Jesus' Use of Parables to Teach About the Kingdom of God Essay

“Do to others as you would have them do to you. For if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?”(Luke 6:31-32) What credit does one truly receive from helping those who have always helped them, in what way does that benefit the community? Jesus asked this trivial question in an attempt to relay the epitome of the Kingdom of God. Many spend a whole lifetime searching for meaning of what the Kingdom of God truly is, what Jesus meant by his descriptions of the Kingdom. This passage comes across as helping others in a 21st century mindset, however, the cultural exclusion the Jewish people presented to those outside of their community brings forth a much more impactful message.

It was here in Solomon’s porch that Jesus had identified Himself as the “Light of the World” at another time. Jesus is indeed the Shamash, our servant, the eternal light that sheds light in a world of darkness. Unfortunately, He was not welcome there in the Temple and they began to stone him for what they perceived to be blasphemy.

In the Bible Jesus used Parables as teachable moments to promote learning and thinking. A parable is a comparison between two things or even people that may be used to teach a lesson, let’s take a look at the definitions or learning and parable. Starting off with the definition of learning. According to the text, “Learning Theories EDUC 500 by Slavin and Schunk”, learning is defined as “an enduring change in behavior or in the capacity to behave in a given fashion, which results from practice or other forms of experience” (Slavin & Schunk, 2018, p. 3). Now let’s Compare this to the definition of a parable according to Webster’s a parable is “a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson, as told by Jesus in the Gospels” Parable.

The Parables in the Bible tell a story, they are told in a simple way, which attracts the hearers’ attention. A parable refers to an implied comparison. Jesus proclaims the Kingdom of God by making comparisons of the daily life of the people of His time. Jesus used parables during His public ministry. He gives them a sign and foretaste of what is and will be the Kingdom of Heaven, as explained, apart from the parables narrated in the Gospels. All acts performed by Jesus during His public life have a vision or a parabolic sense because they try to uncover this hidden kingdom among the people. Jesus speaks of the Kingdom of God with wisdom and simplicity, and uses parables in which, without hiding He is saying new things. At the same time, with a different vision, Jesus invites listeners to be attracted and feel excited about this kingdom. All parables have a significant meaning for all Christians. Therefore, parables make hearers analyze and think, and it is for this reasons that at the end of these parables he always warns: "Whoever has ears ought to hear." With that being told, Jesus is saying that only those with an open heart to conversion and a soul willing to reject sin will understand and will be able to assimilate these short stories.

As such this parable targeted the ancient rural audience. This was evident in the way the narrators of this parable described the sowing in different terrains. This was done to relate to the farmers of the hilly regions of Galilee in which birds, rocks, and thorns could be an obstacle in their farming practices. It is also interesting to note that farmers during these times on a good year might reap a 5 to 10-fold increase in harvest to what they planted. But the parable gave up to a 100-fold increase in harvest yield. This optimistic outcome of this parable is done by the authors in order to capture the targeted audience with what the authors deemed

Jesus tells a parable about a farmer who sows his seed around his land. The seeds fall on different types of land and this ends with them having different outcomes for the seeds. The seeds in this story represent how different people take the word of God differently.

The seed would grow but later would scorch and wither away because there were no more sure on Hard Rock. Some portion of the seed fell on ground with plenty of soil wish you and in abundance amount. The majority people that lived in Rome or at the time we're majority farmers. The cost of real different details about the parable but all good ideas put into words that people at that time could understand.

Throughout the Gospel According to Matthew, Jesus teaches his disciples the tenets of a new faith through the use of parables. However, the messages that they convey may often be blurred by the language and the imagery, and at times, event contradict each other. Such is the case with the parable of the seed and the parable of the vineyard workers. The former compares the aftermath of seeds that had fallen on different types of soil, suggesting a judgmental God who determines a human’s fate by their actions. On the other hand, the latter suggests a benevolent, loving God who generously rewards all those who believe and follow him. Why would Jesus present two contradictory views of God, detracting from his overall message? Through the language used in the parables and connections they form with the rest of the Gospel, the two parables are revealed to be complementary, playing an important role in defining what it means to be faithful to the God that Jesus preaches about.

King Jesus preached about the kingdom of God. The prophet Daniel told his audience that God will set up a new kingdom that will (Daniel 2:44). This kingdom, unfortunately, would bring divine judgment to God’s chosen people.

Parables mean a compassion of or the discernment of similarities between one thing or another. Jesus used parables to express unexpected resemblances between objects, actions or ideas. He used parables to make it easy for his followers to understand what he expected of them, while comparing God’s kingdom to things on earth. Parables are open-ended without a conclusion, which allows the hearer to speculate the end

Sadducees had arrested the twelve apostles due to their belief in God and the wisdom they had. There they were beaten and threatened to never preach God’s word ever again. Peter answered the Sadducees. With Peter saying these simple words God freed them from pain and suffering and allowed them to be back in the Synagogue to preach.

They knew the day was coming, they only needed to be prepared. They needed their lamps to light their paths

Why Jesus uses the parable of the Sower, the Weeds, or the Yeast to explain the Kingdom of God? ---- As we all know, the concept of "the Kingdom of God" is not something that we could easily understand and it would be un-effective if Jesus uses the illustration that wasn't familiar to them. That is why He uses parables that were common to their "daily situations" at that time (the sower, the weeds, a mustard seed, or the yeast). In other words, Jesus illustrates this big concept using their "terms" so every people that hear His teachings could relate and understands

The parables, in Matthew 13, tell of the Kingdom of Heaven that Jesus told the masses. Matthews’s story of the mustard seed is a little different than the other parables because it tells of growth rather than planting. It tells of how small the mustard seed was which represented the doubtful listeners who did not believe in this powerful kingdom that’s coming. These parables all had a commonality of which they were Jesus’ preaching’s of the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven. The parable of the mustard seed could represent small beginnings and the plant in its final growth (Bailey, 452). This parable can be looked at as a growth period of the kingdom. It has to have a beginning which is the planting of the mustard seed; as it needs a growth period in the middle, and an end of tremendous growth. The mustard seed has been known to grow eight to twelve feet tall (Bailey, 454). With Jesus and the disciples spreading the word of this parable, the growth of the knowledge of the Kingdom of Heaven to the crowds increases. It will eventually be known worldwide, then everyone can experience the blessings of the Kingdom of Heaven and either follow towards it or turn away. The mustard seed parable has been said to have been written for the Christian Church, from the gospel of Matthew (Bailey, 459). Its modern meanings are that: it stands for

However, in light of this narrative, Jesus spiritual meaning for this phrase shines forth. Jesus is the light of the world. As long as Jesus is in the world, he shines forth. Even when Jesus left the world, his light still shone through his followers. Jesus’ sole purpose in life was to restore mankind—to allow people to spiritually see. However, Jesus uses a physical example to show his spiritual message. After Jesus healed the man, the man was questioned for a great while by the Pharisees, and at the end of the questioning, the man was kicked out of the temple. Jesus again found him, but this time, opened the eyes to his heart. Jesus is the light of the world to show people the way—to become spiritually unblind. When Jesus said this phrase to the woman, he was showing her that he has come to make her spiritually free. Although the Festival (with its lights) was over, Jesus still shone to all. When Jesus said this phrase to the disciples in regards of the blind man, we has showing that he alone had to power to open a man’s eyes and allow them to see the truth of the Gospel message.