Why Parables?

Why did Jesus tell parables to make his point? He could have just told his listeners. Why did he tell stories?

One reason is because we remember stories. Stories provide an emotion connection. It's one thing to be told something; it's another thing to see that principle in action. It's one thing to hear that God is forgiving; it's anther thing to see that forgiveness acted in the prodigal son.

Jesus faced a lot of opposition in the later years in his ministry.

That's about the same time he started telling parables. It was a way to make his point without the religious leaders breathing down his neck.

The disciples also asked Jesus this question; why parables?

¹¹He replied, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. ¹²Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. ¹³This is why I speak to them in parables:
"Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing, they do not hear or understand. ¹⁴In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:
" 'You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
¹⁵For this people's heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.'--Mathew 13:11-15

What is a Parable?

Jesus told a lot of parables. Some where about fish, other about wheat, and another about rebellious sons. Jesus didn't tell these stories merely as a form of entertainment. He told stories to make a point, or to show us something new about God.

First, what is a parable? Parables are earthly stories with a spiritual truth. Most parables are told by Jesus and are found in the Gospels, mostly Luke.

Parables compare the known to the unknown. Parables draw examples from the familiar.

What are some things parables are not?

Parables are not fables. A fable is a myth or legend, or a story that is not true; falsehood.

In parables, the examples used should not always be emulated. The application should be repeated, but somethings the examples shouldn't be. When Jesus tells the parable about the sower, it doesn't mean we need to go down to the store, buy a bag of seeds, and casts them as we walk through our neighborhoods.

Should you ask your father for your half of the inheritance, then run off and waste it all on parties? Probably not. Somethings, the examples are not Biblical; a servant who refuses to forgive, or the shrewd manager who steals from his master. The application should always be applied, but the examples themselves should not alway be repeated.

Parables are not factual. The stories themselves aren't historic accounts. That's one reason there are no names in parables. Did a Samaritan really find a injured Jew on the road? We don't know. The point of a parable is not to tell a historic account, but rather that we learn something from the story.

I hope you can join me as we look at some of the parables that Jesus told and that we can find the meaning and application together.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Henry Jekyll is a well respected member of London society. In his professional life, he is a medical doctor, scientist and academician.

Dr. Henry Jekyll believes that there are two distinct sides to men - a good and an evil side. He believes that by separating the two man can become liberated. In his experiments, he uses himself as the subject to test his hypothesis. His evil side, who he coins Mr. Hyde, escapes into London, and terrorizes the city. When Hyde drinks the potion, he transforms back into Dr. Jekyll.

When Henry is Hyde, he is purity evil and free to be wicket without hurting Dr. Jekyll’s reputation. When Henry is Dr. Jekyll again, he is not purely good, but a mix of good and evil.

"Hence, although I had now two characters as well as two appearances, one was wholly evil, and the other was still old Henry Jekyll, that incongruous compound of whose reformation and improvement I had all ready learned to despair. The movement was thus wholly toward the worse."

As time goes by, it becomes easier to transform into Hyde, but harder and more painful to transform back into Jekyll. Soon, Henry starts transforming into Hyde without the aid of the potion.

Henry realizes that he can’t be both men, but he will have to choice one twin and stay him. By then, it is too late. Hyde has taken over, and Henry can’t transform back into Jekyll, no matter how much of the potion he drinks. He is trapped in Hyde’s body. He chooses suicide rather than enslavement to his monster.

Jewish thinking vs. Greek thinking

When we read the Bible, we must understand that first century Jews didn’t think like we do today.

Today, in America, we think like the Greeks did. We love bullet lists. If someone were to ask a Greek to describe God, he would say, “He is powerful. He is all knowing,” etc.

The Jews, however, thought differently. They saw things in pictures and in illustrations. If someone were to ask a Jew to describe God, he would say, “He is my shepherd. He is a rock. He is living water,” etc.

We can’t understand what these pictures mean unless we understand the Jewish culture and customs. What does a shepherd do anyway?

By learning the Jewish culture, we are able to understand the pictures and illustrations used throughout the Bible.

Spicy Shrimp

The hot plate of shrimp looked delicious. The smell curled into the air. It would taste wonderful, Jenny* thought.

One problem: Michelle had ordered the plate of shrimp, not Jenny.

As we all waited for the rest of the food to come, we played a card game. As a part of this game, everyone but the narrator has to close their eyes.

I was the narrator. Everyone else had their eyes closed. I looked over at Jenny; her eyes were wide, her mouth open, and she was fanning herself. Then, she grabbed her drink and started drinking quickly.

I started laughing. I knew what had happened; she had taken some shrimp. Michelle had order spice shrimp, and it burned Jenny’s mouth.

This story made me thing about what happens when we sin; often, the sin we did will turn us in, and we’ll be caught. Jenny would have saved herself the embarrassment if she’d kept her hands to herself. I wonder how much guilt and shame we could avoid if we simply avoided sin. After all, if there’s no crime, we can’t get caught.

*Name has been changed.