About Parables
This summer I have been asked to teach a weekly series about “the parables.” That phrase itself can be misleading. It indicates that there are only specific writings (or recorded spoken messages) that qualify as parables. We often immediately think of the short stories Jesus told when He was trying to teach something. But the parables of Jesus are not the first ones recorded.
Teaching in parables is a highly effective educational method that has been around for quite a while. It is the use of short, relatable stories with everyday imagery to illustrate abstract, profound truths. This approach to teaching bridges the known with the unknown, helping listeners grasp complex moral or spiritual lessons.
Bible Lessons in Parables
There has never been a greater teacher than Jesus of Nazareth. If He were not the Messiah (and He is), He would still be the most amazing teacher of all time. One of Jesus most familiar methods of teaching was the parable.
Why Use Parables?
- Enhances the Listener’s Memory: Stories are easier to remember and retell than theological concepts.
- Bypasses the Listener’s Resistance: By presenting complex truths as stories about ordinary life, the listeners are invited to come to their own conclusions.
- Encourages the Listener’s Participation: Parables require the listener to think. Rather than just preaching, the teacher provides a narrative that encourages the listeners to draw their own conclusions.
Key Characteristics of a Good Parable
- Grounding in Reality: They utilize familiar, everyday settings and ordinary (often unnamed) characters.
- Singular Focus: While every detail might have symbolic meaning to the ancient audience, effective parables are usually designed to convey one major, overarching truth.
- The “Hook”: They often begin with a relatable scenario before turning an unexpected corner that introduces a moral or spiritual shift.
The Train Parable
Before you say, “Yes, but that was all a long time ago with a man teaching on a hillside, let me introduce a modern-day parable with a modern-day purpose. It is the way God showed me to teach 6th graders about how to structure their science fair papers.
I can lecture all day to my students about how an essay has 3 parts: an introduction which includes a thesis statement indicating the purpose of the paper; a body, which organizes facts gained while researching the paper’s topic; and a conclusion, which sums up or reviews what was in the paper. Researched material must be organized into paragraphs, each explaining one component or argument that supports the thesis.
Students look at me like I’m speaking Chinese.
This is a much better way to teach 6th graders how to organize a research paper:
A train is going to St. Clairsville. It is carrying oranges, hammers, potatoes, basketballs, grapes, golf clubs, shelving units, nails, and soccer nets. There are three cars behind the engine, and a caboose at the end. The train will make three stops: the grocery store, the sporting goods store, and the hardware store. The goal is achieved after every item reaches the store where it belongs.
We could begin loading the first car with oranges, then hammers, then potatoes, then basketballs until the first car is full, then go on to the second car and continue loading grapes, golf clubs, and boxes of shelving units, then when it’s full go on to the third car, and we would probably get everything in. However, what a nightmare when the train got to those stores and had to be unloaded. How much easier is it to organize the items?
On the board I draw a train with an engine, three train cars, and a caboose:
ENGINE– CAR 1: Grocery– CAR 2: Hardware– CAR 3: Sporting– CABOOSE
Tells where oranges hammers basketballs Tells where
the train is potatoes shelving golf clubs the train
going. grapes nails soccer nets has been.
You get the idea. I have taught you about trains and deliveries, but I have also taught you about how to organize any essay. I used a parable. The engine is the introduction, the train cars are the body paragraphs, and the caboose is the conclusion.
Not Just a New Testament Thing
We tend to think of Bible parables as being a New Testament concept invented by Jesus, but many Old Testament figures used parables, as well. Here is probably the most famous Old Testament parable:
King David had already committed the sin with Bathsheba, then sent her husband Uriah to the front lines of battle where he would be killed. David thought he had arranged things to cover himself, then ..
The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.
“Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”
David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.”
Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man!
If Nathan had gone to David and simply pointed a finger and accused, the truth would still be the truth, but chances are that David would have retaliated in anger or gone into defense mode. In using the parable, Nathan appealed to moral things that David understood, things that would touch his heart and emotions. Most importantly, Nathan allowed David to think and draw his own conclusions. That is the power of a parable.
Other Old Testament Parables include:
Jotham’s Trees (Judges 9:7-15)
The Vineyard of the Lord (Isaiah 5:1-7)
The Two Eagles and the Vine (Ezekiel 17:1-10)
The Thistle and the Cedar (2 Kings 14:9)
The Escaped Prisoner (1 Kings 20:35-40)
How to Teach Using Parables
- Identify the Core Lesson: Determine the one specific concept or moral you want to teach before crafting or choosing your story.
- Know Your Audience: Use settings, cultural references, and challenges that align with the background and daily experiences of your listeners.
- Keep It Concrete: Avoid getting bogged down in overly academic language; allow your audience to experience the visual and tangible aspects of the story.
People generally love to hear stories. I know that’s true of my students. I’m sure Jesus’ audience was the same. He is, after all, the greatest teacher who has ever lived!
Coming soon–Part 2: The Good Samaritan
God bless you!
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