Understanding the Parables

Denea (00:01)
Hello, hello, it's Denea, your host of the Faith Filled Mom podcast. I hope today, wherever you are, that you just take a deep breath. I had a kickboxing instructor who always used to say, as you were going about what you are doing, don't forget to breathe. And that stuck with me. That has been, that was like back in Tennessee. So it's been a little minute since I've heard that.

But just that, as you are going about whatever you're doing, as you are going about your day, as you are going about laundry, as you are going about working, as you are going about doing pickup and drop off and all of the many things that you do, don't forget to breathe. Deep inhale, slow exhale. Our bodies need that, our spirits need that.

And I think it's good for our mental health too. Don't forget to breathe. Today's episode is going to be about the parables, understanding the parables. We're going to be going through five steps that can help us understand, get some understanding in what they mean. I'm going to pray a sin real quick. Father, thank You for Your word. Thank you that it is alive and active and relevant today, yesterday, and it will be tomorrow. Thank you that Your word will never pass. It is a sure foundation that we can read. It is a sure foundation that we can go back to when we need to be reminded of who we are. It leads us and it helps us understand who you are. We have a desire, God, to understand You and Jesus, and we want to understand Your Word. Holy Spirit, we invite You into this Bible studying session. Point us back to who God and Jesus are and help us with understanding with the text to saying, we love you God in Jesus' name, amen.

Okay, so I believe that it is because I am autistic that I tend to be, I'm very literal. Maybe you are not on the spectrum. Maybe you're just like, you know, I'm, have always just been like a straight talker, like very good to the point. I went in understanding people. You're like, yes, I tend to be a very literal person. Maybe you are on the spectrum and you can relate. Maybe you're a neurodivergent and you can relate. Regardless, I think these five steps can help us all in understanding the parables and really figurative language in the Bible in general.

Understanding the Parables

Now for today, we are going to be talking about specifically, we're going to use an example from the gospel. So it's going to be Jesus using this parable. The first question of the first, I guess the first step is asking ourselves, who is Jesus talking to? Now this is important because Jesus tailored his parables according to his audience. He made them relevant to according to who he was talking to right? He wanted them to understand the parable therefore he  made it make sense to them. He used things that were relevant to them and from their world and I think that is such an amazing. I mean, I think I know that Jesus is Messiah and I know that he's God. But I just wonder, you know, like what it would have been like just to see him like teach and talk. You know, he was such a great communicator that way. And I think that's one of the reasons why understanding who his audience is, because it gives us insight. It can help us lead or go to the meaning of the actual parable.

The First Step in Understanding the Parables

And that first step, I think, is understanding who he's talking to, because the parable is relevant to that person. It's going to be from their world. It was a way for Jesus to connect with his audience.

The Second Step in Understanding the Parables

Second step, we're going to reflect on who or what is being used to make a point in the text. So and don't try to like come to any conclusions or like any connections here. We're just going to observe and we're just going to look. You can write it down if you'd like. So who is he talking to? And then who or what is he making a point within the text in the parable? Is he talking about the particle sun? Is he talking about sheep and a shepherd? Is he talking about oil and lamps? Is he talking about a wedding and a guest? Like what exactly is being used here? just reflecting.

The Third Step in Understanding the Parables

The third step is to get any historical or cultural context, facts about the audience, the main characters or objects. So basically, we're just doing deep dives on the people that we observe in steps one and two. And we talked about on a previous episode, I think it was the one before this actually, about ways, number one, why historical and cultural context is so important and what are some ways that you and I can get them.

It's the episode right before this. Some of the answers were getting that historical survey. You can also use like a Bible dictionary. You can Google, but remember if we Google, we're going to do what we can to make sure that we're looking at a reputable website. What are some ways to see if the website is reputable? Well, I always like to see the last time the website was updated or the article was updated. Like how relevant is this? For me, anyway, the more recent something was written, the more I'm like, okay, maybe I can trust that something hasn't been updated or if it's from like decades ago, then I'm like, it still could be true. But I'm definitely a little suspicious. Another thing that I like to do is I like to do my own little deep dive, mini deep dive on whoever wrote the article or the website themselves. So I go to social media and look for this person or this publication or this website. And I like to see the type of things that they are posting. I feel like this gives me a little peek into who this person is. And the reason why I think that's important is because I think sometimes history has a way of being reported or told at like an angle versus just like giving people facts. And I think that is very important. So I want to see what else this publication is talking about. What else this person is posting. Those are just some of the ways I think that you can check to see if a website is legitimate. You probably have other ways. Definitely make sure that it's legit.

