• 1-2/3s of all of Jesus documented teachings are in parabolic form…if we want to understand Jesus’ teachings, we must understand parables
• Children and adults do not say, Tell me some facts, they say, Tell me a story
  • A 2015 Princeton study hooked up a story teller and listeners onto a MRI, and they found that the storyteller and listeners mirrored the same cognitive activity, meaning stories connect, immerse, and synchronize people better than any other communication medium
    • The hearers of Jesus not only listened to the stories, but could emulate the sensory inputs from it hence an emphasis on farming
  • A 2019 John Hopkins University study found that stories create an equal cognitive balance among the hearers, meaning stories put a hearer into an equal and healthy balance of imagination and logic making them more rational
  • A 2018 Yale study presented an argument three ways to numerous groups of the opposite position
    • . One way was a list of facts, tables, figures, etc.,
    • Another was Socratic debate
    • Last was sharing a series of stories about the negative impact of the position

*The story medium proved the most effective at persuading the people to re-consider their position because empathy precedes position, but position rarely precedes empathy

• • Consultancy Latitude, a marketing research firm concluded that a good story can drastically increase “impact” on consumers i.e. leading them to a desired response or action (4 elements: Immersion, Interactivity, Integration, and Impactp
• Why does Hollywood win the culture? They tell better stories….
• Why does the media paint “a narrative” that captivates entire populations?
  • The more relatable story the more convincing the argument
• Think about your testimony….is filled with a series of facts and logic statements, or is it YOUR STORY of faith?

*We intend to understand the intent of Jesus and how His audiences and disciples would have understood and heard His parables

Good practice 1:

• Parables are not unique to Jesus, but Jesus uniquely uses them with His focus on blue collar jobs/stories
  • Hearers could not only intellectually relate to the story, but could feel the sweat of the labor and the pain in the back, smell the dirt, taste the imagery,
• parables intend to be interesting, surprising, and usually, shocking
  • Structured to use real things in absurd ways or application

EX: Lions and Jaguars in the super bowl

• parables are meant to be simple and usually symmetrical
  • Never involves more than three people or settings
• parables are told into a context
  • Jesus is using an oral communication method in a oral society
    • Imagine 16^th century Europe trying to interpet tweets and emojis?
    • Your grandma texting emojis, short script, etc.

EX: My son in Joshua Tree and the chollas

• parables are brief
  • Excludes unnecessary details like people, motives, or unanswered questions
    • Interpret and focus on the detail that is given, not what is omitted

*parable of the strong man – Mark 3:20-27

Good practice 2:

• Many parables can apply to many situations.
  • Example: Parable of the Lion, Bear, and Snake –Amos 5:1-27
    • Death
    • Fate
    • Enemies
  • Anchors:
    • • Day of the Lord
      • Context of situation

*You must find and remember the anchors

• Most interpreters until the end of the 19^th century allegorized parables. Hermeunutic fallacy called Allegoresis, which allegorizes that which was not intended to be allegorized
  • When you allegorize, you make everything the anchor, whereas parables intend to reinforce and illuminate the anchors
• parables quote or allude to OT texts
  • Jesus expects His hearers to know their OT
  • Language He uses alludes to, or draws from key OT texts- Integrated Geverah Shevah
  • Use details from other references in the Bible
    • Jacob’s crop yield = God’s blessing – Genesis 26:12
    • Sarah’s offering to Three strangers
  • Most parables derive directly from its literary/narrative context

Good practice 3:

• parables answer questions
  1. Some cases the text states the question i.e. parable of the Sower, but most have an implied question from the text
  2. Sometimes, Jesus brilliantly tells a parable to generate a question
• parables by their very nature intend to make a rhetorical point
  1. For those who already belong to the kingdom – parable of the Sower

Ex: Mark 3:20-27 – parable of the strong man

Good practice 4:

• Jesus doesn’t tell stories just to entertain us
• parables intend to force response and change in behavior
• parables often lead the hearer to pass a judgment on a situation that then flips that judgment on themselves i.e. literary art of reversal
  • parable of David from Nathan

EX: Nathan’s parable to David – 2 Samuel 12:1-12 / Prophet Hosea marrying harlot Gomer

Good Practice 5:

• parables key matter/subject is at the end
  • Like a punchline to a joke
• parables were the means Jesus used most frequently to explain/reveal the kingdom of God, the character of God, and His expectation for us
• Often Jesus uses double or triple parables to reinforce the same revelation/point/subject
  • parable of the Lost Sheep, Woman and lost coin, Lost Son – Luke 15:1-32
    • Anchors in the book of psalm speaking to the character of God as applied to the kingdom/reign of God
  • parable of the Mustard Seed and Leaven – Matthew 13:31-35

Questions for Guided Discussion

1. What is your favorite story (Bible doesn’t count)? What makes that story your favorite? What elements of that story draw you into to it? How does that help you approach the stories of Jesus?
2. What do you hope to learn and gain from this series on parables? What do you like about them? What do you not understand about them?

As a group, read Luke 17:1-10

• 1. What is surprising about this story? What is shocking? What is interesting?
  2. What are the anchors?
  3. What does this reveal about who Jesus is? What does it say about who we are in relation to Him?
  4. What is the implied question or rhetorical point Jesus is making?
  5. What response does Jesus desire?

1. How can context illuminate Jesus stories? How can no context behind a story be dangerous? What context do you feel you lack in this parable?
2. How can anchors focus Jesus stories? How can no anchors, or making everything an anchor confuse it?
3. Most parables answer an implied question and make a rhetorical point. If Jesus point is not immediately clear or rhetorical to us or the question is not obvious, what are we missing?
4. Share a parable that convicted you or led you to change/alter behavior.