Tag Archive | Parables of Jesus

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, days 300 and 301

Oct28

    Days 300 and 301—We are in the TENTH month of Bible reading and studying the New Testament Gospels.

NOTE:  Both Sunday and Monday studies are posted on MONDAY.

    Day 300 – Luke 14 – 15 (Healings, parables, discipleship)

Luke 14.  One sabbath, Jesus was invited to eat at the home of a ruler of the Pharisees, who watched Jesus closely (looking for an infraction of the law, no doubt).  A diseased man came before him and Jesus asked these “holier-than-thou” lawyers if it was lawful for Him to heal the man that Day.

Interestingly, they remained silent.  So Jesus healed the man and sent him on his way. Jesus asked them if a child or ox fell into a well on the Sabbath, would they pull him out.  STILL, they remained silent.

While there, Jesus saw how they rushed to get the most honored seats at the table. So He told the Parable of the Wedding Feast and counseled them to always seek a lower position, else they might be embarrassed when the host told them to “go down lower” because someone more important than they had arrived. “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Taking advantage of His captive audience at the dinner, Jesus also told his host that instead of inviting only your rich neighbors to dine because they can respond by inviting YOU in return, invite poor, crippled, lame, and blind people to your feast. (Can you imagine the looks of horror on their faces?)   “You will be blessed because they can’t pay you back. Instead, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”

One of the guests at the table responded, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God.”  At this obviously pious pronouncement, Jesus told the Parable of the Great Banquet. A man gave a great banquet and sent out many invites. When the feast was ready, he sent a servant to tell them that all was ready and to come and dine.  But, one after another, they made excuses. This made the master angry, and he told his servant, “Go out to the streets and lanes and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.” The servant obeyed, and still, there was room.  So he was sent to the highways and hedges to compel anyone to come. And NOT ONE of the original invitees were allowed to come.

Later, he taught the Cost of Discipleship to the crowds. “You must not put anyone above Me in your affections, not even yourself.  You must bear your cross and follow Me, or you can’t be My disciple. Count the cost before you decide. You must renounce anything and anyone to be My disciple. 

(Paul, in Philippians 3:8, said he considered everything as trash compared to possessing Jesus. This seems so harsh today. Not many want to hear it.)

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Luke 15. The Pharisees and lawyers grumbled when they saw tax collectors and sinners drawing near to hear Jesus.  “This man receives sinners and eats with them,” they murmur. 

Hey, wasn’t that just what Jesus was teaching them???  So Jesus told them the Parable of the Lost Sheep.”  A shepherd had a hundred sheep, and one strayed away.  The good shepherd left the 99 and went after the one.  When he found it, he rejoiced.  “Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one SINNER who repents than over 99 “righteous” people who need no repentance.”

To double the impact, Jesus told the Parable of the Lost Coin.  Again, a woman lost one of the ten silver coins she had. She searched diligently until she found it and then went to her friends and neighbors, rejoicing.  “Just so I tell you there is joy before the angels of God over one SINNER who repents.”

And then He told the very familiar Parable of the Lost (or Prodigal) Son.  A man had two sons. The younger son took all his inheritance, traveled, and caroused it all away. Then, starving among the pigs, he decided to go home and become a slave of his father. But the father was so happy the boy had returned that he held a huge party for him and welcomed him as his son.  A SINNER had repented! A lost son had been found!  BUT… the older son, who saw himself as “righteous,” complained and hated the boy. 

(Hey, I wonder if those Pharisees and lawyers SAW THEMSELVES as the older brother in this story?)

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    Day 30 – Luke 16 – 17  (parables, temptation, faith, healing, coming of the kingdom)

Luke 16.  Jesus now tells a somewhat confusing story, the Parable of the Dishonest Manager.   This parable is similar to the previous one in that the Manager wasted (mismanaged) his Master’s possessions. But this man connived instead of repenting. And the Master brought charges instead of forgiving him.  Like the prodigal, this man made a “plan” to get himself out of trouble, but he was unwilling to beg and not strong enough to work.  Instead, he cheated his Master even more by going around to his debtors and lowering the amounts they owed on the accounts.  Good for THEM, bad for the MASTER.  

