Jesus’ Stories

Jesus’ Stories

Q: The stories Jesus told to help people understand his teachings are called what?

• a. parables
• b. allegories
• c. psalms

Have you ever sat in church listening to the sermon and not understanding it? Then the pastor told a personal story in order to explain a point of the sermon. Even if you didn’t understand the whole sermon, you probably understood and remembered the story that the pastor told.

Jesus would teach his followers by using stories called parables. Some people define a parable as “an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.” Jesus talked about salt, seeds, light, sheep, bread, and other things from everyday life that his listeners would be familiar with. But the story was always about something more than those earthly things.

Why did Jesus speak in parables? One reason may have been because the Pharisees were always looking for ways to accuse Jesus of doing wrong. His teachings were in the form of stories that couldn’t be criticized. On the surface, they were simply everyday stories.

Another reason Jesus spoke in parables was to make the message clear to those who wanted to learn from him. Some people heard the words but didn’t understand the message because they were not willing to hear it. The message was clear to those willing to receive it.

The parables also caused people to make a choice. They either listened and thought about the meaning of the parables, or they closed their ears and hearts and walked away.

There are many of Jesus’ parables recorded in the Gospels. Their messages are still true for us today.

For You

Take time to read through the Gospels and look for the parables. (Hint: Matthew 13 is a great place to start.) See if you can figure out what the parables mean for you.

Answer: a

Jesus always used stories and illustrations like these when speaking to the crowds. In fact, he never spoke to them without using such parables.   Matthew 13:34

(The Whole Story: Matthew 13)