'Parables' in the Bible
He told them many things in parables, saying, “Listen carefully: a sower went out to sow [seed in his field];
Then the disciples came to Him and asked, “Why do You speak to the crowds in parables?”
This is the reason I speak to the crowds in parables: because while [having the power of] seeing they do not see, and while [having the power of] hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand and grasp [spiritual things].
All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables, and He said nothing to them without [using] a parable.
This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet:“I will open My mouth in parables;I will utter things [unknown and unattainable] that have been hidden [from mankind] since the foundation of the world.”
“Have you understood all these things [in the lessons of the parables]?” They said to Jesus, “Yes.”
When Jesus had finished these parables, He left there.
When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was talking about them.
So He called them to Himself and spoke to them in parables, “How can Satan drive out Satan?
And He taught them many things in parables, and in His teaching He said to them,
As soon as He was alone, those who were around Him, together with the twelve [disciples], began asking Him about [the interpretation of] the parables.
Then He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand and grasp the meaning of all the parables?
With many such parables, Jesus spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear and understand it;
Jesus began to speak to them [the chief priests, scribes and elders who were questioning Him] in parables: “A man planted a vineyard and put a wall around it, and dug a pit for the wine press and built a tower; and he rented it out to tenant farmers and left the country.
And He said, “To you [who have been chosen] it has been granted to know and recognize the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables, so that though seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.
“I have told you these things in figurative language (veiled language, proverbs); the hour is now coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech, but I will tell you plainly about the Father.
His disciples said, “Ah, now You are speaking plainly to us and not in figures of speech!