So we're going to gain the historical context, any cultural context, facts that we can about the audience and about what he's using or who he's talking about to make a point. And again, the whole reason, one of the reasons why we want to do this is because all of this is going to be relevant to the audience, which means it's going to be relevant to the point of the parable.

The Fourth Step in Understanding the Parables

The fourth step. Now we're going to use all that we have gathered. We're going to try to put it together and see what the main point of the text is. This is when you put it together. I do not like to do, I don't like to, I mean sometimes it happens right but I don't like to mix the third and fourth stuff. Like I don't like to get the historical context and then try and make a point. Like I, I try to make those two separate texts because I don't want to jump to any conclusions just yet. Like I want it...I want it to be its own separate step. So this is when we're going to put everything together to see, like, I think I know what the main point is. Step five is we're going to pray and ask for understanding in how we can apply it to our everyday lives. And I definitely think that step is important because, I mean, the Bible is, yes, it helps us understand God and who He is. And it also helps us understand how we are supposed to live. I think, I mean, all throughout the Bible, but I love just, I don't know, thinking about how Jesus lived and then comparing that to how I live. And of course, I have a long way to go. Thankfully, that's why we have the Holy Spirit that is doing this work within us until we go to heaven. But that's what this is for, right? It's to under, like, we don't want to just know the scripture and understand it. Like, we also need to apply it to our lives. And so that's to pray and ask for that understanding and how we can apply it. All right, let's get to the example. We are going to be talking about the parable of the lost sheep.

This is in Matthew and again, this will be in the show notes. So don't don't don't worry You don't need to jump to grab anything Relax listen Take it in. I've got you. It's in the show notes the parable of the lost sheep Matthew chapter 18 verses 10 through 14 and I am going to

I'm going to read those verses for you and then we'll talk about it. So this is Jesus talking. See to it that you don't despise one of these little ones because I tell you that in heaven their angels continually view the face of, I'm sorry, view the face of my father in heaven. What do you think? If someone has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, won't he leave the 99 on the hillside and go and search for the stray. And if he finds it, truly, I tell you, he rejoices over the sheep more than over the 99 that did not go astray. In the same way, it is not the will of your father in heaven that one of these little ones perish. And so, okay, we're going to use this framework, right? We're doing this together. Number one, who is the speaker? Jesus. Who is he talking to?

So he's actually, he's talking to his disciples. And the reason that we know this is from the text that's right before it. So this is also a really, this is a great way, whenever you are trying to figure out who the speaker is talking to or who Jesus is talking to and like, just figure it to language outside of the gospel, or if you're talking about the parable specifically.

When you're trying to figure out who the audience is, see if you can find out by the surrounding text, by the text that comes right before it or the text that comes after it. And if you can't, of course, Google it. But remember, we talked about those steps, right, and making sure that we have a legit website. But this answer

Who's the audience, who's he talking to? Actually comes from Matthew chapter 18 verse one. And it says, at that time, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, so they're talking to him. They asked him who's the greatest of the kingdom of heaven. And Jesus calls a small child to him. And that's when he says, and I will read some of this, truly I tell you, he said, unless you turn and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, themselves. Therefore, whoever humbles themselves like this child, this one is the greatest kingdom, greatest in the kingdom of heaven. So that actually gives us our answer. Looking at that connecting text. So who is he talking to? He's talking to his disciples.

And I want to point out to his disciples, could be, you know, the 12 disciples, they could also be other people who were following him too. So that's who his audience was. The second question is reflect on who or what is being made, being used to make the main point in the text or in the parable. So what was Jesus talking about in that parable?

He was talking about a shepherd and he was talking about the sheep, right? Now I do think that it is helpful to make a note that before the parable, although it's not used in the parable, before the parable Jesus is talking about children. He's talking about children. I remember they just asked him like, "who's going to be the greatest in the kingdom". 

