Parables

             Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable. So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet: “I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world.” (Matthew 13:34-35)

 

            I will open my mouth with a parable; I will utter hidden things, things from of old— (Psalm 78:2)

 

            Parable: a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson, as told by Jesus in the Gospels.

 

            To begin, Psalm 78 was written by Asaph, who (as nearly as I have been able to figure out) was a musician contemporary with David. It’s interesting to note that Matthew describes Asaph as a prophet. He didn’t write any of the books that we call “the prophets.” It may not mean anything to anyone now, but it’s interesting trivia.

            Now, the educational part. According to Gorden D. Fee and Douglas Steward in How To Read The Bible For All It’s Worth, the word parable is the Greek term that refers to “a range of figures of speech in the riddle/puzzle, parable category, not just for the story variety called ‘parable’ in English.” (p. 151.) Parables can include true parables, similitudes, metaphors, and epigrams. The purpose of the parable, they say, is “as a means of calling forth a response on the part of the hearer.” (p. 152, emphasis in the original.) A parable is an indirect way of making a point.

            Often, when we read that Jesus spoke in parables, we think of it as a means on His part of preventing those who heard from understanding – and they didn’t. When He was with the disciples, He explained the parables, but the disciples often still didn’t understand them. But there’s another way to see them. If you don’t read and don’t writer, there are three ways to aid memory: a story/joke, a poem (meter, rhyme, repetition,) and song. They all stick on the mind, and years later you may realize something you didn’t before. I’m not sure this was a general way of teaching, but it was effective.

            When I first started writing again, I wrote non-fiction. I changed to fiction because I hoped that by illustrating the ideas in a story, people might think about them more, tell others about them, or understand the ideas better.

            If we are going to imitate Christ, one of the things we may wish to do is work on how we can best indirectly communicate to people in our society and time in a way that will be memorable (in a good way) and provoke a good response. I’m hoping my stories do this, but I tend to be rather direct when I’m talking to people. I’m thinking that this calls for creativity. It doesn’t mean we have to be “sweetness and light” all the time any more than Jesus was – but, can we/I learn to present our ideas in a way that is indirect, and therefore perhaps more lasting?