PARABLES (Gr. Παραβολαί) IN HOLY SCRIPTURE ACCORDING TO ORTHODOX HOLY TRADITION

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God and Savior,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

PARABLES (Gr. Παραβολαί) IN HOLY SCRIPTURE ACCORDING
TO ORTHODOX HOLY TRADITION.

Our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ used Parables for the purpose of bringing the fundamentals of His Divine Teaching to His audience which was mainly comprised of uneducated simple people. Teaching by Parables was extremely used by Rabbis at the time of Christ. Our Lord’s preference of Parables as a means of teaching did not only aim at providing the common people with easily assimilated simiies but also at veiling to a measure His identity and His relation to God which, if openly proclaimed, would elicit the immediate adverse reaction of the authorities.

In answer to questions as to what a certain Parable really meant, Our Lord Christ explained how its fictitious narrative did apply to common people and situations. The central theme of the Evangelical Parables was always the Kingdom of God and the Divine intervention in terms of the historical Jesus for the purpose of saving man through faith and repentance. Some of the Parables refer to the Kingdom as a future event for which the people should wait in readiness. There are 30 to 40 Parables in the Synoptic Gospels and only two allegories in the Fourth Gospel, those of the Good Shepherd and the Vineyard. Some of the best known and loved are found only in Saint Luke’s Gospel.

Parables (Παραβολαί) are stories in word-pictures, revealing spiritual truth. The Hebrew and Aramaic words for PARABLE also mean "allegory," "riddle," or "proverb." The Holy Scripture, especially the Holy Gospels, are filled with Parables–IMAGES DRAWN FROM DAILY LIFE IN THE WORLD TO REPRESENT AND COMMUNICATE THE DEEP THINGS OF GOD. Parables give us glimpses of Him whose thoughts are not our thoughts and whose ways are not ways (Isaiah 55:8-9).

The Truth revealed and communicated by Jesus’ Parables, however, is not evident to all who hear them. One must have SPIRITUAL EYES to see and SPIRITUAL EARS to hear, and even then there are degrees of understanding of the Divine Parables. Thus, "to those who are outside, all things come in Parables" (Mark 4:11) may be translated "to those who are outside, all things come in riddles." Jesus’ quotation of Isaiah 6:9-10). Matthew 13:14-15 does not mean He used Parables to blind people or to lead them to punishment. On the contrary, it demonstrates that the people are responsible for their own receptivity: having grown dull and insensitive, they are unwilling to accept the message of the Parables. As the mission of Isaiah in the Old Testament was TO OPEN THE EYES OF ISRAEL TO SEE THE ACTS OF GOD, SO THE PARABLES OF JESUS ARE GIVEN TO OPEN THE EYES OF HIS HEARERS TO THE TRUTH, AND TO LEAD THEM TO PRODUCE THE FRUIT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.

Parables challenge the listener and call FOR FAITH TO PERCEIVE THE MYSTERIES OF THE KINGDOM. Insight into God’s Kingdom does NOT come simply through an intellectual understanding of the Parables. SPIRITUAL ENLIGHTENMENT IS COMMUNICATED THROUGH FAITH in the Person, words, and deeds of the Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ.

The use of Parables was known in Jewish culture long before Jesus (2 Samuel 12:1-4; 1 Kings 20:35-42; Isaiah 5:1-7). Our Savior Jesus Christ, however, brought the art of Parables to perfection, relating aspects of the Kingdom and speaking of God Himself through vivid stories. His purpose was not only to reveal Truth to those with hearts prepared. He also wished to DRAW RESPONSIVE HEARTS PAST THE ENTRANCE AND INTO THE VERY REALITY OF GOD’S KINGDOM WHICH HE PROCLAIMED AND INAUGURATED.

Among the familiar Parables read on Sundays throughout the Church year are: the Sower (Luke 8:5-15); the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37); the Rich Man and His Crops (Luke 12:16-21); the Great Supper (Luke 14:16-24); the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30); the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Luke 18:10-14); and the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32).

In the opening to us the DOOR TO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, the Parables help us to love God and to know Him, to understand and believe His grace, mercy and forgiveness, and to order our lives according to His Holy Word. [Resources: The Orthodox Study Bible]

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"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
+ Saint John Chrysostomos

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With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George