How would Jesus preach?
“With many such parables he spoke the word to them as they were able to understand it. Without parables he did not speak to them, but to his own disciples he explained everything in private.” Mark 4:33-34
Notice why Jesus spoke in parables: So that they that heard were able to understand it. Not just so that they could understand it…but that they were able to understand it.
Dig deep into this one…I’d love to hear any insight you gain from this scripture.
Tags: parables
I love the fact that Jesus asked common, often uneducated, people to exercise their reason… He would say “consider the lilies” or “the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure found in a field”. He actually trusted the average person to think about his examples and come to a conclusion. So much of teaching/preaching today is “this is what the bible says, this is what I know,…so you should believe it.” I wonder if we would be more effective if we didn’t just teach “about” Jesus…but more “like” Jesus.
Don has a great point. Jesus’ use of simple + powerful metaphors like the mustard seed. He spoke in their language, but never compromised the core values of the message.
Great design.