ALL THE BIBLE IS A PARABLE

“All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them: . . .” Matthew 14:34

Is the whole Bible given in parables? Or, is it partially parabolic, and partially plain language concerning aspects of the Gospel? Some have said that the Bible is essentially parabolic, but that statements like John 3:16 are not parables, but are plain statements about the nature of salvation.

The Bible itself teaches, though, that *all* of the Bible is given in parables, including such statements as John 3:16.

First, we should know what the Biblical definition of “parable” is. The greek noun “parable”, or “parabalos” is composed of the prepositional prefix “para” plus the verb, “ballo”. “Para” means “beside”, and “ballo” means to “throw”, “throw down”, or “put”. ‘Parabalos” is the noun form of the verb, “paraballo”.
We can see the physical application of the verb, “paraballo” when we look at Acts 20:15.

“And we sailed thence, and came the next [day] over against Chios; and the next [day] we arrived at Samos, and tarried at Trogyllium; and the next [day] we came to Miletus.”

Here, in the historical context, Paul and company are sailing from city to city, and they “arrived”, literally, “put aside” ("paraballo") at Samos. That is, they tied their boat next to or beside the other boats on the dock, and then lodged for a time at Trogyllium.

There is another reference to the verb, “paraballo”, and this is in Mark 4:30,

“And he said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it?”

Literally, this verse reads, “Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what parable [noun, “parabolos”] shall we parable [verb, “paraballo”] it?

At least two huge truths leap out to us here. First, the Kingdom of God is not an earthly kingdom. It is a spiritual kingdom which is not of this world. However, people speak some earthly language or another. Some speak English, some speak Chinese, some speak Spanish, others speak one or more of hundreds of languages of the world. Thus, secondly, it is necessary that parables be employed when God reveals truths about the Kingdom of God to us, because for us to understand He must speak to us in a language (earthly) that we understand.

It is often said that a parable is “an earthly story with a heavenly meaning”. This is an OK informal definition of a parable. In light of the Biblical words we have studied here, though, I believe it is more accurately said that a parable is “heavenly truths couched in earthly language”. Thus we begin to see how all of the Bible is at least to some significant extent a parable. This is because all of the Bible is recorded in earthly language.

How, then, is the heavenly meaning conveyed? The key here is to understand that a parable is "that which is placed beside”. To understand the spiritual meaning of a passage of the Bible, we must prayerfully and in faith place such a passage beside, or compare, the passage with all of the other Biblical passages and words that relate to it. We are to understand that the words are spiritual, and we are to compare spiritual words with spiritual words. We are to "place beside", or compare, Scripture with Scripture.

There is another way we can know that all of the Bible is a parable. We read in Mark 4:11-12:

“And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all [these] things are done in parables: That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and [their] sins should be forgiven them.”

This verse speaks of the Bible doing two things. One, it reveals spiritual truth to the true believers in Christ. But second, it confounds and confuses those who are not chosen of God to be saved. How does the Bible confound and confuse unto damnation? It does so because it is “done in parables”.

You might ask, how then, can a verse such as John 3:16 be considered a parable? Is not this a forthright and direct declaration of God’s salvation plan?

We know that even John 3:16 is a parable, from the two standpoints set forth above. First, no non-elect unbeliever can look at John 3:16 and figure out enough about it to become saved. They may have some correct understanding about the nature of John 3:16, but if they are not elect they will see but not perceive, they may hear, but they will not truly understand. They will not be converted, and their sins will not be forgiven them.

Second, we know that John 3:16 is a parable because it can only be fully understood in light of the Bible passages that relate to it. For example, John 3:16 does not explain what “perish” means. To understand this, we need to go to other parts of the Bible that teach us that “perish” means to come under the punishment of Hell.

Neither can we know what “world” means by looking at John 3:16 alone. We learn from other parts of the Bible that “world” means the elect, who are given everlasting life, together with the created universe, which will be recreated a new heavens and a new earth at the Last Day. As a matter of fact, it is on this word, “world” that many arminian unbelievers stumble. When they read this, they assume that it means that Christ paid for the sins of every last human being; which He did not. Thus we can see John 3:16, as a parable, hiding truth from these unbelievers.

“Without a parable spake he not unto them . . .”. All the Bible is a parable. Every verse of it. May God, through His Spirit, guide us into a true understanding of His Holy, inerrant, infallible, and plenarily inspired Word.