STORYBOOK
John 3:2
“Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs You are doing if God were not with Him.”
John 3:2
“Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs You are doing if God were not with Him.”
Matthew 13:34
“Jesus spoke all things to the crowd in parables; He did
not say anything to them without using a parable.”
The Bible is a great teaching storybook—the greatest book ever written. The Lord Jesus Christ knew the best way to teach, and He chose to tell stories, or parables. Jesus didn’t recite truths of the Talmud, a collection of Jewish civil and religious law. Rather, He spoke with the homespun style of a storyteller. (Psalm 78:2-4). Great teachers ever since Jesus copy His teaching technique by telling stories.
Pulitzer Prize–winner Frank McCourt taught in New York City high schools for 30 years. He learned that the power of a compelling story captured his student’s attention and encouraged learning best.
Jesus’ parables endure today because they showcase matters of the heart. Luke 18 contains stories like The Persistent Widow, The Pharasee and the Tax Collector, The Rich Ruler, A Blind Beggar Receives His Sight. They show lessons like how God brings justice to His chosen ones, that humble people will be exalted, (or glorified), how to inherit eternal life, and how faith makes all things possible.
These lessons go against what is typically taught in the world today. We could sit week after week in church hearing sermon after sermon and never get the point. But we remember stories. They seem to “stick,” and are easily understood.
Another story in Luke 18 is about how people brought children to meet Jesus, and His disciples scolded them. Jesus reprimanded His disciples, saying, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
While this one isn’t a parable, it tells us how to get into Heaven. Will you retain your childlike acceptance of God for the rest of your life?
Take Home Nugget
The secret behind parables is that the listener should not dismiss them as irrelevant stories. They are intended as teaching tools showing God’s message—and work best when we take them seriously by applying them personally to our lives.
J.D. Griffith
"Take control of my words today,
May they tell of Your great love;
And may the story of Your grace
Turn some heart to You above."
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