1 Samuel 15: 34-16: 3; 2 Corinthians5:6-10, 14-17; Mark 4: 26-34
June 17, 2018
I begin today with the end of the reading. “With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; he did not speak to them except in parables,”. What is a parable and why did Jesus use so many of them? And why didn't explain them to us most of the time?
Jesus in fact told his disciples why, but it is not the clearest answer. When they asked this question, he told them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God; but to others I speak in parables, so that ‘looking they may not perceive, and listening they may not understand.’” (Luke 8:10) To paraphrase, the disciples were given a level of understanding that the crowds did not have. In fact, there is a level of understanding that comes to those who are interested in hearing God's word that is denied to those who refuse to heed God's word.
June 17, 2018
I begin today with the end of the reading. “With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; he did not speak to them except in parables,”. What is a parable and why did Jesus use so many of them? And why didn't explain them to us most of the time?
Jesus in fact told his disciples why, but it is not the clearest answer. When they asked this question, he told them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God; but to others I speak in parables, so that ‘looking they may not perceive, and listening they may not understand.’” (Luke 8:10) To paraphrase, the disciples were given a level of understanding that the crowds did not have. In fact, there is a level of understanding that comes to those who are interested in hearing God's word that is denied to those who refuse to heed God's word.