Reflection On 'The Parable Of The Sheep And Goats'

In “The Parable of the Sower”, author Octavia Butler realistically describes the dystopia of the U.S that is currently ruled by poverty, crime, and chaos. Lauren, the main protagonist, evolves and goes on a physical and emotional journey to create her own beliefs and prepare for life behind the wall. Lauren lives in the community of Robledo that is guarded by a wall that is meant to protect them from crime although it often fails to do so. Being the daughter of a Baptist, Lauren is challenged to conform and participate in the religious passivity of the community. Not having enough water, food, and safety prevents and angers Lauren to try to address her problematic reality immediately. Through the eyes and actions of Lauren it is clear she

In Matthew 1-2, the infant stories are used to prepare the ground for the theme of Jesus; the new and perfect Moses, the great teacher and interpreter of God’s ways. A parallel can be drawn between the experiences of the infant Jesus and the experience of Moses. This can be seen in Matthew 2:16-18, where the slaying of innocent male Hebrew children occurred around the time of the birth of Jesus, and in Exodus 1:15-22, where Hebrew children were also murdered at the time of Moses’ birth. Just as Moses came out of Egypt, leading the people of God, so does Jesus. Following the infancy stories, the rest of Matthew’s Gospel is structured around five long discourses where Jesus teaches. On each occasion, the evangelist indicates that a great teacher has been at work (Maloney, 1988, p. 133-34).

Introduction: The term "image of God" occurs three times in the Bible. In Genesis 1:26-27 and 9:6, we find out that man is created in the image of God. In 2 Cor. 4:4 we see the phrase used in reference to Jesus who is the "image of God." There is no exact understanding of what the phrase means, but we can generalize. It would seem that the first two verses refer to God's character and attributes that are reflected in people. The term cannot be a reference to a physical appearance of God since Jesus says in John 4:24 that God is Spirit, and in Luke 24:39 Spirit does not have flesh and bones. Therefore, we can conclude that the image of God deals with humanity's reflection of

What does it mean to be created in the image of God? This question has haunted humanity for thousands of years. If we were created in His image then how exactly did we fall. The first section of the text speaks to this very question by conducting an analysis of the creation account in the book of Genesis. The text begins by noting that the creation of man was intentional and specific. Man was not an afterthought or accident. In face scripture states that man was “very good.” Scripture also notes that the creation of man was not an evolutionary event, given that this theory would deny the formation of man from the dust and the breath of life that was given by God specifically for man.

The parable of the Lost Sheep indicates the shepherd left ninety-nine sheep to find the one lost sheep. Why would Jesus teach to leave ninety-nine sheep for only one lost sheep? Was there another shepherd in-training to look after the ninety-nine or how long was the shepherd gone? Questions our mere mortal minds of 2017 try to answer using current culture ideals. Too often, this generation of believers get bogged down in the details and not the message of the parables. Jesus taught using parables to draw the listener to His message about the kingdom of heaven and can best be understood looking through a scriptural lens and not beyond what the Word provides.

As the company of the LORD as shepherd is presented, it is then obvious that the followers of the LORD are His sheep. An exclusive attribute of sheep is that because of their structure it is almost impossible for them to be made to lie down unless the following necessities are satisfied: to be free of all types of fear, to be free of hostility with others, to be free from all nuisances, and to be free from hunger. As the end of verse one affirmed “I shall not want,” verse two shows that every obligation needed to be taken care of is met by the shepherd.

The books of Matthew and John though have many similarities, also have many differences due to the goals that they are trying to achieve and the importance of points/events they are trying to get across. The reason behind the initial portrayals of Jesus helps achieve the goals of each book; whereas Matthew’s book tries to ‘convince’ the educated readers and quarrelers (Pharisees), John’s book does not care much about reputation per se. For example, Jesus turns on the Jews who believe in him to generate a readers response to him as the definitive expression of God 's will or revelation as opposed to Matthew’s intentional readers response to God 's will as expressed in the Mosaic Law. While there are many qualities I could delve into regarding the difference in characters of Jesus, my essay in particular will look at what each book views is especially important with regard to Jesus and his intentions. Specifically, my main focus will be on the presentation of Jesus and reasons for doing so; setting in context what the book is basically about.

“26 Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness...27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.’” Genesis 1:26a, 1:27

The various symbols Jesus employs in his preaching reflect the common lives of most of his hearers. The agrarian and pastoral themes were especially popular, because many Israelites were farmers and shepherds. Most of Jesus’ parables and

The Gospel of Matthew, at least in its final form, is dated in the 80s AD and was possibly written in Treasures New and Old (9: The Good News of Jesus) 2015 Syria. It gives us insights into the painful transition from Judaism to early Christianity, including a growing number of Gentiles. • Matthew’s community faces the problem of self-identity – Who are we? Where do we belong? Jewish Christians discussed among themselves what it means to follow Jesus, the Christ, and yet remain Jewish. Could these two things be reconciled? • Evidence of this dilemma occurs in those texts that describe the arguments that Jesus had with members of the Pharisaic group. The Pharisees were a reforming group within Judaism. They were sincere and genuinely concerned

of God is like and how people should act if they wanted to be in the

A parable is a “simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson, as told by Jesus in the Gospels.” Parables are a form of teaching in Judaism, this is where Jesus made it a point in his ministry to gather common things that could be familiar to everyone and anyone who was wiling to hear him speak, for example bread and sheep. He made sure that the meaning of what was said was very clear in the context of His teachings. Parables in other words are an “earthly form of stories with heavenly meaning”. In Matthew (13: 13) Jesus says “Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.” This quote can be seen as Jesus’ way of communicating with his disciples, because many of them could not fully comprehend his teachings and what was being spoken. Another reason why He spoke in parables was so that “…unbelievers would be without comprehension”. Only those who were willing to follow Him and allow Him into their hearts, trusting in Him would understand His ways. His main deal was to be able to teach people, and hopefully in teaching them they would learn an d pass down what was taught to others. Just like in our society now and when it comes to books, magazines, etc Jesus used such things as words, pictures, and stories to help everyone learn and understand things in a certain way, because everyone learns differently he took that into consideration.

The parable of the talents is one parable within a series. It is important that while researching the parable of the talents, other parables are analyzed in Matthew as well. Many themes throughout Matthew are interconnected, especially the Kingdom of Heaven. The parable of the ten virgins precedes the parable of the talents. In this story, the wise virgins who bring extra oil for their lamps symbolize preparedness for Jesus’ return. After the parable of the talents, the story of the separation of the goats and

The direct teachings of Jesus give instructions of how to live as Christians and the Parables were used in the Gospel to immediately confront us with a truth and evoke a change. (Fee & Stuart,2003, p. 152). The five major discourses of Matthew’s Gospel are centred around five lengthy Sermons using parables to make a point and call the people to make a change.

In the beginning of the Bible in the Book of Genesis, it is revealed to use in 1:26-27 that God has created man in his image. The text verbatim states “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” From this distinct text we can clearly conclude that when ad created man and woman, they were destined to be in God’s image and carry his image throughout his creation. Today we can see that many of us do not live in God’s image due to society becoming more secularized as it progresses through the years, however as Christians we can verse this by living in God’s image in our chosen vocations, churches, and even in the