Right, first of I’m going to apologise in advance for the following sentence: a parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. Urgh, talk about a cheesy definition but I mention it because I can’t really come up with a better one. When Jesus was around he often spoke in parables so I figured it would be worthwhile to go through a few of them and see what heavenly meaning can be drawn out.
I decided to start with the Parable of the Rich Fool told in Luke 12 to a large crowd of people gathered to listen to Jesus teach. So without further ado here it is: “Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.” Luke 12 v 13 – 21
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Right, let’s get this out the way first: a virgin birth is impossible. Biology 101 states that there must be both a man and a woman in the reproduction process. I’m sorry if you’ve never heard this before but storks are not the way babies appear. Being born of a virgin is scientifically impossible.
“In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you." Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?” Luke 1 v 26 - 34 Let’s face it, we ask the above question with Mary – considering how completely impossible it sounds how could a virgin birth happen? In some respects the question is easy to answer. Jesus was a real historical figure who was born some time in the years 7 – 2 BC and died around the 26 – 36 AD mark. He was considered a teacher and healer and he was crucified on the order of the Roman Prefect Pontius Pilate on the charge of encouraging insurrection. These facts are accepted by historians as being true.
But that’s not the half of it. For this one man, Jesus, had a greater effect on human history than any other person, war, army or leader. His one short solitary life had an influence far beyond what could be considered normal. For in most cases when a man dies his followers fade away but with Jesus his death was just the start of it. For Jesus never wrote a book, never composed a song, never owned a home, never got married, never held any official position, never went to university and never travelled more than about 200 miles from his place of birth. |
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