Not Just a Story, But THE Story

 Jesus told stories that ring true to experience, because He understood how life and human beings collide.       

Jesus’ stories are part of a tradition of Wisdom Literature in the Old Testament.  Profound truths are presented in simple packages.  Solomon had his proverbs, and Jesus has (present tense) the parables. 

The parables are relational.  They are stories about us and God, and about us and others.  Just as the Ten Commandments boiled righteous living down into how we conduct ourselves before God and our fellow man, these parables enrich our thinking in the same way. 

They answer some fundamental questions:  What am I to do with this person, in this situation, and how does God see this?  

The parables of Jesus are a great “stop light” to our speeding pace through our lives.  They cause us to stop, think and now consider that we may need a change of direction in how we are handling challenging situations.

Why did Jesus use this teaching method?  A parable is:

A parable is, literally, something ‘cast alongside’ something else. Jesus’ parables were stories that were ‘cast alongside’ a truth in order to illustrate that truth. His parables were teaching aids and can be thought of as extended analogies or inspired comparisons. A common description of a parable is that it is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.[1]

Jesus' parables were indeed that, but they went deeper.  Jesus used parables that demanded that His listeners ponder what they were listening to, and then later, ponder the meaning again, looking to His Father for illumination of its truth.  If you really wanted to know what the meaning was, you would pursue it:

So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. (Luke 11:9-10)

Yes, these verses from Luke then go on to say the result of such a heartfelt search would be receiving the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit does reveal Jesus and so do the parables. He didn’t want His listeners to just passively hear His words.  He wanted them to listen with an earnest desire to understand. Even the disciples were curious as to His teaching method:

The disciples came, and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?”

He answered them, “To you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but it is not given to them. For whoever has, to him will be given, and he will have abundance, but whoever doesn’t have, from him will be taken away even that which he has. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they don’t see, and hearing, they don’t hear, neither do they understand. In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says,

‘By hearing you will hear,
    and will in no way understand;
Seeing you will see,
    and will in no way perceive:
for this people’s heart has grown callous,
    their ears are dull of hearing,
    they have closed their eyes;
or else perhaps they might perceive with their eyes,
    hear with their ears,
    understand with their heart,
and would turn again;
    and I would heal them.’

“But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear. For most certainly I tell you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see the things which you see, and didn’t see them; and to hear the things which you hear, and didn’t hear them.”                                                                                                                                                                                                 (Matt. 13:10-17 WEB)

Huh?  Is Jesus purposely trying to be unclear as He teaches?  Ask yourself first:  Why do hearts become calloused?   Answer?  It is the hardening effect of sin.  A life lived rebelliously against God is another way of defining sin.  No, it doesn't mean you are running around killing people, or deliberately stealing tomatoes out of the produce section at your favorite store. 

Our heart hardens under our arrogance: I can do it myself, Lord! 

It hardens under our insensitivity: I don’t have time for meeting everyone’s needs! 

It hardens under our neglect: I just don’t have time for You, today, Lord.  I’m just too busy!

We stop listening to God's voice and close our eyes to His grace.  We grow blind to our need for Him.  Our sin isn’t really sin anymore—it’s our genetics, our lifestyles, our poor choices.  We downplay sin so we can continue to do whatever our flesh cries out for us to do.

God wants us to listen to Jesus’ parables and instead of saying, "Oh brother.  I don't get it.  It must not be all that important or I'd get it right off.  Never mind."

He wants us to say:  "Lord:  I don't get it.  Help me understand.  If You said it, it must be important for me to understand."

Bingo!  A parable separates those who care enough to ponder what it means from those who don't care and won't take the time to understand.  We all like to be entertained, and the parables as stories do just that.  But if we want to know more of God, His love for us and His wisdom, we will go beyond listening to the story and delve into its meaning.

God will never invade our thoughts.  He wants us to ask Him in and seek His face.  “Tell me what it means, Father,” should be our reaction to Jesus’ teaching. 

Parables take time to understand, and if our hearts are hardened, we won't take the time and we will lose out on what He has for us.  But if we seek Him, we will find a richness that will enhance our lives and our walk in Him.

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[1] “What is a Parable?”