The Parables of Jesus

I USED TO GIVE CHILDREN'S SERMONS AT OUR CHURCH in Philadelphia. In the middle of the service, all the kids in the congregation were invited to the front rows. My job was to deliver a three to five-minute talk that captured the essence of what our pastor would later preach to the grownups.

The first few times didn't go too well. The kids wiggled and giggled and didn't listen to anything I had to say. That's because I was boring; I simply told them what they were supposed to do. "Be good. Always obey your parents. Blah, blah, blah."

Then one Sunday, I told the children a story about a time when I had done something wrong as a child and what I learned from it. They loved it and gave me their full attention. So the next time I did the children's sermon, I told another story with similar results. Pretty soon, that's all I did, tell stories about "naughty little Whitney."

After a while, I noticed something else: the adults liked my stories too. They'd come up to me during the coffee hour to talk about what I said and to tell me their stories. Once, a church elder told me, "You know, Whitney, you've become quite the raconteur." I had no idea what a raconteur was; all I knew was he liked my stories.

As you'll see in our next five readings, Jesus used stories or parables all the time in his ministry. In fact, judging from the material recorded in the four Gospels, he spent more time telling stories than he did preaching. Sometimes this teaching style perplexed his disciples; they once asked him flat out, "Why do you speak to the people in parables?" (Matthew 13:10). He did it first of all because stories communicate, and second because he was speaking to such a wide variety of people. Some of his listeners were devoted followers, some were arch enemies, some were confused onlookers, some were hurting souls, and some, like you and me, would only read his words centuries later. But all of us could relate to a good story.

So get ready. You are about to explore the parables of Jesus, the world's greatest storyteller.

Have Mercy!

PRAY: Father God, my heart desires to understand and experience you more today. Please help me do that as I think about your Word today.

READ: Luke 10:25-37

REFLECT: Recently, I attended a discussion with an expert on global climate change. Although I'm convinced this is a very serious issue, I left early because many in the audience weren't interested in hearing what the scientist had to say. Instead, they wanted to draw attention to themselves by asking smart-sounding questions.

That's the challenge Jesus faced in this impromptu Q & A session. Initially, the expert in the law wasn't interested in spiritual things; his intent was "to test Jesus" (v. 25). Even so, Jesus allowed him his fifteen seconds of fame; I imagine the tone of verse 26 to be something like this: "Okay, Mr. Know-It-All, why don't you show everyone how well you know the Scriptures." But Jesus knew that beneath the man's desire to show off was a deeper need; he wasn't sure of his relationship with God (v.29).

Perhaps the expert was retreating to the safer theological ground with his follow-up question about neighbors (v. 29). But Jesus' goal was not to debate theology; it was to show us what God is like. In this situation, he does so by telling the wonderful story we call the parable of the good Samaritan (vv. 30-35). In it, the Levite and the priest, the religious experts of that time, failed to do what the Scriptures taught or God wanted. On the other hand, the Samaritan, the mixed-race outcast of that time, obeyed the Scriptures and pleased God. The point is that if you want to know God, you need to have mercy.

Why? Because having mercy is the reason God sent his Son to earth. Like the good Samaritan, Jesus went out of his way to find us. Like the good Samaritan, Jesus paid the price to restore us. And like the good Samaritan, Jesus made an enormous sacrifice to save us. Despite his impressive theological knowledge, the expert in the law didn't have a clue about God's mercy. The only way to do that is to understand what happened on the cross.

APPLY: Are there situations in your life where you could have mercy? What would that look like?

PRAY: Heavenly Father, having mercy sounds good in general, but it's difficult to live out. Please help me show mercy in one specific situation this week.