Parables are one of the most important and time honored way to teach people - young or old, educated or uneducated, simple or wise - instructive principles of life and for living.
Parables are often taught within the context of what the audience will understand. Illustrations may include current societal aspects, common jobs or professions and well-known environments. As students, we can sometimes more readily understand a difficult concept if it's explained in parable form. The parable helps put "flesh" on that abstract concept.
For example, it's "easier" to construct a parable about love rather than putting a "definition" together. You could almost say that Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" is a "parable" about love.
Jesus used parables in about one-third of His teaching. By and large His audience was relatively uneducated - formally anyway - but they were mostly likely common-sense, hardworking folk who had a good grasp on day to day living.
But as always, Jesus did things - everything - with a purpose. His very life had an extreme and Divine purpose: re-establishing the relationship between Himself - the Creator - and His creation (us). In that light, the parables of Jesus were couched in the context of two aspects: 1. Who God is - His Kingdom and 2. What Jesus came to do. Understanding those two aspects helps us to understand the context of all of Jesus' parables.
Jesus parables are not "nice" stories about life and living that stand on their own. Yes, they may be nice stories - especially in an unbelieving, liberal church context - but that's not their point. Jesus came to preach and declare His Kingdom.
Keep in mind that the average listener (original audiences) believed that the Messiah's coming would throw off the oppressive Roman yoke of bondage and usher in a new "golden age" similar to what the Jews had experienced under King David. They did not understand that God's way of doing things - anything - is not man's way. But Jesus was teaching on the Kingdom of God - sometimes referred to as the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus was teaching about HIS Kingdom. That's what was important then and is still important today. We have to know what the Kingdom "is like". And so He teaches us.
As I look at these parables, I am struck by the fact that so many people did not understand them - as they do today. And Jesus even said that many would not be able to understand! At the close of the parable of the sower in Matthew 13, Jesus says, "he who has ears, let him hear." The disciples then come and ask, "why do you speak to the people in parables?" To which Jesus responds, "the knowledge of the Kingdom of Heaven has been given to you but not to them." He then goes on to quote the prophet Isaiah,
"Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand."
"In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:
"'You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart [emphasis mine] has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.'" Matthew 13:9 - 15 and quoting Isaiah 6:9, 10.
That's astounding. Why would he say or do that?
Jesus understood the "noetic" effects of sin. The noetic effects of sin refer to the effect of sin on our minds. Sin causes us to deny our sin, deny a need for a personal savior, and even deny God Himself.
Why did Jesus teach this way? Honestly, I don't know. He's God after all, I'm not. His ways are beyond my ways. But I do know that He taught that way for 3 essential reasons:
- The Kingdom of God has present and future aspects.
- The Kingdom of God is under the reign of Jesus Christ.
- We believers, we Christians, are to play active daily roles in the expansion of His Kingdom.
As we go through this study, we'll take time to look at each of these reasons.
We'll also look at the 4 Aspects of Living the Parables:
- Duty
- Character
- Goals
- Truth
Each parable will highlight one of these Aspects as we flesh out our Christian life and living in the Kingdom of God.
As we go through this video series over eight weeks (July & August 2011), we'll look at 4 of Jesus parables. Each parable will be looked at and discussed for 2 weeks. The first week, we'll look at the parable retold in a modern context with today's "normal" people and circumstances. We'll see how it matches and follows the original story taught by our Lord. Week 2 of the parable applies the parable. These "couplets" of weeks will be put together in a blog post for each week with links to the Modern Parable videos (all of them may be viewed at www.modernparables.com ). Be sure to have Adobe Flash player - here's a link to the free player - installed on your computer.
This is part of a series of video parables presented and performed in a modern, 21st century style so that we may better understand the Words of God. All of the credit to this series go to the folks at ModernParables.com.
There's no particular order to them, but do start with the first, "Hidden Treasure". It's a good place to begin and sets the stage as well as the tone for the others.
The Parable of Hidden Treasure: Matthew 13:44. Very simple, yet very deep in meaning. What's God's treasure? What is the treasure you are looking for? What would you give to get it? What is your duty to God?
Click on the links for the posts and to download discussion and leader notes within each Lesson. Hidden Treasure - Week 1, Part 1. And Hidden Treasure - Week 2, Part 2.
The Good Samaritan: Luke 10:25 - 37. In my opinion, this is the second most poignant and favorite parable that teaches and convicts my spirit. It is a moving story of unforeseen compassion. It is also a "wake up" call to our own sin and selfishness. How is the Christian to love the world around him while seeking the Kingdom of Heaven?
Click on the links for the posts and to download discussion and leader notes within each Lesson. Good Samaritan - Week 3, Part 1. And Good Samaritan - Week 4, Part 2.
The Sower: The parable of the Sower in Matthew 13:1 - 23, is one of the more thought provoking ones. It's a bit more difficult to understand. Thankfully, Jesus goes into a good explanation for His disciples then and to us (His disciples) now. In our modern times, we rarely get our hands dirty by working in the soil. We don't plant or deal with weeds. We sometimes don't know what "good ground" is. Or do we?
Click on the links for the posts and to download discussion and leader notes within each Lesson. The Sower - Week 5, Part 1. And the Sower - Week 6, Part 2.
The Prodigal Sons: This is without doubt, my favorite Parable. The word pictures that our Lord Jesus paints with this parable as recorded in Luke 15:11 - 32, are many. If you have a sibling where things have not always gone well or a child who has strayed from the path you would have preferred, you'll find something here. Maybe you're a child who wishes that you had a parent like the father in the parable, you'll find something here. Yes, there's power in the Word!
Click on the links for the posts and to download discussion and leader notes within each Lesson. The Prodigal Sons - Week 7, Part 1. And The Prodigal Sons - Week 8, Part 2.
Wrapping it up. What do we get from Parables? Some final thoughts.
Music Video: Mercy Me - "Word of God Speak"
