The Way: In Parables Series

The Way: In Parables

I. The Introduction

Communication is very important, unless you live on a mountain all by yourself. But, even then, you will still talk to yourself as you go through the day. And, whether we talk to our friends, our children, our husbands, our wives, or ourselves we all use extra stories to get our point across. Yes, even when we talk to ourselves, we use examples, illustrations, analogies, comparisons, contrasts, correlations, parallels, and parables to explain our point or to get our point across to the person with whom we are talking. Without this process in our communication we would never be understood and probably go through life frustrated or confused. Go and try to explain something that you know nothing about to a repairman. Try to explain a problem with a computer, a TV, a washing machine, electricity, or a car engine. If you have never studied these things or don¡¯t understand how they work, then, when they break, you have a great difficulty in explaining to a repairperson what is wrong with the broken thing. As an example, your car has a knock in the engine. The knock only occurs at a certain time, or only when you¡¯re doing a certain turn, etc. This could be one of at least 20 to 50 different things. So, not knowing if your car is okay or not, you go to the car repairperson to get your car fixed. And, again, not knowing anything about cars you try to explain to the person what is wrong with your car. You try to compare it to something that you¡¯re familiar with. You try to explain it according to something you¡¯ve had an experience with, ¡°Well, it sounds like a bass drum!¡± Or, ¡°it sounds like someone is knocking on the table with a coin.¡± Well, this doesn¡¯t help the repairperson very much at all. However, if you go in and tell him, ¡°My exhaust valves sound like they are not seating well,¡± he would know exactly what you were saying, and how to fix the problem. You¡¯re speaking his language.

Jesus spoke the language of the people, in parables. He spoke the message of salvation in a way for all to hear, in parables. He spoke of the kingdom of Heaven, in parables. Yet, not everyone wanted to hear it.

In this message today, we will talk of:

The Way: In Parables

Who Spoke in Parables?

Why did He Speak in Parables?

How did He Speak in Parables?

What did He Say in Parables?

II. The Message

Who spoke in parables?

Many times we take the Bible and all its promises and its many lessons for granted. We may read passage after passage, and may begin to think of them as stories or folk tales, rather than reading them as a God reconciling men to Him and a chronological history of mankind. We may begin to read the stories for entertainment rather than for enlightenment. We may begin to read the stories for amusement rather than for God¡¯s direction. We may even begin teaching the Word as stories or folk tales to our children rather then telling them it¡¯s the Word of God.

Many times, we take the Word for granted, and when we do it means we will seldom hear God speaking to us through the Bible.

The center of God¡¯s will for each and every person is found in the Bible, which is God¡¯s Word, and His Word is Jesus. So we can say figuratively that our Bibles are Jesus.

As we continue along our Path to Jerusalem, we should approach ¡®Jerusalem¡¯ with seriousness, but with joy. He, Jesus, is the One Who spoke in parables. But, we must think deeper than that. We must think beyond the name, beyond the parables and think of Who He actually was and is.

Jesus, is the Word of God and the Word of Life

In the first chapter of the Gospel of John, verse 1, we read,

¡°In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.¡±

There is much emphasis throughout the Bible about the ¡°Gospel of God,¡± the Word of God, but in some of those instances there is no direct correlation between the written word or scriptures and THE WORD (Jesus). The writers of the various books and epistles seem to write with the idea that the readers are Christians and that the association with the written word to THE WORD (Jesus) will be made without any thought on the matter. But, John was a little different. He makes it very clear from the start. He says at the very beginning of the Gospel of John, that Jesus is THE WORD. Then he tells us that THE WORD (Jesus) is GOD. Then later, in his First Epistle (1 John), he tells us in verse 1,