The parables of Jesus helped to serve the purpose of revealing deep truths, while separating the true seekers from the religious busy-bodies. Given the context of these stories is some 2000 years in the past, their meaning is no longer obvious even to true seekers. Because of this, an awful lot of silly teaching has arisen based apparently on what these parables would mean only from our own historical context. In an attempt to return some sanity, I offer an examination of selected parables that are often twisted.
Introduction -- A look at the basic principles by which this series is written.
Salt and Light -- Matthew 6:13-16; Christians are called to make a difference.
Treasured Living -- Matthew 6:19-23; God requires we serve Him with our whole beings.
Pigs and Pearls -- Matthew 7:6; Jesus makes it clear some people cannot handle truth.
Hard Paths -- Matthew 7:13-14; Get used to being different from your world.
Holy Detectives -- Matthew 7:15-20; How can we tell whom to trust as teachers?
New Life in Old Forms -- Matthew 9:14-17; Every detail of our existence is subject to God's veto when we come to Him.
Worthy of All Sacrifice -- Matthew 13:44-46; The most valuable treasure of all is His calling.
Casting Aside Your Burdens -- Matthew 19:23-24; What is the price of entrance to the Holy City?
Divine Order -- Matthew 19:25ff; Attitude check: serving God is the reward.
The Institution Can Fail -- Matthew 21:28-32 and Matthew 21:33-41; A warning to any religious leadership that they could find themselves in opposition to God in trying so hard to serve Him.
Christ's Wedding Feast -- Matthew 22:1-14; The Jews had excluded themselves from the New Covenant.
Taken for Judgment -- Matthew 24:36-42; The illustration of those taken is widely misunderstood today.
Self-appointed Fools -- Mark 3:22-27; How sad those most sure they defended God were actually too far gone to even repent of sin.
Can't Please `Em -- Luke 7:31-32; Those who rejected the Word of God were like children, refusing to see anything that did not fit within their boundaries.
Public Privacy -- Luke 7:36-38; While the lesson is easy to get, knowing the setting of the story adds a richness of meaning few catch.
Can Anything Good Come out of Samaria? -- Luke 10:30-37; As usual, without the historical context, there are depths to the lesson of the Good Samaritan often missed.
The Vast Gulf Between -- Luke 12:49-53; The audacious claims of Jesus were rejected in His day no less than today.
What Time Is It? -- Luke 12:54-13:9; A series of parables on the same subject of repentence, but not about the End Times, as is commonly believed.
By Its Nature, the Kingdom -- Luke 13:18-21; Two brief parables describe the nature of the Kingdom of God.
Tough Enough -- Luke 14:26-33; We have sold the Gospel short in the modern age with our cutesy evangalism gimmicks, and created a generation of spiritual stillborns.
Confidence Games -- Luke 16:1-13; Where is your confidence? Is it wealth and comfort?
Never Satisfied -- Luke 16:19-17:10; The story of Lazarus and the Rich Man was about saving faith, and formed the basis for teaching about self-restraint in dealing with the weak.
Kingdom to Come -- Luke 19:11-27; It was essential that Jesus make His disciples understand they were totally off base in their expectations of what the Kingdom would be.
Not in Shadow -- John 11:1-16; Like so many other teachings of Jesus, when the comment about walking in daylight is taken out of context, it loses its meaning.
Final Lesson -- John 21:15-17; This final recorded conversation between Jesus and Peter is often misunderstood.
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