And yet… the Master commends him for his shrewdness.  And so does Jesus.  “The sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. I tell you, make friends for yourselves using “unrighteous wealth” so that when it fails, they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.”  

Huh? What did He mean?

First, Jesus calls the servant “dishonest” and NOT to cheat.  Second, He seems to tell believers to use their Master’s money in a way that will gain friends for eternity.  Invest in the kingdom gospel that brings sinners to salvation, so when you arrive in heaven, those sinners will welcome you. Believers need to be shrewd with eternal matters.  (I think.)

To emphasize that, Jesus says, No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve GOD and MONEY.”

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Continuing on the money theme, Jesus tells them about the Rich Man and Lazarus. (Parable or true story? You decide.)

Compare the rich man, clothed in purple and fine linen, eating sumptuously every day, to the beggar, Lazarus, starving and “clothed” in rags and sores. Both men die.

Lazarus is carried to Abraham’s side (in Paradise), while the rich man is seen in Hades.  But he can see into Paradise. He calls out, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.” (Notice – he still thinks of Lazarus as a mere slave.)

“Nope, sorry. YOU got good things in your lifetime, and Lazarus evil things. (And you didn’t help him out.)  Now, Lazarus is comforted here, and you are in anguish.  And… besides all that, there is this great chasm between us.  No one can cross either direction.”

“Well, send him to my father’s house (still ordering Lazarus around!) to warn my brothers lest they come to torment too. 

“Nope, sorry,” Abraham says again. “They have Moses and the Prophet (the scriptures). Let them read and hear what THEY say.”

“No, but, father Abraham, if someone goes to them from the DEAD, they will repent.”

“No, sorry.  If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if “someone” should rise from the dead.”

Whoa!

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Luke 17. On their way to Jerusalem, near Samaria, Jesus was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance (as they were required to do). But they called loudly, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!’

When he SAW them, Jesus said, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” As the went, THEY WERE CLEANSED.  One turned back when he saw he was healed. He praised God in a loud voice and fell at Jesus’ feet, giving Him thanks.  (This man was a Samaritan.)

“Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine?  Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?  And looking at the man, Jesus said, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”

 

Nearer to Jerusalem, a Pharisee asked him when the kingdom of God would come. Jesus tells him it’s not coming…. that it’s right here in the midst of them.

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “The days are coming when you will want to see the Son of Man coming but not see it.”  He tells them it will come when not expected, like in Noah’s day before the flood and as in Lot’s time when he barely escaped the conflagration of Sodom.  

“Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather,” said Jesus.  (Watch the signs.)

“As the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.”

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from heaven, the powers of the heaven will be shaken.  THEN will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man.  All the tribes of the earth will mourn when they see Him coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.  He will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”

Mark 4, Matthew 12 – The Disciples ask “Why?”

Sep7

READ Mark 4:10-12 (with Matthew 12:10-17)

Yesterday was a look at the first parable of Jesus about the soils (the sower). I imagined how those listeners would have responded to this as they walked home. (See yesterday’s “long” post.)

When the crowd had gone, the disciples came to Him with a question. Mark 4:10.

By looking at Matthew’s fuller account of the disciples coming to Jesus afterwards, we see what they asked Him.

“Why do you speak in parables?” Good Question.

Jesus’s answer, “To YOU has been given the secret of the Kingdom of God, but for THOSE OUTSIDE…everything is in parables.”

Huh? Doesn’t Jesus want everybody to know about the Kingdom of God, and how to get into it????

(Your assignment: Check out the following passages in Matthew and I’ll answer that question – if you still need it – afterwards.

1. Matthew 4:23 – What does this say about what Jesus was doing after He chose his disciples?

2. Matthew 5:1 – 7:29 – (with particular attention to 5:2 and 7:28/29) Okay, What do all these verses show in detail that Jesus was DOING all this time?

3. In the next chapters of Matthew, we see Jesus continuing to heal the sick and deliver the demon possessed (such compassion!) and to teach His OWN DISCIPLES some strong things about persecution and the end times, etc. WHY is He now mostly just teaching THEM??

