Talking In Parables

Dan has just graduated from university and will begin working as a doctor in the West Midlands.

Matthew 13:9 (NIV )
Whoever has ears, let them hear.

Riddle: what goes up but never comes down? 

Did you get it? If so, how does it feel? If not, how do you feel?
Sometimes parables can come across in the same way to us, a bit like a riddle, and it can be frustrating – especially when other people seem to get it, and we don’t! So, if they can be so hard to understand, why did Jesus use them so frequently?

Let me suggest this: in our culture, a high value is placed on information being transferred in the most efficient way possible. Somehow, it doesn’t seem Jesus got this memo; he took the opposite approach. What Jesus wants his hearers, then and now, to do is to take time to think about the parable before we can begin to understand it otherwise it just becomes another anecdote or pithy story. Jesus’ method is ingenious - he allows us to engage with his stories at the level that we want to. 

On the surface, this parable is a story about a farmer’s sloppy sowing abilities; if we look deeper, we find a call to reflect on the way we are cultivating the soil of our hearts. I would suggest that we, his followers, can be different types of soil at different times. This week’s study is not designed to frustrate us but to open our hearts to what God might want to change in us.

If, like me, you find that daunting, fear not! The parable of the Sower is one of my favourites because Jesus explains to his disciples how to understand the story.

Take some time today to read Matthew 13 before we come to look at each of the types of ‘soil’ in turn. 

Prayer – Jesus, I ask you would help me to open my ears this week and to reflect honestly on where my heart is. 

P.S. The answer to the riddle is 'your age'! (You can have that one for free)