Recap

So I think that is also really just a good point to when you're trying to figure out who he's talking to, the speaker is talking to and what is being used to make a point. I think it's just a good practice to see if you can read a few verses before and after the figurative language. Step three, get all of the historical or not all.

Get any historical or cultural context about the audience, main characters, objects that you can. So in step three, we're talking about his disciples. And the thing that I found really, really interesting was that shepherding, and this is throughout the Bible too, but just in that time, shepherding was a very, popular job. It was well known. He was most likely talking to working class people, right? He most likely was not talking about people in who were living in the earthly kingdom there. He was talking to working class people and being a shepherd was one of the most popular jobs at that time. So being that he was talking to working class people, they were probably very familiar with shepherds and shepherding in some capacity, whether that would be trading wool or whether that would be providing food for the shepherd to give to the sheep, or maybe they were like a hired on help to help the shepherd. They were probably very familiar with shepherding in some capacity. So that's why those are a few of the historical facts about like the working class people of that time. Maybe they weren't, it's possible. Maybe they weren't shepherds themselves, but again, they probably had some type of, in that time, people had a lot of connections to shepherds in some type of capacity.

The fourth step, using all that you have gathered, piece together what the main point of the text is. I put together that God values all of his children, and I am so glad about that. God values all of his children, no matter what our earthly position is. He values us all. So we should not look down on others because God values us all. His valuing system, and we've known this, right? For example, when you read the Beatitudes, there seems to be, and we know this to be true, there is a different ordering system and there's a different way that certain virtues are valued to God.

And the truth is that earthly possessions really don't make a difference. What we value here on earth, it's not that those things are important, but in terms of heavenly things, if we want to keep our eyes, our minds on things above, there seems to be a different valuing system. And so being that there's a different valuing system, it's important for us to know that God values all of us. Now, children, especially during this time, children and women were seen as less than. This was whether they were in working class or whether they were rich. They were seen as less than. And so Jesus is also making that point, right? He, again, there's that connection. Like, he knows that. He knows his audience. He knows what's going around, what's going on around him and how marginalized people are being treated. And he says, hey, like I know that things are different here, but in heaven, like in heavenly things, the way that God operates, we are not to look down on anyone. And so how can we apply this to our lives, our everyday lives?

How Do We Apply What We've Learned?

I think one of the ways that we can apply this is to one, understand that God absolutely cares for the marginalized. And I think that that is...for me anyway, because I am a member of a marginalized community. I'm an African American woman who has a disability. I'm autistic, ADHD and OCD. Hearing that is, it's a relief. And it also makes me sad, I think, because of the reason of why it's a relief. It brings up the realization that that's not always the case on earth. And that is, I think, what makes me feel sad about that.

But I am encouraged and I am excited and I'm thankful that the way that God views us and how he loves us, it's different than how this world does. And I'm so glad about that because God is eternal. This world is not. And so if anything were to be eternal, I am glad that it is how God loves and views all of his children.

I think another thing, another way that we can apply this to our lives is realizing that God pursues us. You know, in that parable, he's saying that a sheep has gone astray and sheep are defenseless. This is another, I don't know, I don't really know if this is an historical fact or a cultural fact, but this is just a fact about sheep.

They're pretty defenseless. They have no, I think their kind of defense, I guess, mechanism is to be still, lock their knees, and then what typically happens is they, don't quote me on this, but I think it's they're overturned. They go on their back and their legs are up in the air. They can't defend themselves. And so the sheep,

I mean, they need a shepherd in general because they need guidance. They need to be cared for. But they also need a shepherd because the shepherd is the one who looks after them and keeps them, you know, tries to keep them away from the prey and tries to keep them from being, like when a sheep is on its back, the shepherd is the one who turns it on its feet. And so, I mean, this picture here of, of our beautiful shepherd of God, that's who the shepherd is meant to be, is going after the sheep, right? Going after us because he values us all. He pursues us. And when we talk about going astray, I mean, that's all of us, right? We have all done that. We've all gone astray. This is...before we were saved and this is after we were saved, we all have gone and will go astray because of our humanity, because we are sinful creatures in our nature. That's who we are. Of course, this is not a license to just go and do whatever you want to do and be like, well, that's my humanity. No, no, no, no, because God knows our heart. But this is comforting in that

when we go astray, that God is not done with us. You know, it does not say, then the shepherd goes astray, or when the sheep goes astray, the shepherd just writes them off. No, that doesn't happen. The shepherd leaves the 99 to pursue the one that is astray. And I don't know about you, but I am so thankful that sometimes people write you off, right? But our God, he doesn't.

