HOW IS A PARABLE INTERPRETED?
(Message by Tanny Keng)
1. How Is A Parable Interpreted?
a) Jesus was an artist in the telling of parables. He painted vivid word pictures to dramatize his teachings. Jesus told his parables in such a way that they were easy to visualize, and thus to remember.
b) It's important to understand that in a parable there are certain features that carry the moral or point. Other details are there simply to make the story vivid, memorable, and complete in the mind's eye of the hearer. We should interpret the parables according to the simple principles they are meant to teach. Jesus himself sets us a pattern for interpretation, when he interprets certain of his parables in this simple manner.
c) Examples
i) Two Debtors
@1. Jesus told the short parable of the two debtors to Simon the Pharisee (Luke 7:36-47) to open his eyes and to help him see things differently. In Simon's eyes, he is the lesser debtor to God, and the immoral woman the greater. Yet Jesus shows Simon, with a piercing parable, that Simon therefore has the lesser love for God!
@2. Now Simon would have missed the point of that parable entirely, had he wondered about the significance of why the amounts of money owed by the debtors are divisible by five, or whether there was any hidden meaning in the fact that the higher debt was exactly ten times the lesser debt.
ii) The Pearl of Great Price
@1. Likewise, the parable of the pearl of great price (Matthew 13:45-46) makes a point about the value of the kingdom of God compared to earthly wealth. The pearl stands for the kingdom of heaven, and all the merchant's possessions —which he sold to gain the pearl — represent earthly wealth.
@2. The point of this parable is that gaining the kingdom of heaven is worth sacrificing any amount of worldly possessions should that be necessary. We would be distracted from that point if we tried to find some significance in the fact that the merchant sought fine pearls rather than fine rubies or fine diamonds.
iii) The Weeds in the Field
@1. The parable of the weeds in the field (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43) is an example of Jesus interpreting his own parable. We should take Christ's own interpretation of one of his parables, as a paradigm or pattern or pattern for interpreting his other parables.
The End ...
1. How Is A Parable Interpreted?a) Jesus was an artist in the telling of parables. He painted vivid word pictures to dramatize his teachings. Jesus told his parables in such a way that they were easy to visualize, and thus to remember.
b) It's important to understand that in a parable there are certain features that carry the moral or point. Other details are there simply to make the story vivid, memorable, and complete in the mind's eye of the hearer. We should interpret the parables according to the simple principles they are meant to teach. Jesus himself sets us a pattern for interpretation, when he interprets certain of his parables in this simple manner.
c) Examples
i) Two Debtors
@1. Jesus told the short parable of the two debtors to Simon the Pharisee (Luke 7:36-47) to open his eyes and to help him see things differently. In Simon's eyes, he is the lesser debtor to God, and the immoral woman the greater. Yet Jesus shows Simon, with a piercing parable, that Simon therefore has the lesser love for God!
@2. Now Simon would have missed the point of that parable entirely, had he wondered about the significance of why the amounts of money owed by the debtors are divisible by five, or whether there was any hidden meaning in the fact that the higher debt was exactly ten times the lesser debt.
ii) The Pearl of Great Price
@1. Likewise, the parable of the pearl of great price (Matthew 13:45-46) makes a point about the value of the kingdom of God compared to earthly wealth. The pearl stands for the kingdom of heaven, and all the merchant's possessions —which he sold to gain the pearl — represent earthly wealth.
@2. The point of this parable is that gaining the kingdom of heaven is worth sacrificing any amount of worldly possessions should that be necessary. We would be distracted from that point if we tried to find some significance in the fact that the merchant sought fine pearls rather than fine rubies or fine diamonds.
iii) The Weeds in the Field
@1. The parable of the weeds in the field (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43) is an example of Jesus interpreting his own parable. We should take Christ's own interpretation of one of his parables, as a paradigm or pattern or pattern for interpreting his other parables.
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