- [Jon] Jesus of
Nazareth was a master teacher. And some of his most well
known teachings are told in short stories called parables. - [Tim] Yeah, like
the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant who
was looking for pearls. And when he found the ultimate pearl, he sold everything so
that he could buy it. - [Jon] It must have
been some pretty amazing pearl. - [Tim] Or the Kingdom of God is like a tiny mustard seed that a farmer planted in his garden. It grew and became a huge tree and birds came to perch in its branches. - [Jon] And
that's a beautiful image, but what does it mean? - [Tim] Exactly. Jesus didn't tell parables
to make everything clear. Rather he wanted to
provoke the imagination and invite people to see what God is doing in the world from a new perspective. - [Jon] So let's talk about how to read the parables of Jesus. Now, there's many great teachers that throughout history have
used stories to teach students about morality, religion, philosophy. - [Tim] But Jesus
didn't use his parables to teach abstract
religious or moral ideals. He said that his parables were about himself and his mission. - [Jon] His mission,
which was to announce that the Kingdom of God
was arriving on Earth as it is in Heaven. - [Tim] Right. So in Jesus' day, the
Israelites were ruled by the Roman empire, but
their Scriptures promised that one day their God would come to rule his people as king. And so many Israelites wanted to revolt against Rome and fight for their freedom. - [Jon] And this is
what some people thought of as the Kingdom of God. - [Tim] Exactly. But Jesus was a poor traveling prophet, healing the sick, inviting
people to follow him. And he said that this was
the arrival of God's Kingdom. - [Jon] And that didn't
fit people's expectations. - [Tim] Right. And so Jesus used some
parables to help people imagine that his small movement was
the arrival of God's Kingdom. - [Jon] Oh yeah, like
the parable that the Kingdom of God is yeast hidden in a lump of dough. And you might not see its influence, but it's gonna change everything. - [Tim] Jesus also told parables about the upside-down
values of God's Kingdom, about how the least
important people in the world are actually the most
important people to God, especially those who are
poor and of low status. - [Jon] Yeah, like the parable about the business owner who hired workers throughout the day, in the
morning, later in the day, and even towards the end of the day. And when it was time to pay everyone, he paid them all the same wage. - [Tim] Right. Jesus is showing how money
and status are irrelevant to God, who offers his
generous mercy to everybody. - [Jon] Now,
not all of the parables have happy endings. Some are really intense. - [Tim] Yes, Jesus
stood in the tradition of Israel's prophets
who also told parables to criticize Israel's leaders because they mistook
their kingdom for God's. So Jesus warned the leaders of his day if they don't accept his
offer of God's Kingdom, they're headed for destruction. - [Jon] Yeah, like
the parable of the landowner who built a wonderful vineyard and he expects it to produce fruit. - [Tim] Yes,
Jesus gets this parable from the prophet Isaiah,
but then he adapts it. - [Jon] Right, so the
landowner appoints managers to take care of this vineyard. And at harvest, he sends
servants to collect the fruit, but those managers kill the servants. - [Tim] And so the
landowner sends his own son to confront the managers
and they kill him too. And so Jesus asked the people around him, what do you all think
this landowner should do? - [Jon] Oh, he's
gonna punish those managers and hire new ones. - [Tim] Jesus knew that if Israel kept on their current path they would be destroyed by Rome. And so in parables like this, he's forcing people to make a decision about his offer of God's Kingdom. Are people going to reject him, ignore him, or trust and follow him? - [Jon] Now, if this
message of God's Kingdom is so important, why cloak it in parables? Why not be more clear? - [Tim] Well, through
riddles and parables Jesus could make really bold
claims that revealed truth to people who were open-minded. - [Jon] For those
who have ears to hear. They could ponder it and go deeper. - [Tim] But the parables would also conceal his
message from those who were against him so that he
could buy more time. - [Jon] Buy time? For what? - [Tim] Well, Jesus was preparing his closest followers for
the greatest surprise yet. Jesus claimed that Israel's God was coming to rule over his people, not through coercion or violent force, but through self-giving love as he was going to die for their sins. - [Jon] But his
death wasn't the end. - [Tim] Right. He said that his death would be like a tiny seed buried in the ground, but then it would grow and
produce a crop with many seeds. - [Jon] So these parables, they explain who Jesus
was and what he was up to. - [Tim] And the Gospel authors have preserved these parables
so that now every generation of Jesus' followers can
read and ponder them. - [Jon] And
imagine how God's Kingdom is still at work even today. - [Tim] Right. These ancient parables are still full of new surprises and challenges. They're like a storehouse
packed with treasures. Some that are new, some that are old, and it's all just
waiting to be discovered.