When it comes to the comings of Christ, the parables shed much light on why the Son of God came. Contrary to the prevailing evangelical notion, Jesus came for more than to simply save sinners. He came to a specific people, at a specific time, in a specific context, for a specific and dual-functioning purpose. That purpose was to bring judgment upon His enemies and salvation to His people, which can be demonstrated throughout the parables of Christ.
For instance, when Christ comes, He will identify two groups of people in His incarnation. One that will be prepared for judgment. And the other who will be prepared for His blessings. These two themes show up in the vast majority of parables and give us insight into Jesus’ conception of His incarnation.
For instance, in one parable you have the righteous man building his house upon the rock, while the wicked builds in hubris upon the sand (Luke 6:46-49). In that story, the righteous man survives the near-term calamity and experiences ongoing blessings while the wicked man undergoes sudden destruction when the storm appeared.
Truth from parables like these can be applied in spiritual and universal ways since all who build their life on Jesus Christ will be ultimately and eternally spared, whereas building on anything else will warrant eternal calamities forever. But, spiritualized interpretations often miss the poignant reality this would have conveyed to the original audience. Jesus is warning that a first-century storm is coming and only those who were with Him would survive it, which gained terrifying clarity in the events of AD 70.
This kind of dualism between the imminent doom of the wicked and the near blessing of the righteous is too overt to ignore. For instance, the sheep will be brought into blessing, whereas the goats will be set apart for destruction (Matthew 25:31-36). The wheat is to be stored in Christ’s heavenly barns while the tares will be thrown into the flames (Matthew 13:24-30). The branches that bear fruit will be pruned for greater fruitfulness, and all those who are fruitless will be burned for their worthlessness (John 15:1-11). The king will bring new guests into the joy of His wedding while sending his armies to destroy the ones who were found unworthy (Matthew 22:1-14). On and on we may go.
Clarifying Parabolic Time
Some of these parables helpfully add a clarifying element of time, which let us know more will be going on in the first century than a hyper-spiritual application can account for. In the spiritual application, the parables were written for me, my benefit, and concern the things going on in my world. Jesus’ parables, however, clearly address events that apply to His contemporaries and things that will be happening in their world even while we still find comfort and application in them as well.
For instance, Christ the master will go on a long journey. When He returns, He will bless the slave who is found doing what He commanded (Luke 12:35-44). But, to the one who is lazy, wicked, and evil, He will bring violence, death, and destruction (Luke 12:45-48). This happened in AD 70.
The temptation today is to read a multiple thousand-year gap into texts like these, supposing that its contents apply to us or some future generation. Beyond breaking the most basic rules of Biblical hermeneutics, this is not how the story world of a parable works. In the parable, a human master goes on a human journey that seemed especially long to his human servants. When he returned, those same servants were still alive. Some were rewarded for their faithfulness while their master was away. The others were punished and even killed for their wickedness.
Had the master in the story left on a two-thousand-year journey, both he and his slaves would have to be near immortal to survive until he returned, which cannot be Jesus’ point. But, if Jesus was preparing His disciples for the forty-year gap that existed between His ascension and judgment coming on Jerusalem in AD 70, the parable would make great sense. Jesus’ return would bring blessing to the ones who were committed to following Him. But, death and destruction for those who remained in their rebellion, such as the Jews.
One triad of parables makes this blessing / judgment coming of Christ undeniably clear. In Matthew 21-22, Jesus tells three successive parables, one right after the other, where one group will gain tremendous blessings and the other awful judgments. In the first, Jesus interprets the parable of the two sons, telling the Pharisees that the prostitutes and tax collectors will get into heaven ahead of them (Matthew 21:28-32). In the second, He interprets the parable of the landowner, warning the Jews that God’s kingdom will be taken away from them at His coming, and given to a people who will produce His fruit (Matthew 21:33-46). And in the third, Jesus reveals that the Jews were found unworthy to participate in His coming Kingdom so they are thrown out where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 22:1-14).
In each of these parables, the coming of the Son of Man is accomplishing a dualistic purpose. For the elect, Jesus’ coming will usher them into all the salvific blessings and eschatological joys available in God’s newly inaugurated Kingdom, the Church. For those who reject Him, there will be suffering, weeping, gnashing teeth, and imminent destruction. To the Jews, this happened during their lives, when their city was set on fire, their temple was devoted to destruction, and the Old Covenant kingdom of shadows and types came to a sudden cataclysmic end.
The parables Jesus taught prepared the discerning disciple for this apocalyptic outcome.
The Prophets and Dual Purpose Comings
This same theme of salvation and judgment at the Messiah’s coming shows up in the prophetic writings as well. For instance, in Joel 2, God promises to blow a trumpet of war, empowering a Northern army to bring swift and awful judgment against the Jews of the first century (Joel 2:1-11). But, His coming will also provide a way of salvation for the elect who will repent (Joel 2:12-17). In case we doubt the first-century timing of this prophecy, Joel cites Pentecost, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, as the sign that will identify when his prophecy will occur. Here again, we see that Messiah’s first-century coming will be good news for some and terrifying for others.

Job’s call was for a revelation as to why the innocent, godly, sincere, and compassionate are put to the test in such sufferings. Dealing with the ways of God with men calls for a wisdom that dwells only in the mind and purpose of God. The way to understanding is “hidden from the eyes of all living” and only “God understands the way to it, and he knows  its place.” 

