The Jesus Bible Reading Plan / TEACHING IN PARABLES

The Jesus Bible Reading Plan

Day 159 of 365 TEACHING IN PARABLES In Matthew 13, Jesus used parables to explain the kingdom of God. In fact, he chose not to say much of anything to the gathered crowds in that passage without using parables. Though the purposes behind Jesus' teaching style are more than can be enumerated here, it certainly fulfilled the psalmist's words in Psalm 78:2: "I will open my mouth with a parable; I will utter hidden things, things from of old" (quoted in Mt 13:35). The parables Jesus taught - the Good Samaritan, the Lost Son, etc. - rank as some of the best-known passages in all of Scripture. Rather than giving complicated teachings wrapped in theologically dense language, Jesus usually used simple, everyday realities to teach the intended truth. For example, he used a lost coin in Luke 15 and differing kinds of soil in Matthew 13. A few times Jesus applied the parable to his audience by asking the crowd a question, as in the parable of the Good Samaritan: "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" (Lk 10:36). Other times he interpreted the parable himself (Mt 13:18 - 23). There were also times when the parable was told only to confirm unbelievers in their rejection of him (Mk 4:11 - 12). In such cases, the simplicity of the parable only highlighted their blindness. While there might be a few characters in a parable that need to be interpreted, parables are not necessarily strict allegories where every detail demands an attached spiritual symbolism. In the parable of the Lost Son, for example, spiritual significance might wrongly be attached to details of the ring the father gives. Even so, parables do not need to be limited to only one application point. For example, the father in that parable represents God, but it is also clear that the older brother represents the self-righteous Pharisees to whom Jesus spoke. Jesus' teaching style shared many of the same aims of Psalm 78. Like the psalmist's words long before, Jesus' parables taught "the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done" (Ps 78:4). Jesus, thank you for teaching us using simple yet multilayered truths. Please help me to communicate your truths to others in the same way, so that they will understand and want to know more. Amen. Psalms 78:1-8 NASB 1 Listen, O my people, to my instruction; Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. 2 I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old, 3 Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us. 4 We will not conceal them from their children, But tell to the generation to come the praises of the L ord , And His strength and His wondrous works that He has done. 5 For He established a testimony in Jacob And appointed a law in Israel, Which He commanded our fathers That they should teach them to their children, 6 That the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born, That they may arise and tell them to their children, 7 That they should put their confidence in God And not forget the works of God, But keep His commandments, 8 And not be like their fathers,