Biblical parables

Question

1. Many parables end with a moral explicitly stated. What explicit lessons does Jesus append to his parables?
2. Is it possible to deduce more than one moral from a biblical parable? Think of additional or alternative morals that you might draw from one of Jesus’ parables.

Sample paper

Biblical parables

Question 1

1. Many parables end with a moral explicitly stated. What explicit lessons does Jesus append to his parables?

During his on earth, Jesus Christ used short stories to teach moral and spiritual lessons by similarity. Parables were meant to give a better understanding of God and his kingdom to those who have little knowledge about Him, unlike the disciples who already knew the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, most of these parables were based on the agricultural life of the people in the community that was familiar to His initial first-century audience.  Through the comparisons of the mysteries of the kingdom of heavy to what the people went through in their daily lives, gave them a better understand and a mental picture of the heavenly kingdom (Seesengood, 2015,).  Although Jesus interoperated His parables, much of the interpretation and internalization of the parables were left in the hands of his audiences to think about the kingdom of God, Gods love, mercy, and forgiveness, Christian love, humility, and stewardship.

Question 2

1. Is it possible to deduce more than one moral from a biblical parable? Think of additional or alternative morals that you might draw from one of Jesus’ parables.

The nature of the parable is to invite the listener to interpret the teaching in his own understanding irrespective of whether the speaker has already given his or her interpretation. Therefore, Jesus’ parables have and can be interpreted in more than one ways. For example, one can deduce more than a single lesson from The Parable of the Prodigal Son. The first lesson in this parable is that God is all merciful and He will always forgive and accept those who go astray but repent and come for forgiveness. Thus, no matter how badly the human race can be messed up, they are not beyond forgiveness and redemption (Twining, n.d.,). The second lesson of the parable shows that no one can be forced to come back to the fold. It is a personal decision that to come back, repent and ask for forgiveness. The same manner that the father did not look for the son, God will never drag his lost sheep home but will wait for them to come and forgive them.

References

Seesengood, R. P. (2015). Shifting Biblical Parables. Oxford Handbooks Online. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199967728.013.30

Twining, W. (n.d.). The Ratio Decidendi of the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Rethinking Evidence, 397-416. doi:10.1017/cbo9780511617249.014

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