Now you can explore a dozen of Jesus' most well know parables with Dr. Jeremiah. And like Jesus' original audiences you'll be challenged to examine your own heart as each parable probes what you believe and reveals the nature of your faith.
“Someone has defined a parable as an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. The word parable itself is a word that means ‘place alongside of.’ The idea of a parable is to take something that is understood (a simple story) and use it as a means of illustrating something that isn’t understood (a truth).” (Page 11)
“Both of these men illustrate the fact that religious work does not make the worker religious. They were both very good people, involved in the service of God, but had not come to grips with what serving God really required.” (Page 98)
“The purpose of a parable is to make known something that is unknown.” (Page 11)
“The question Jesus asked the lawyer is a good one for us: How do we read the Word of God? Do we read it so as to support our preconceived positions and notions? To be better equipped to argue a doctrinal position? Or do we read it to be changed by it, to apply it to our life? It is much easier to consider the Bible in the sterile, theological world of debate. But Jesus would not let it stay there. He told the lawyer a story to move the definition of neighbor out of the classroom and into the street where life is lived every day.” (Page 97)
“Jesus’ teachings in parables both illuminated the hearts of the spiritually sensitive and infuriated the minds of the spiritually blind. Just as the same sun that melts butter will also harden clay, the same parable could be a blessing or a curse depending on the ears upon which it fell.” (Page 8)