Jesus was a master storyteller. He captivated audiences with the way He weaved spiritual truth in with practical stories. Nearly 2000 years later, the teachings of Jesus still captivate our hearts and minds. It’s the spiritual depth of such simple stories and the questions that He stirs deep within us that make these teachings so riveting and soul-prodding. Many of Jesus’ teachings were in the form of parables—a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson. These parables of Jesus are the earthly illustrations we find in the Gospels that convey, primarily, a spiritual truth.
Jesus taught more than 30 parables in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Some estimate the total number to be over 50 or even 100. The exact number of parables Jesus taught is less important than the messages that they convey. In Matthew 13:35, we learn that Jesus fulfilled a prophecy of the Old Testament by teaching in parables. The Old Testament pointing to Jesus is something we also talked about this fall in our study of Sermon on the Mount. We read a few of these parables during our study. For example, we read and discussed the parable of The Wise and Foolish Builders found in Matthew 7:24-27.
“Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
A wise person builds their life on solid rock… a foolish person builds their life on shifting sand. A simple, practical story that illuminates a spiritual truth of our continual need to build our lives on the rock-solid foundation of Jesus Christ.
The parables were meant to help Jesus’ listeners—then and now—learn more about the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven. They can form us and shape us to be more like Him. Over the next ten weeks, we are going to dive into the parables of Jesus each Sunday.
Together, let’s see what we might learn and apply to our lives from these.
Prayer: Dear God, thank you for teaching us through your Son, Jesus. In His name we pray, Amen
Grace and peace,
Aaron
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