Why did Jesus use parables to convey much of his teaching? What can we learn from this about how we should communicate ‘good news’ to the people around us?
Introduction to the Gospels
23/02/2009
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.
Mark 4: 10-12 is one of the main passages that explains why Jesus taught in parables. There have been a number of
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Another reason for Jesus teaching in parables is identified as Jesus knowing the best way to capture his audience, make them think deeply about what he has just said and then remember his teaching.
‘It is meant to make people think – even think furiously – and to issue in decision and action’ (Hunter 1976, 13) ‘And sometimes such vivid analogies so catch the public mind that they pass into public parlance’ (Etchells 1998, 1) It is no wonder that the reason people still like to use stories to illustrate teaching today is because of these facts. Etchells in particular brings out a very interesting point in that Jesus would surely have wanted his teaching to reach more than just the people directly listening. Stories are easy for people to both remember and remember accurately, making it more likely for his teaching to spread even before it became codified. We can learn greatly from this. If we really want our listeners to engage with the Gospel we need to preach it to them in a way that will help them engage. Telling those parables that force them to think for themselves and remember what they have been taught will help to carry the message of the teacher back into the listeners’ daily lives, rather than just hearing the message and
In today’s world people make a common mistake by making comparisons with the Bible and Aesop’s Fables. In the Bible it is important to which is emphasized more, law or grace. It is just as important to do the same in Aesop’s Fables. Very often a mistake is easily made in reading Jesus’s Parables. Understanding the emphasis of law and grace in both the Bible and Aesop’s Fables and realizing mistakes we make with reading Jesus’s parables can help with reading the parables
Apparently our Lord Jesus instructed and taught His disciples and His people, using many parables during His ministry so that He could let His people have better comprehension as to the mysteries
Throughout the bible Jesus has taught using parables many times, John chapter 10 verses 1 through 21 are another
In chapter one, Arthurs pointed that God is the “great communicator” who communicated with variety. Variety is found throughout the word of God. Because God is a great communicator who used variety, preachers should preach with variety. Jesus used all kinds of form style, and genres of preaching. He knew how to get people attention. Preaching with variety helps the text to come alive. “Jesus used anecdotes, stories, paradoxes, contradictions, humor, irony, questions, and answers” (pg. 21), so we can too. Not only did Jesus used parables, objects, monologue and dialogue, but he used parables and symbols.
After reading the assigned chapters in our text, I have an appreciation for parables; parables function as narrative frameworks that Jesus used to present spiritual principles. According to the text, “Story is a way of structuring information, a system of informational elements …” (Haven 15) stories are effectively, “…enhance memory and the creation of meaning” (16). Because the human brain readily embraces and interprets past experiences and present circumstances in story form (33) the parable of The Sower helps believers of Jesus Christ understand different responses to the call of salvation.
A parable was a common form of teaching in Judaism, Said by jesus are stories that uses experiences, situations objects etc to show an important principle and message and also has a strong symbolism behind it. His teachings were known to be hard to understand and interpret, and people believed he should had made his teachings clearer to understand. For example, with the parable the good samaritan he was teaching that people should care for not only their family or friends but also those who they aren’t close with and even their enemies. This is just one of the many examples in which Jesus portrayed an important message between the lines. Jesus had used many analogies with objects that people were familiar with, such as animals, foods, people
The rich language in the Bible is great in word picture, charting the way people have found God, and how God have found people. God using terms from their experience: rock, strong tower, fortress, and many more. Jesus too, used illustrations from everyday experience. Stories, particularly those of Jesus, told to bring about life, especially life in the kingdom of God. Parable means a putting together with purposes of comparison and new understanding. Parables apply pictures such as metaphors or comparisons and frequently extend them into closure. Nevertheless, a parable is not synonymous with allegory.
Thank you for your post. You did a great job summarizing your thoughts on Jesus parables. As a pastor, I appreciated your concluding paragraph regarding how one might contextualize these parables for the modern hearer. It is often the case that the scriptures present common practices of the day which may appear to be foreign to us in the modern age. That being said, I agree with your statement that, “These parables have survived the ages because the analogies used are ones people can identify with even if they are not farmers or bakers – the process is still familiar enough that all can identify” (Soule, 2016, para.3). For those who may not be familiar with certain ideas, the pastor must be careful to enlighten the congregation
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
Jesus talks in parables to shift away from the rote obedience to the commandments. Jesus believes that he could clarify the Pharisees’ misunderstanding by exemplifying the commandments in parables. Matthew explains how, "Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables; without a parable he told them nothing,” (Matthew 13.34). Jesus uses parables to differentiate between mindless actions and mindful actions. To him, mindless actions have no value; a person is acting forcefully and not willingly.
In the Bible, there are always passages where it shows Jesus teaching someone or a group of people, so it would make perfect sense to call Jesus a teacher. I also find it smart that Jesus used parables to teach a lesson (Yancey 54). Most of the things that people always remember are things that they enjoy, such as songs, movies, books, poems. People remember these things the most because all of these things tell a story. It would make sense for Jesus to incorporate his teachings in parables that tell stories in order for people to remember his
This week we learned how Jesus talked to his disciples, how he led his people, and how this week's content will help the case I am working on. It seems that he would not just give the answer to the person he was teaching, he used parables so that the individual would be able to play the scenario in their head and come up with their own conclusion. In the historical world, Jesus was not the only individual that used parables.
Parables are stories to illustrate moral and spiritual lessons1. A parable has a function to bring forth a response one who hears the parable2. How I view, a parable is that it is meant to clarify something that was already said by Jesus that was no understood the first time.
I believe that is a reason on why Jesus chose to talk in parables. He wanted people to learn a lesson that they wouldn’t forget. I believe Jesus was trying to teach us how to act in this parable. I have two reasons why that is. The first reason is that people act on what they see.
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;