Beginning this Sunday morning, July 5, at our 10 a.m. streaming service, I have the privilege of opening up a new series of teachings from the parables of Jesus in the gospels.
The first parable that I will open is found in Luke 5:33-39, and it is famously called the parable of the wineskins. To prepare your hearts for Sunday morning, I am asking you to read Luke 4 and 5, and get a handle on what was going on when Jesus told this parable to the crowd around him. Ask yourself: Why would Jesus use this illustration? What point was he was trying to make?
Parables are Jesus’ famous way of demonstrating an eternal truth. Jesus told many parables during his teaching years. His parables were common illustrations and stories that everyone would have immediately connected with, but he would then make a deep, transformational spiritual application out of the story. He used common analogies:
- Fig and fruit trees
- Seed planting
- Vineyards
- Banquets and parties
- Sheep and shepherds
- Samaritans
- Precious lost things (coins, sheep, children)
All of these illustrations were immediately relatable to the people he was talking to, but they had a much deeper meaning: he was teaching them what the Kingdom of God was really like. Parables are Jesus’ earthly story with an eternal heavenly meaning.
This is our journey this summer, beginning this weekend.
Stay with us all summer. Read the parables as part of your summer Bible reading. Participate in the sermon messages—you can either watch live during the Sunday morning streaming service, or log on later in the week to watch and learn. Our challenge together is to learn what the Kingdom of God really is; are we now living our lives as Kingdom citizens?
Each Sunday morning, I will pose these questions for the parable we’re studying. Contemplate these questions yourself as you read each parable personally:
- What the exaggerated truth in this story?
- What is the transfer in the human story to an eternal truth?
(Find the simile of a common human element—”The Kingdom of God is like…”—then identify the connection between that human element and a deeply rooted eternal truth.) - What is the surprising conviction that confronts me in this story?
- What am I going to do about it?
In these trying times, we are focused heavily on what our earthly society is like—what the earthly societal tension and injustices are like; what the earthly political situation is like; and what the earthly job market is like. But we as believers are called to be Kingdom people, living by Kingdom relationships, and with a Kingdom focus. If we do this, we can and will be Kingdom citizens, representing the Kingdom of God in a chaotic and confused world. There will be Kingdom surprises for us and, prayerfully, a Kingdom shift in our lifestyles. These parables will confront our prejudices, chip away at our hard hearts, and bring conviction to our souls in unexpected ways. We will learn from Jesus’ parables what it really means to be citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Let’s learn together. Let’s live for the Kingdom of God. Open your Bibles with me. Think ahead. Take notes. Apply God’s truths.
See you Sunday morning, and all summer, in the parables of Jesus.
