employer (Matthew 20.1-16)
The second parable from which we will learn tonight is the one with the employer who hires folks at all times of day. From Matthew 20. This is one of my go-to studies and especially with people who have complaints about others getting what they worked ‘their whole life’ to get. It’s about unfairness and inequality. It’s about our sense of justice and how God is showcasing how wrong we get it.
Amy-Jill Levine always highlights First Century thinking and sensibilities. She constantly asks, “What would have sounded offensive or surprising then?” And certainly, the character of the landowner/ employer going back and forth and back again to hire day labourers is not normal. Offensive? The ending when the late comers, those who only worked an hour of the day get paid full day’s wages. That’s just wrong, isn’t it?
Look at verses 6 and 7. The master asks these 5 pm workers why they were standing idly all day. They reply that no one hired them. Don’t miss this. Matthew has a heart in his biography for the lesser, the forgotten, the social misfits. And here they are, No one would hire them, for whatever reasons.
(The following quote is from the Word Biblical Commentary on this section of Matthew 20)“The purpose of this insertion, which breaks the pattern of the previous hirings, is apparently to underline the fact that these are the ones rejected by other employers as unworthy.
These “last” ones assume particular importance in the second half of the parable (cf vv 8–9, 12, 14, 16). They are analogous to the tax collectors and the harlots invited into the kingdom by Jesus (see esp. 21:31). To these workers, regarded as undesirable by others, the master gives the invitation “even you [καὶ ὑμεῖς] go into the vineyard”—the same invitation given to the earlier groups.” (WBC)
Earlier I said, “The ending when the late comers, those who only worked an hour of the day get paid full day’s wages. That’s just wrong, isn’t it?”
But some of you have thought that very thought. If you worked at a company for very long and you came in earning a certain amount, and slowly got a pay rise, ok, that’s normative. But then you hear that the cellar was raised, that is, the starting pay is now up to what you are currently earning. And you think, “That’s just not fair!”
Maybe you are an older sibling, and you had to wait for a decade to receive a certain Christmas present or an iPad or such and your younger sibling got one already. This screams of inequity.
Levine emphasizes how offensive this story is economically. Modern readers usually try to soften it by hinting that “God is generous.” But she says the parable intentionally irritates our sense of fairness. It exposes envy and challenges assumptions about merit.
Yes, God is generous, but envy will come to bite you in the end, if you are not watchful and remember to cheer on the newcomers. Make room in your vineyard and in your home, in your church and in your elder board for new folks. They will replace you one day. Give them space today, amen?
This parable still irritates modern listeners — which probably means it still works.
Oh, one more thing. And Bailey points this out. There is no way a gentleman farmer in those days would have himself gone to the agora to hire different workers five times in the same day. The shock to me is that Jesus is describing his own ministry as Bailey says. He goes and goes and goes, calling and reaching out in the Incarnation from Bethlehem to the cross. He’s ever reaching out and is our great Master Compassionate and Generous Landowner and Employer who wants us to be in his kingdom and work in his fields.
3) The Parable of the Two Builders (Luke 6.46-49)
This story is most well known in Sunday school and children’s songs, isn’t it? A wise man built his house on a rock, and the foolish man built his house on the sand. The rains came down and the floods go up. And the hand signals in Vacation Bible Schools and children’s programs are coordinated. But is that all this is? A sing-song story of be careful where you build?
The Bailey book begins with the story in Isaiah chapter 28.14-18, and he repeats it when he looks at this parable. In Isaiah, 700 years before Jesus, the Jewish people were about to be taken into captivity. They had made a covenant with Egypt thinking that would protect them from the coming invasion by the Assyrians but that was not ever going to succeed.
Egypt was not a living country or civilization. They had a covenant with death in their rituals and in their buildings and monuments. Isaiah mocks Israel for this treaty and says this will fail miserably. He also indicates that a great storm will come and obliterate the construct they have made. Their refuge and shelter are based on lies and will fail miserably.
