Many facets of a parable

Luke 6:40-45
40"A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher.
41"Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
42"Or how can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye.
43"For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit.
44"For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush.
45"The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.

Matthew 7:1-5
1"Do not judge so that you will not be judged.
2"For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.
3"Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
4"Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' and behold, the log is in your own eye?
5"You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.


As I was sitting in class and listening to a lecture on the Gospel according to Matthew, the facets of this passage dawned on me. I had never really thought about the events in detail until now. Yes, Yeshua teaches in parables for the purpose of those with ears hearing and those with eyes seeing.

Matthew 13:13-14
13"Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.
14"In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,
'YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND;
YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE;

But what I had not noticed was the specific stories Yeshua chose and why he chose the details of the parables that He did. Scripture is full of messages on all different levels, yet we as ones with a Greek mindset, tend to want a singular answer that is neatly packaged and works logically. Not so with the word of God. It is a jewel that held one way in the light shines a certain way and when turned shines a different light; all truths of God, just stated different ways.

The message we see in the passage above is clear. At least we would at first believe that as I had. Don’t point fingers at your brother if you struggle with the same thing. Or “don’t judge lest you be judged” as Matthew puts it in his Gospel account. Application for the passage? Get right before you judge and help your brother to see the error of his ways. Okay, fair enough, but most people see this meaning and go on like all the truth has been mined (Proverbs 2). Seek silver!

I started to ask questions concerning the process of removing a speck from a person’s eye. How small is a speck? Isn’t it dangerous to put your dirty finger in someone’s eye even if it is to clear their sight? Won’t they have to trust you to allow you to put your dirty finger in their eye? Dirt in your eye hurts which I know from experience. To answer a possible question: yes I know it is metaphorical, but Yeshua is no dummy and He used everything He said and did to teach. His examples were always meant to have meaning in every detail of them. There is not an idle word in the Bible.

Deuteronomy 32:45-50
45When Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel,
46he said to them, "Take to your heart all the words with which I am warning you today, which you shall command your sons to observe carefully, even all the words of this law.
47"For it is not an idle word for you; indeed it is your life and by this word you will prolong your days in the land, which you are about to cross the Jordan to possess."


God’s word is our life; it creates in us faith (something) out of nothing in our hearts. The lesson is to study the Scriptures word by word and seek the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness in His word.

So here is what I gleaned with my questioning:

1) Removing specks for our brother’s eyes is not for the untrained
- Eye Surgeons go to school for years to do eye surgery.
- Plus Yeshua tells us the same thing.
…"A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher.”…

2) Removing specks from our brother’s eyes requires them to trust us
- I do not let anyone I do not trust near my eyes
- Winning a brother is the ultimate goal
Matthew 18:15
15"If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother.
- Trust takes time
- Yeshua spent three years discipling His disciples.

3) Your hands must be clean if you are going to stick them in your brother’s eye
- Scrub up before you do surgery
…You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye…
- Not cleaning up can make things worse
Galatians 6:1-3
1 Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted.
2 Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.
3 For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

4) We must maintain a spirit of gentleness when removing specks
- Surgeons have calm hands and controlled nerves
…restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness…
Ephesians 4:2
…with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love,…
2 Timothy 2:25
…with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth,…

I believe that Yeshua wanted us not only to see that we should be wary and discerning when judging, but that His method was one of gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for this lost flock of sheep. That He was clean as He spoke correction into lives that were stained with sin. Yeshua did life with His sheep and earned their trust by building a relationship and being involved in their lives.

We too must imitate Christ as He gives us examples from the parables that He spoke. God is eternal and so is His word. Never get caught in the lie that Scripture is merely words in a book. They are life and life that is eternal in our Messiah. We shall be hard-pressed to delve as deeply as we long to into God’s word, but we can always turn the jewel from side to side. This way we bask in continually changing glimpses of God’s beauty.