Why Use Parables?

Luke 15:24

Watch on YouTube – Watch on Facebook

How do you help someone remember something that’s important? A music teacher might tell her beginning music students that every good boy does fine can help them remember the notes on the treble clef of music. Or maybe you’ll set something to music. Think about when you hear the familiar tune of a hymn and and how the words of that hymn come to mind. Or you might tell a story.

One of Jesus favorite teaching techniques was telling stories. We know them as parables. We’re familiar with most of the parables that Jesus told in the Gospels. Parable of the Prodigal Son. The Parable of the Sower and the soils. The Parable of the Good Samaritan. And there are about 40 others. Some of his parables were pretty short. Some of them were a little bit long. Some of his parables he told to crowds of people. Some of his parables he told to his enemies. Some of his parables he told just to his disciples.

So why parables? Why did Jesus use parables to teach? Well, let’s think about the parable of the prodigal son as an example. One of the main points that Jesus is trying to make in that parable is that no matter how much we sin against God, he’s always willing to welcome us back with open arms. Now, Jesus could have said as much. I mean, it wasn’t like that was a new concept. You go back in the Old Testament and you look at the history of his people and how many times did they run away from God chasing after idols? And yet when they came back to Him in repentance, God was always willing to welcome them back.

So Jesus could have just told his disciples. God is always willing to welcome you back when you come to Him in repentance. But to tell a story with characters, characters to whom they could relate. Characters who could see and touch and and hear things and smell things that they could. Characters for whom or against whom they could root. Well, that would be memorable. You see, when Jesus was telling parables, he wasn’t just trying to convey information. He was actually trying to bring about a change in our hearts. Again, the parable of the Prodigal Son, as an example. When you have run off and you’ve been on your own personal pleasure hunt and you’ve wound up with the pigs instead, is all hope lost? No. Turn to God in repentance. He’s always willing to welcome you back with open and forgiving arms. He wants you to come to him in repentance.

So turn to him in repentance. And the verse from Luke 15:24 that Jesus says in the parable applies to us also, as the father in the parable says about the his son who came back to him, “this son of mine, this child of mine who was dead, is alive. He was lost. But he’s found.”

Pretty powerful pictures, right when it’s Jesus painting these pictures in parables. It’s more than a story. He’s trying to make a connection with you. He’s trying to bring about a change in you. So as you listen to these parables of Jesus, think about that. What kind of change is Jesus looking for? Many times that change is a simple one. He wants you to believe. He wants you to trust in him as your savior. Amen.