In the middle of that prophecy, Isaiah records that God will “lay in Zion a cornerstone, a sure foundation. He who believes in it will not be shaken.”
Skip ahead to the time of Jesus and during the Yom Kippur rituals a sacred and special stone was used as a holding plate for the firepan, probably of incense. That stone had a name, “The foundation.” And by the time of Yeshua, the Foundation was a person, the hoped-for one.
Now put all this together and the mandate of Isaiah which is a steady theme from heaven for us Jews and that is to “HEAR.” Isaiah calls on the reader to “Hear the word of the Lord.” Quit listening to the wrong stuff and listen to the good and right stuff. Jesus said the same thing and added one more verb. He told his disciples to “Hear my words and do them.”
So, in a way, yes, the children’s song is right, build your house on Jesus. But don’t miss it, it’s not a Lego building, it’s your life. And Jesus is the Foundation of all our existence and in him we live and move and have our being.
Don’t trust in Egypt to “protect you from the wiles of the enemy”. “Some boast in chariots and some in horses, but we will remember and do the things our God has said, we will remember the name of the Lord our God.”
4) The Parable of the Great Banquet (Luke 14.15-24)
In our final parable of the evening, but not even close to the final parable in the Scripture we see the banquet for which Jewish people have been waiting since Isaiah’s day. In his 25th chapter we read this,
“The LORD of hosts will prepare a 1lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain;
A banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow,
And refined, aged wine.
7 And on this mountain (that would be Zion) He will swallow up the covering, which is over all peoples,
Even the veil which is stretched over all nations.
8 He will swallow up death for all time,
And the Lord 1GOD will wipe tears away from all faces,
And He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth;
For the LORD has spoken.
9 And it will be said in that day,
“Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us.
This is the LORD for whom we have waited;
Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”
10 For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain,
And Moab will be trodden down in his place
As straw is trodden down in the water of a manure pile.
11 And he will spread out his hands in the middle of it
As a swimmer spreads out his hands to swim,
But the Lord will lay low his pride together with the trickery of his hands.
12 The unassailable fortifications of your walls He will bring down,
Lay low and cast to the ground, even to the dust.” (.6-12)
This picture of course is rehearsed by John in the Revelation “and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” (Rev. 21.4)
The banquet will be awesome; the end of days will be glorious. And as every scene of completion in the Bible, there will be judgement against the enemies of the Lord.
So, Jesus uses this lavish and glorious banquet scene to speak comfort to the listeners. They’ve been waiting 700 years for this messianic banquet. And now that Messiah is here, when is dinner?
But wait, I’m influencing you wrongly. The Jewish people heard Isaiah’s prediction which included some of the Gentiles had, over time, changed the meaning of what Isaiah said. They retranslated it to rub out the Gentiles. How dare Isaiah get it so wrong!
The Book of Enoch even highlights that the angel of death would come to that banquet and wipe out the Gentiles if any got in unbeknownst to the ones gathered.
So, against that backdrop, it’s a wonder that Yeshua brings up a banquet, isn’t it? But not really. The chapter before this, Luke 13.28-29, he speaks of people coming from around the globe, from all the points of the compass and eating at the same table with the Patriarchs. Yikes, that’s just not right!
If you are having a hard time with the thinking of the Jewish people in those days about Gentiles, keep reading the pages of the Bible and see how hard it was for the early Church to welcome Gentiles in the book of Acts. Even Peter had a tough time considering it, even though he had been with Messiah for 3 plus years! It took a heavenly vision and a sheet filled with unkosher foods and ham and pork chops, with your favourite Chinese pork dish coming down out of the sky, and a voice telling Peter to ‘rise up and kill and eat.’ The voice finished with “What I have cleansed, don’t you call unclean.” (Acts 10.)
Don’t forget the surprise is coming. And there goes the neighbourhood.
Now to the story in Luke.
Three guests are highlighted. Each has done something and asks to be excused. EVEN THOUGH they already sent back their RSVP. The chef had ordered enough food for the guests and now the guests are opting out. That’s rude.
