The Parable Of The Lost Sheep

The parables were short simple stories/analogies that illustrated spiritual and moral lessons. They connected to the listeners’ lives, showed Jesus’ “voice” incorporated glimpses of the Kingdom of God, since it was easier for people to understand concepts that they can relate to. For example, he used topics of everyday life like the mustard seed appealing to farmers; yeast

Parables are stories written in the Bible for truth and life guidance. We have to understand that parables are implied by God to encourage his written word and carry his truths. God’s words can touch a heart of faith despite their external circumstance. The history of parables started with Jesus writing “the sower and the seed” in the book of Matthew. The sower and the seed was the seed is “the word.” The hard ground represents the person who is hardened by sin. Parables date back as far as

The Parable of the Sower (Mark 4:1-12, NRSV) is written with the intent to teach a lesson to the reader. Jesus shares a parable with a large group of people and later explores this with his disciples. This passage gives the reader the chance to hear the parable and also its intended meaning. Whilst this story is popular in catholic teaching, it is not exclusive to Mark. The Parable of the Sower can also be found in Matthew 13:1-23, Mark 4:10-12 and Luke 8:9-10; 10:23-24 with various differences and parallels between each.

In President Monson talk he talks about how to communicate. This made me think on why he would be giving a talk about this. As I was able to read thru his talk I was able to get my answer in so many ways. He talks about how Jesus when he would talk to people that he would do it in parables. His disciples asked him why, and this was his answer saying “because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.” This made me think. He goes on and speaks and explains even more why Jesus used parables and this is what he said he used parables, to “conveyed to the hearer religious truth exactly in proportion to the hearer’s faith and intelligence.” Then he say that “the parable is suited alike

In all his teaching to the crowds Jesus spoke in parables; in fact he never spoke to them without a parable. This was to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah: I will open my mouth in parables;

Research Question: Does Matthew 25:31-46 teach that works, and not faith alone , are required for salvation?

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.

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 Synoptic Gospels shared the same view about Jesus’ teachings. Specifically, Mark and Matthew informed others that Jesus always used the same techniques during his teachings, which consisted of using figurative language. Also, Jesus spoke in parables, which can be defined as a “placing beside” or differentiations. Jesus’s unique style of teaching usually represented the content of a fictitious narrative, which compared a well-known thing or method to the kingdom of God. In addition, Jesus used aphorisms, which can be described as a statement that can be easily remembered and repeated (Harris, 2014, p.119). According to the synoptic Gospels, Jesus kept his teachings brief, but with catchy phrases.

Chapter 25 of Matthew is Jesus answering the disciple’s questions regarding “the destruction of the temple, the sign of his return, and the end of the age.” His answers are given to them in the three parables, all acknowledging Jesus coming back in the future. The parable of the talents is told during the Olivet discourse, given on the Mount of Olives. The discourse was an “extended teaching given by Jesus Christ. His subject [was] the end time.” Jesus is telling the parable to his disciples, before his upcoming resurrection. With that, it would make sense that Jesus has told these stories to the disciples so that when he is killed, his word and lessons continue.

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.

The importance of parables to Christians is a substantial amount; this is because they use them as basic principles to live by and they help them to detect what is wrong and what is right. However, parables can be useful and should be important to all people as they contain very important life lessons and are very good things to live by. Christians also find them important because Jesus said them.

The Gospels of the New Testament contain 39 different parables told by Jesus (Phillips 2004, 18-19) and no doubt he spoke many more during his ministry. Jesus’ choice to use parables to teach his people is one that has intrigued many people throughout history. The aim of this essay is to get to discover why he chose to use those parables, and also what we can learn from this teaching method when evangelising today.

During Jesus’ life he was teaching in many different ways one of them was telling the parables. Parable is an earthly story with the heavenly meaning. That means that Jesus was making up a story in which there would be a real people, working of doing something that was common at that times. Sometimes he used the values whether material or spiritual, that were valuable in old times. So he was making everything to make the story look more realistic. But under the close of the poor man or woman and under the animal or a subject there was always something mach more complicated, something about his father, himself, and the people that were following the God or not.

Jesus introduced this parable to a Pharisee that was a law expert (lawyer or Scribe). The Pharisee asks Jesus what he must do to earn eternal life. Jesus then allowed the Pharisee to answer his own question by asking what the law said. The Pharisee correctly explained himself by saying “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind.’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The lawyer then proceeds to ask who his neighbors were. Jesus replied with The Parable of the Good Samaritan, which teaches God’s law of love and how to effectively express it.