Seeking to be right only leads to self-righteousness. Seeking to be humble results in a knowledge of the truth. Jesus reveals truth to the humble of heart, and therefore, the only way to be “right” is through humility. As illustrated by the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:1-23), Jesus used parables and hid truth about the Kingdom in them so that people with prideful (hard) hearts couldn’t receive the truth, but that those with humble soft hearts could. Why did He do this? Because God knew that the prideful would reject the truth about the Kingdom and receive a more severe judgment as a result (Matthew 11:20-24; Luke 12:47-48). In other words, it’s God’s mercy to use parables so that the prideful would not be held accountable for rejecting the truth contained within them. Jesus hid truth in mysteries so that only the humble of heart were able to hear and understand the truth and they would multiply it. Check out this week’s message if you would like to learn more about why Jesus used parables and how Humility is a prerequisite for understanding truth (This message was given at Oak Bluff Bible Church on February 9, 2020).
