Jesus meets us where we are! Jesus uses parables to meet us at different points in our lives. We can read or hear a parable many times and gradually come to a better understanding of what Jesus is revealing. It is not just about the trees, plants, labourers, shepherds, or whatever example Jesus has taken from the daily lives of the time.
Parables are not like proverbs or Aesop’s Fables. They are not just a teaching story with a moral to it; they are profound paradoxes intended to turn our minds upside down so that we move into new ways of seeing. They help us move towards living as Jesus does and relate to Jesus so that our attitudes, motivations, and actions speak of intimacy and inclusion. We are transformed so that we are intimately united to God, others, and all God’s creation, as Jesus is.
In Jesus’ time, the disciples did not grasp the full meaning of his words even though they had been in close contact with Jesus for some time. The disciples needed greater insight into what Jesus was teaching. The teachings of Jesus in the parables have continued for 2000 years. Through prayer, reflection, study, writing, songs, art, revelation of God in nature, and more, many people through the centuries have recognised Jesus’ teaching as vital for
the transformation of the universe and brought it to others – fruitfulness!
What is the intimacy I have with Jesus that nurtures the seed of the kingdom within me?
Who are the people who have watered and cultivated my seed, and in what ways have they done that?
How has what I have said, done or lived continued Jesus’ work and carried out God’s will?
Do others recognise the face of Jesus in me?
Reflections by Kath Knowles