The end of Matthew 11 shows the Jewish officials accusing him of having an unclean spirit, and his family wanting Him to come away and get some food and rest. (Wednesday’s post)

And THEN…………… he gets into a boat and teaches the crowd on the shore….. in a PARABLE. (Yesterday’s post)

Do you see why?

The crowds have been divided into 1) those who believe and follow Jesus, and 2) those only seeking healing or to hassle Him.

Jesus answers their WHY question here,

“To the one who HAS (belief in Him and understanding of who He is) more will be given and he will have an abundance. BUT from the one who HAS NOT (those who reject Him and his teaching), even what they have (clear teaching to this point) will be taken away.”

“THIS is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do NOT see (me as Savior) and hearing, they do NOT hear (my teaching) nor do they understand.”

Got it?

Then Jesus give a blessing to those who DO believe and follow Him,

“Blessed are your eyes, for they see and your ears for they hear. For truly I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see and did not see it, and to hear what you hear and did not hear it.

Then (Mark 4:14-20) Jesus goes on to tell them the meaning of the Parable of the (Sower and the) Soils, which – if they understand – will help to understand the rest of Jesus’ “kingdom” parables.

Mark 4 – Parable of the Sower and the Soil

Sep6

Mark 4:1-9

Jesus, with crowds pressing from every side, makes slow progress down to the sea. He gets into one of the boats (Peter & Andrew”s, or the Zebedee family’s) and pushes a little way out.

Suddenly there is space between Him and the people. More can see Him and hear Him now and he begins to teach. Perhaps the people even sit down along the shore that gradually slopes up into the rolling farm land behind.

Jesus catches His breath, communes with His Father for a few seconds, then gazes beyond the people to the farm land, where perhaps barley is growing 8-10 inches high.

And He tells them a parable about growing a good harvest, that it all depends upon the soil. Would they HEAR?

1/  A hard beaten path does not receive the good seed. The seeds lie there briefly until birds spot them and fly down to eat them.

2/  Areas of thin soil with a hillock of rock just beneath, take in the good seed, sprout it, but there’s nothing to support growth and the seedling dies.

3/  Soil with healthy weeds growing receive a bit of the good seed between the stalks, but this seed fights a losing battle for moisture, nutrients, and sunshine. It can’t grow strong enough to produce grain, and dies barren.

4/  But good, cultivated, deep rich soil gets seed too. It is nourished, warmed, protected from birds and weeds. It sends down roots, grows up healthy and produces a harvest.

~~~ You’ve heard this parable many times, and know what it means, but what of that crowd along the shore?

As Jesus finishes speaking and the disciples row the boat out into the water, the crowd makes their way home. They walk on paths and roads through the growing barley… and wonder at this perplexing story Jesus told.

As they walked did they see where seed had been sown along the well-beaten path? Did they step on a few missed by the birds? And were there some seeds that had struggled up but been scorched, now lay brown against the thin soil? Did these folk spot a few spindly blades between thick weeds, trying to compete with their aggressive neighbors?

Why had Jesus told this story of failure and loss?

Then perhaps as the walked farther, and lifted their eyes and saw good plants heading out with grain and a promise of harvest.

Maybe some began to understand. ALL the SEED had life in it. It was WHERE it landed that mattered.

Jesus had said those strange words, “He who has ears, let them hear.” Did this good seed represent the things Jesus was teaching….scattered among many, many “ears” in the crowd? They’d all heard them, right?

Or…. maybe not.

1/  Some said, “Oh, I didn’t understand a thing He said. And my mind is on the good dinner my wife is preparing. Now there’s something to think about.”

2/  Others said, “Oh, His words sound good, but I don’t go along with what He teaches. I’m sticking with what the Pharisees teach. They know the law. I trust them.”

3/  Still others said, “Well, what Jesus says kind of makes sense. And his miracles are spectacular, but when He says His followers must leave everything behind to follow Him…. well, I’ve got a family, and a business. I have kids to plan the future for. I’ve just no time to follow Him. Besides… it sounds scary to just leave everything and walk away.”

4/  But…. some of their “ears” (hearts, understanding) were open to “hear” His teaching and the meaning of His words, and receive it like the good soil.

And there would be an abundant harvest in their lives.