Speaking in Parables
Jesus knew how to communicate with people. His speech was aimed at their level. He did not use deep philosophical and theological language, although He spoke the most profound truth. He spoke in simple, practical terms that everyone could understand. He spoke of things that people could apply to their lives.
Jesus illustrated His teaching with objects from nature and common household items. He spoke about coins (Luke 15:8-10); farmers sowing seed (Mark 4:26-29); yeast and flour (Matt. 13:33); sheep (Matt. 18:12-14); fig trees (Mark 13:28-32)—and numerous other items to which the people could relate.
Pick a few of the parables listed above. Read them. What was the point Jesus was making in each case? Why were those images so appropriate? Ask yourself this: Were Jesus walking among us today, in the flesh, what images might He have used to make those same points?
As you read those parables, perhaps you noticed something about them, and that was how most, if not all, of those images would be just as appropriate today. That is, there was a timelessness, a universality, of those images that in a way paralleled the timelessness of His message.
How does that fact help us understand why, perhaps, Jesus used those specific images?
Matthew records several mini-parables Jesus used to try to describe what the kingdom of heaven is like. He said that the kingdom of heaven is like "a grain of mustard seed" (Matt. 13:31); "leaven" (vs. 33); "treasure hid in a field" (vs. 44); "a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls" (vs. 45); "a net" (vs. 47); "a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old" (vs. 52); "a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard" (Matt. 20:1); "a certain king, which made a marriage for his son" (Matt. 22:2). Which one of those images works best for you? Why would Jesus use so many different images to make the same point? What message could the Lord be sending us through this deliberate use of different images that could help us learn how to witness to others?
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