When we stray, he pursues us and he wants us back. This is why I think shame is so dangerous. This lie that the enemy plants that says, hey, when you do something, you need to hide it and you need to go away from God. You need to hide yourself and go away from God because what you did is wrong, you were wrong. God would never want to be associated with you after you've done that? Are you kidding me? Like that lie of shame from the enemy, I think that's why it's so dangerous because it encourages us to hide not just the sin from God, but it encourages us to hide ourselves from God. And this parable, this truth right here tells us that it is God's heart to pursue you and I when we go astray. It is not his heart to turn his back from us, it is his heart to pursue us, and then he rejoices, amen. That is so beautiful. And I think the way to apply this to our lives is to know that we've messed up. I get to go back to my father. I can go back to God and say, I messed up, I am sorry.

Please help me repent. I want to turn my back on sin and I want to come to you. Can you help me? God loves to help us get ourselves together. He delights in doing that with us. He doesn't expect for us to do it all on our own because he knows that we can't and I think that it's beautiful that this here it says that he rejoices over that sheep and that is for you and I to know that God is happy.

that when we go back to Him, God is not like, my gosh, here she comes again. No, God rejoices. God is so happy when we come back to Him. He says, yes, my daughter, I am so happy. Yes, my child, I am so happy. Let's try again. Let's do this again. Let me help you. And I think another thing for us to, to of course keep in mind, and how we can apply this to our lives is how are we treating the marginalized? It could be children, yes, like that is specifically who Jesus is talking to or talking about, excuse me. And I think it's just a, it's a challenge for us, right? Like how do I value people in my lives, the marginalized? In my interactions. Like how am I actually valuing them? Am I valuing them based off of what they can do for me? Am I valuing them because they have a lot of money? Am I valuing them because they can offer me opportunity? And of course, right, like we have different levels of connection in our lives, right? Our family, that inner, you know, friends, that's that like the second ring, the third ring might be like associates. Like it's, you know, there are levels to our connection, but I think that this is just kind of some reflection for us to think about. Like truly, if I had to reflect, how am I actually treating the marginalized? Because the way that we treat the marginalized as Christians,

It should align with how what's in the Bible. Right? Like not what we think is right. That no, it should how we're treating the marginalized. It should align with what is in the Bible. I'm going to pray us out real quick.

"Father, thank you. that you pursue us. Thank you that you are our shepherd and you pursue us and you rejoice when we come back to You.

We are so glad that this is your character. Father, please help us. As we are trying to work out and understand how we can apply this to our lives, please help us do that. Make us sensitive to the people and the opportunities and the situations that can help us live this out, that can help us walk this out. And father, give us, help us to be brave and in obedience to respond to these people and situations and opportunities in the way that is Christ-like. That is our desire, God. We want to be more like Jesus. We love you in Jesus' name, amen."

 

I will put all of this in the show notes and I will highlight or...make the points in bold. That's what I've been doing. I hope that's been helpful. I would love to hear from you. Message me on Instagram. I'm at Danai Marable. I will put that in the show notes as well for you. But I would love to know how the outline is. I always do the outline like in the show notes. There's a transcription too that goes with each episode. But I do the outline of the of a transcription separately and then I put the points in bold.

to kind of help because I think it might be helpful to follow, but that's just me. I want to know if it's helpful for you. So I would love to hear from you. Message me, Danae Marable. I'll put it in the show notes on Instagram. I love you. Thank you so much for listening. I do not take it lightly that you chose to listen to this podcast. I appreciate your time and I just pray, that what we've learned and what we continue to learn together.

that it plants a good seed in you and produces fruit in you and your kids and the people who are around you. Thank you so much for listening. I love you and I'll talk to you next time.

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