Play

Download mp3

This morning we’re continuing a series on the parables of Jesus, the stories he told during his earthly ministry.  Last week we asked the question of why Jesus chose to speak in such a cryptic, mysterious manner that lent itself to easy misinterpretation.  Instead of speaking directly about God and what it means to know and follow Him, He would tell stories about businessmen, farmers, homemakers, shepherds, and other everyday people, rarely explaining what he meant.  I explained that the reason he spoke like that was that his goal was not just to impart information, but to have an interactive relationship with his hearers, where they would have to seek him out, question him, and depend on him for understanding.  His parables left his listeners with two options – walk away in arrogant dismissiveness, or come humbly like a child asking for insight.  It is those who stay after class with Jesus, so to speak, to wrestle with what he says, who experience eternal life, life to the full, life at a level that is different than life on earth.  This is why questioning is such a high value here, because it’s through honest seeking and questioning that we really come to understand Jesus.