I want to wish everyone a happy new year. I hope that you are all doing well in these early days of 2017.
It has been very cold here where I live. For some reason, the cold weather makes me get tired much more easily. Hopefully, it will warm up at least a little soon.
Please continue to pray for peace in this world in this new year. There is a cease fire in Syria' from what I hear in the news. Let us pray that Syria will find peace in this new year. Also, let's continue to pray for peace in Iraq, Afghanistan and South Sudan. Wherever there is war, let us pray for peace.
Let us continue to pray for those who are recovering from natural disasters. I think especially of the people in Haiti who are trying to recover from the hurricane that hit their country last year.
For our prayer focus countries this week, let us all pray that the message of Jesus' love will reach the people of Cape Verde and Sri Lanka.
This week in the sermon, we will be starting a new series of messages on the parables of Jesus. It is my intention to go through and have a message on each of the parables that are found in the four Gospels. This is quite an undertaking, and it will occupy most of the sermons here on the blog in 2017. Every once in a while while we are in this parables of Jesus series, we will take a break, and I will post a sermon on a different topic. I believe that there is so much to learn from the study these parables.
There are two parables that we will not be studying. One is the sign of Jonah given by Jesus, and the other is the parable of the net. I have posted sermons on these two topics previously, and they have become the most widely read posts in this blog's history.
Today, I want to provide an introduction to the parables. What is a parable? Why did Jesus use parables? Of what do the parables consist?
First of all, what are parables? Parables are short stories that are often allegorical. They are used to teach a lesson or a spiritual truth. The word parable is from a Greek word that means to cast alongside. What that means is that parables often compare and contrast things. The person speaking a parable will often use an earthly example to illustrate a heavenly principle.
For instance, Jesus uses the image of a lost sheep to illustrate that we are sheep that have gone astray. He is the good shepherd who leaves the sheep in the fold and goes looking for the sheep that is lost.
Why did Jesus use parables to teach people? Matthew 13 gives us that most clear outline of why Jesus used parables. Jesus says in Matthew 13:11 that parables were used to relate the secrets of the kingdom of Heaven. They were used by Jesus to relate the values of God's kingdom and to relate spiritual truths.
Jesus used stories that contained characters and objects that people in his day would have readily understood and identified with. He used farming metaphors and shepherding examples that would have been familiar to His listeners. By doing this, Jesus was able to bring the teaching that He wanted to relate to their level of understanding.
However, Jesus would also make it clear that the meaning of the parables are not readily evident. The Bible often uses the phrase "he who has ears to hear let him hear". In other words, to truly understand the message of the parables, the hearer has to have a heart that truly wants to hear the message of the Lord. Then, the Holy Spirit will work in the life of a person, and that person will be able to understand the message that the parable contains. A person who is not led by the Holy Spirit will not be able to understand the message of the parables. This was by the design of God. Jesus says in Matthew 13:14 that His use of parables was a fulfillment of the prophet Isaiah when he said, "You will be ever hearing, but never understanding."
What this means is that it takes diligent spiritual study to understand all that a parable has to teach us. Not everything that a parable has to reveal is evident right on the surface. One thing that I enjoy about studying all of the Word of God is that no matter how many times you read it, you can always discover something that you didn't see before. That's the way it is with the parables that we will be studying over the course of the next few weeks.
As we will see, there are many different types of parables. Many of the parables are what Jesus calls parables about the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God. Other parables are used to show the hypocrisy of those who were the religious and political leaders of Jesus' day. Some parables teach us about eternity while others teach us about the way of salvation. All of them are filled with important truths.
One thing that I find very interesting is that Jesus' speaking in parables is a fulfillment of Bible prophecy. Psalm 78:2 says, "I will open my mouth with a parable, I will utter hidden things, things from of old." This is just another prophecy fulfilled by Jesus proving that He is the Messiah who was spoken of in the Old Testament. With that in mind, we can have great confidence in the teachings of Jesus.
Jesus was a master storyteller. His parables are some of the greatest stories ever told. Even those who are critics of Jesus will readily admit that Jesus' use of parables as teachings tools was extraordinary.
I am looking forward to relating to you what the Lord is showing me through these parables. I hope that you will join me in learning from these important words of Jesus.
Next week, Lord willing, we will resume our normal schedule here on the blog. I will post the verse on Monday and a review on Wednesday. The sermon next weekend will continue our parables of Jesus study. May God bless you all. Amen.
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