shortlady
Member
- Joined
- Aug 3, 2005
- Messages
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Parables
What are parables? Are they two male gender of the bovine species? Perhaps, but in literature they are closer to fables than cows. A parable is a short story or illustration used to compare something familiar with something new or different. This was one of Jesus' favorite teaching methods. In fact, He told more than 30 parables during His three year ministry in Israel. Many times He would start with something like, "The kingdom of God is like this", or "God is like this", or "Prayer is like this", to get His point across to His listeners.
Then Jesus would go on to compare these eternal truths with something simple and familiar to His listeners. The best I can figure, the very first parable Jesus told is the one about new wine and old wineskins. Jesus said,"And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the new wine would burst the wineskins, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine must be stored in new wineskins. But no one who drinks the old wine seems to want the new wine. 'The old is just fine,' they say." (Luke 5:37-39) In context, Jesus was speaking to the religious leaders who were already offended by Him and opposing His teaching and ministry methods.
Jesus was reaching out to 'sinners', and this was offending the 'righteous'. He was breaking tradition and doing things in unheard of ways, even using spitballs to heal blindness! Jesus was making it clear that we need to have soft, yielded hearts that are open and flexible to God and His infinitely new and wondrous ways. C'mon, who are we to think we know it all or tell God how He can and cannot move? "Let God arise and let His enemies be scattered!" Our God is an Awesome God...
What are parables? Are they two male gender of the bovine species? Perhaps, but in literature they are closer to fables than cows. A parable is a short story or illustration used to compare something familiar with something new or different. This was one of Jesus' favorite teaching methods. In fact, He told more than 30 parables during His three year ministry in Israel. Many times He would start with something like, "The kingdom of God is like this", or "God is like this", or "Prayer is like this", to get His point across to His listeners.
Then Jesus would go on to compare these eternal truths with something simple and familiar to His listeners. The best I can figure, the very first parable Jesus told is the one about new wine and old wineskins. Jesus said,"And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the new wine would burst the wineskins, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine must be stored in new wineskins. But no one who drinks the old wine seems to want the new wine. 'The old is just fine,' they say." (Luke 5:37-39) In context, Jesus was speaking to the religious leaders who were already offended by Him and opposing His teaching and ministry methods.
Jesus was reaching out to 'sinners', and this was offending the 'righteous'. He was breaking tradition and doing things in unheard of ways, even using spitballs to heal blindness! Jesus was making it clear that we need to have soft, yielded hearts that are open and flexible to God and His infinitely new and wondrous ways. C'mon, who are we to think we know it all or tell God how He can and cannot move? "Let God arise and let His enemies be scattered!" Our God is an Awesome God...
