The Lord's Commentary on the Parables

In the Doctrine and Covenants the Lord referred often to the teachings He gave during His mortal ministry.  In particular He spoke several times concerning His parables showing us how applicable they are to us in the last days.  I looked today and found four parables in particular that He referred to in the revelations to the Prophet Joseph.  His words show that the parables are every bit as important to us today as they were when He originally gave them.     

Ten Virgins

The first parable that I found which He referred to was the parable of the ten virgins. He told the early saints, “Wherefore, be faithful, praying always, having your lamps trimmed and burning, and oil with you, that you may be ready at the coming of the Bridegroom” (D&C 33:17).  He gave an even more explicit reference to the parable in D&C 45 amidst the teachings about the last days and Second Coming: “And at that day, when I shall come in my glory, shall the parable be fulfilled which I spake concerning the ten virgins.  For they that are wise and have received the truth, and have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide, and have not been deceived—verily I say unto you, they shall not be hewn down and cast into the fire, but shall abide the day” (D&C 45:56-57).  It’s interesting that He said that the parable would be “fulfilled”—clearly it wasn’t meant as only a simple story to explain a principle.  The parable of the ten virgins is prophecy about the last days.  The Savior alluded to it a third time in a later revelation: “And until that hour there will be foolish virgins among the wise; and at that hour cometh an entire separation of the righteous and the wicked” (D&C 63:43).  These teachings clarify that the parable is not just a story about other people; we are in the parable and we have to figure out how to be one of the wise in the last days. 

Wheat and the Tares

Another parable which the Savior treated as prophecy about the last days was the parable of the wheat and the tares. He alluded to it first in D&C 38:12 when He spoke of the angels in heaven who “are waiting the great command to reap down the earth, to gather the tares that they may be burned.”  He went into great detail about the parable in D&C 86 as He gave the meaning: “Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you my servants, concerning the parable of the wheat and of the tares: Behold, verily I say, the field was the world, and the apostles were the sowers of the seed” (D&C 86:1-2).  He explained what was happening in the last days with the wheat and the tares growing together until the Second Coming, and again emphasized that the angels who were waiting to reap the fields.  A third reference to the parable came later as He spoke about the gathering: “Therefore, I must gather together my people, according to the parable of the wheat and the tares, that the wheat may be secured in the garners to possess eternal life” (D&C 101:65).  Again like the parable of the ten virgins, we find that the story of the wheat and the tares was not just a nice lesson told two millennia ago; it is a story in which we are participating.  Will we be part of the wheat or the tares?

Fig Tree

A third parable that the Savior spoke of in the Doctrine and Covenants was that of the fig tree.  Speaking about the last days and second coming again, He said, “And they shall learn the parable of the fig tree, for even now already summer is nigh” (D&C 35:16).  He seemed to allude to the parable again in one of the great revelations about the last days: “And when the light shall begin to break forth, it shall be with them like unto a parable which I will show you—Ye look and behold the fig trees, and ye see them with your eyes, and ye say when they begin to shoot forth, and their leaves are yet tender, that summer is now nigh at hand; Even so it shall be in that day when they shall see all these things, then shall they know that the hour is nigh” (D&C 45:36-38).  Once more the message for us is that the parable is just as applicable today—if not more so—as it was in the meridian of time. 

Woman and Unjust Judge

The Savior only mentioned this one once as He instructed the Saints to seek redress for their wrongs in the terrible things that happened in Missouri: “Now, unto what shall I liken the children of Zion? I will liken them unto the parable of the woman and the unjust judge” (D&C 101:81).  Again the implied message about the parables is that they have things to teach us in our own circumstances today. 

There may be other parables that I’m missing, but these alone show the importance of both studying the Savior’s stories in the New Testament as well as understanding them through the lens of the last days and the challenges that we face in our own lives.