When Jesus was with us on earth and ministering to his followers, he often told them stories called parables that would illustrate an important point. Jesus, knew that by telling engaging and interesting stories, he would draw the crowd to him and communicate difficult or perhaps painful truths in a way they could easily grasp, or at least digest as they went on with their daily lives.
What Are Parables?
We call the stories that Jesus told “parables” because they illustrate a spiritual lesson in the life of the characters. In this way, parables are different from fables which also can impart a moral imperative, because they are about people and real-life situations (whereas fables, like those written by Aesop, often employ the use of animals and mythical creatures).
Jesus knew how to get to the heart of a story, and he knew that his listeners would strain an ear to hear the compelling conclusion to his messages. Stories, and in particular parables, have that kind of power; it is just plain more poignant to hear the truth about our own sinful selves than it is to hear about someone else who shares our same struggles and sin. We do not mind so much when we hear the truth about someone else, even if it applies to us.
The parables themselves present clear stories from everyday events that many in the crowd would recognize. Jesus did not code His teaching to prevent some people from understanding, since all equally would understand the imagery. All those gathered there certainly comprehended the aspects of the stories related to their everyday lives. Instead, His teaching divided the listeners into two groups based on their own responses.
His miracles had attracted many, and others had perhaps been astonished by His earlier teaching. But the parables themselves, just as in the story of the seed falling on various places (Matthew 13:3-9), revealed the true nature of their responses and their real decisions. Those committed to the Kingdom of God would seek and find further understanding. But those uncommitted—perhaps listening only because of the initial excitement—would reject the teaching as unintelligible.”
Besides the obvious “moral of the story”, there is much to be learned in the parables about the nature of God and the redeeming love of Christ. Here are five things’ parables and stories teach us:
- Great stories teach us something about God.
- Great stories teach us something about ourselves.
- Great stories illustrate our need for something.
- Great stories serve as a guide.
- Great stories tell us who the hero is.
From: crosswalk.com