And the excuses were ridiculous, buying land, animals, or taking a wife. Obviously, nothing that couldn’t be done other times and the wife …well, these are “The dog ate my homework” kind of excuses. Not real and a slap in the face of the host.
Bailey says, “insult and injustice cause great anger.”
What does the master decide to do? He invites others in and then even more when the first folks don’t yet fill the hall. He is lavish in grace and lavish in welcome. He turns from the original guests and welcomes others to join them. I’m guessing that not every one of the original guest list refused to attend. After all, if the originals are Jews, and the first Church is all Jewish, then the guests who were seated first were what we call Messianic Jews or Jews for Jesus.
Oh, one historical note. The word “compel” them to attend given to the servants who were to go to the byways and bring others…. Compel does not mean to use swords. It means extend real invitations. Not what we call compulsion. It’s not mandatory; it’s welcoming and urging but not forcing the event to be observed.
Think of being those ‘on the highways’ far away Gentiles being invited by the master of the house. I’m imagining that they would have been reluctant to believe the invitation was real. (Spam email!) Compel with grace, assure the invitees that the invitation is real and that they themselves are desirable.
Those who ‘hear’ the invitation are welcomed. The others who refuse to attend have brought judgment onto themselves.
What Isaiah got right, John repeated and Jesus made clear. Some were scandalized while others were comforted.
The scandal foretold by Isaiah is retold and made very clear in this Great Banquet parable. Gentiles of all nations can be brought near by the grace of the Host. There goes the neighbourhood indeed. It’s God’s neighbourhood and he can call any of us to be his neighbour. Again a flashback to the Good Samaritan story. And to the most basic of commandments to love our neighbour as ourselves.
He that has an ear, let him hear. Amen?
Let us make him known in Nashville and Singapore and beyond.
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Final Summary Thoughts from tonight:
1) Parables often have a shock/ surprise effect and are trying to wake us up to our own errors, lack of compassion, or sin. So that we change our ways.
2) Jesus is the Great One in all our stories who serves us. Masters who serve is not ordinary. All Scripture is history and his Story designed to bring us closer to him.
3) Faith may not be full in you today. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness and goodness. Faith(fulness), gentleness, self-control. Faith comes. Stay in the Word and the Word will grow in you. Keep your ear attuned to God’s channel.
4) Look for disciples, others who are not as advanced in the Kingdom as you and bring them along. Invite them. Give them like others gave to you when you started. Share freely.
5) His banquet hall is abundant and lavish, and he wants you to attend and he wants you to invite others to attend. And to make room for them. All the ‘them’ out there.
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16 Recommended Books (through lesson 11)
Anthony, Brother, The Bread of God, Vantage Press, 1975.
Boice, James Montgomery, The Parables of Jesus, Moody 2016.
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich, Life Together, Harper One, 1978.
Bromberg, Craig. Jesus and the Gospels, B&H Academic, 2022.
Bromberg, Craig, Interpreting the Parables, IVPress, 1990.
Comer, John Mark, Practicing the Way, Penguin/Random, 2024.
Hamilton, Adam, Faithful: Christmas through Joseph, 2022.
Jackson, Dave and Neta, Living Together in a world falling apart, Castle Rock, 1974.
Levine, Amy-Jill, Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi, HarperOne, 2014.
Levine, Amy-Jill, The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus, HarperOne, 2007.
Levine, Amy-Jill, Who is my Neighbour? Flyaway Books, 2019.
Nee, Watchman. Sit, Walk, Stand. CRC. 1970.
Ortlund, Dane, Gentle and Lowly, Crossway, 2010
Snodgrass, Klyne, Stories with intent. Eerdmans, 2009.
Wright, Christiopher, Knowing Jesus through the Old Testament. IVP Academic. 1995.
Yancey, Philip, What’s so amazing about Grace? Zondervan1997
Parables Discussed so far in our series
The 10 Virgins
The Widow and the judge
The Good Samaritan
The Soils
The Employer
The Two builders
The Great banquet
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