Story Time!

Jesus loved to teach by telling parables -- stories that convey a truth about God and God's Kingdom.  You can find the parables of Jesus in the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke (which are often called the synoptic gospels).  Click here for a handy chart that tells you where you can find each of Jesus' parables.

Here are our nominees for Best Parable:

We had a small class today, so I threw a nomination of my own into the mix: THE PRODIGAL SON.  You can read the full story in Luke 15:11-37.  Here is a video of the story acted out with Lego characters:

One thing that fascinates me about this story is that Jesus never tells us how the older son responds to his father's pleas to join the party.  Does the older son join the party and reconcile with his younger brother?  Does the older son ignore his father's pleas and hold a grudge?  Jesus doesn't say.  It's up to us to write our own ending to this story ... by how we live our lives.

Nick chose the PARABLE OF THE SOWER, which you can find at Matthew 13:3-8.  Here is an animated video of the story.  Watch what happens to the seeds sown on the path, the seeds sown in rocky places without much soil, the seeds sown among the thorns, and the seeds sown in good soil:

This is one of the parables that Jesus explained to his disciples after telling it.  Here's what Jesus had to say about the story:
“Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: When people hear the message about the kingdom and do not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their hearts. This is the seed sown along the path. The seed falling on rocky ground refers to people who hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.  The seed falling among the thorns refers to people who hear the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. But the seed falling on good soil refers to people who hear the word and understand it. They produce a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”  -Matthew 13:18-23 (TNIV).

Wes nominated THE PARABLE OF THE NET, which is an interesting but lesser known parable that gives us a glimpse into the Day of Judgment:



“'Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away.  This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'  'Have you understood all these things?' Jesus asked. 'Yes,' they replied."    -Matthew 13:47-50 (TNIV).

 

And our winner this week is Adrienne, who selected THE PARABLE OF THE LOST COIN.  This is the second in a series of three related parables Jesus tells in Luke 15: The Lost Sheep, The Lost Coin, and The Lost (or Prodigal) Son.  Here's the winning parable: “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’  In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”  -Luke 15:8-10 (TNIV). 

Now, watch the parable as demonstrated in this wonderful little video by Haeuk Kim, Hanako Shimizu, and Youki Shimura:

Congrats to Adrienne for picking this week's winner!  Next weekend is Memorial Day weekend.  The school year is coming to an end soon, so we will have a special post next weekend to help you with your studies for final exams.  Then, the Wesley Awards will return on Sunday, June 3 with our selection of the Best Story from the Book of Acts.  You will not want to miss these next two posts!