The book of Job consists of waves of expressions that indicate a desire for and the necessity of divine revelation for true knowledge. The entire book is a plea for knowledge from God. God cannot be known if he does not speak and his ways and purposes remain a mystery until he speaks. We find this expressed in several key points in the progress of the discussion in Job.
Something totally unexpected happened to Job. Having conducted himself with punctilious religious observance (1:5), purity (31:1) compassion, generosity (29:12-16; 31:16-23), and wisdom (29:7-11), he finds himself under a severe scourge-“God has cast me into the mire, and I have become like dust and ashes…You have turned cruel to me; with the might of your hand you persecute me” (30:19, 21). Though clear on the sovereign prerogatives of God (26:7-14), Job declares that God “has taken away my right” (27:2). Job was desperate for a word from God. He knew he could not understand his situation apart from God’s meeting with him. “Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden,” Job asked, “whom God has hedged in?” (3:23). Only God knows. “Let me know why you contend against me” (10:2).
Why God sends suffering to the lives of saints calls for revelation. Zophar knows that the answer to Job’s protests lies in the mind of God himself: “But oh, that God would speak and open his lips to you, and that he would tell you the secrets of wisdom.” It becomes clear that Zophar believed that such revelation would reveal a peculiarly deep guilt and hypocrisy on the part of Job. Job’s call was for a revelation as to why the innocent, godly, sincere, and compassionate are put to the test in such sufferings. Dealing with the ways of God with men calls for a wisdom that dwells only in the mind and purpose of God. The way to understanding is “hidden from the eyes of all living” and only “God understands the way to it, and he knows  its place” (28:21, 23). If sin lies at the basis of Job’s suffering, he asks for a revelation from God of it: “Let me speak, and you reply to me. How many are my iniquities and my sins? Make me know my transgression and my sin” (13:22, 23).  Elihu affirmed that only by revelation from God could the entire situation and questions surrounding Job’s suffering be resolved: “It is the spirit in man, breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand…God speaks in one way, and in two, though man does not perceive it, in a dream, in a vision of the night” (32:8: 33: 14, 15).
In the midst of a desire for revelation of God’s purposes, we find that the language of Job is a marvel of revelatory inspiration.  Several speeches manifest the Romans 1:19-21 grasp of revelation in that God’s power of creation and his control of nature in its every particular is affirmed. The moral implications of such power and wisdom are extended into the ongoing discussion—both sides of the encounter seek particular applications. In the narrative of these observations and arguments, we find some of the most picturesque and striking linguistic images in all of literature. It is not just a literary triumph, but the substance implied behind the images gives powerful insight into the ways and wisdom of God, laying the foundation for Paul’s revelatory affirmation in Colossians 1:15, 17, “By him all things were created…and in him all things hold together.” Elihu expressed the dependence of all creation on the initial creative power of God and his continual and immediate operation of sustaining: “He covers his hands with the lightning and commands it to strike the mark…By the breath of God ice is given, and the broad waters are frozen fast. He loads the thick cloud with moisture; the clouds scatter his lightning” (36:32; 37:10, 11). Job emphasizes his sense of utter despair and helplessness by comparing himself negatively to a dead tree: “For there is hope for a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its shoots will not cease. Though its root grow old in the earth and its stump die in the soil, yet at the scent of water it will bud and put out branches like a young plant. But a man dies and is laid low; man breathes his last, and where is he?” (14:8-10). Also, we find beautifully crafted language in service of a plain expression of the central moral issue involved, another point of revelation given in conscience (Romans 1:32; 2:15). “God is clothed with awesome majesty. The Almighty–we cannot find him. He is great in power; justice and abundant righteousness he will not violate” (37:22, 23).
Read More

It’s a beautiful irony how God takes our mutable nature and works it for our good and His glory. Yet in so doing it also serves to highlight that Creator/creature distinction. We change…but God does not change.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.—James 1:17
The truth of God’s immutable nature, a truth stated plainly by James near the beginning of his epistle, is foundational to the entirety of the Christian religion, to the Gospel message, and to our very understanding of Who God is. God as Creator, something which James immediately highlights in verse 18, is only possible because in His creation of all existence, an existence born out of and sustained by His divine being, He is never diminished or weakened by His sustaining act. God as divine Judge is only possible because His judgments will never change, His standards will never move. God as sovereign Savior is only possible because His choice to elect and save a portion of sinful humanity can never be shaken or cast aside. He will never decide that His chosen ones are just too bad, worse than He expected, and thus change His mind. God’s sovereign decrees are eternal, not simply because He has perfect knowledge of all things, but because He never changes. We see immediately then how His divine perfections are perfectly harmonious, His immutability being in concert with His omniscience (perfect knowledge) and eternality (God is not bound by time). Of course in His simplicity, this must be so, as He is not composed of parts as we are. The truth of God is infinitely deep and dizzyingly complex, yet James is also helpful in our realization that these deep truths are immensely practical in the life of a believer.
Consider how James opens his epistle: “Count it joy when you face trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. The believer’s ability to consider the hardships of life a good thing is not only brought about by the effects they have within us – endurance – but also because God is immutable. He Who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. If God could change, then we can have no confidence in His ability to use our trials for good in our lives.
Read More
Related Posts: