There was nothing new in Jesus using parables as a means of communication. What was new was the sheer impact and beauty that they possessed. Most often Jesus would employ a short annd to the point comparison like Luke 6:39 wherein ist’s reported that He said, “If the blind lead the blind they will both fall into the ditch”. Or sometimes the parables seemed to echo more or a similtude such as Matthew 7:3 which says “Why do you worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own”? Good question for all of us in various ways. However, it was the parables that contained a paradox that impacted most greatly.
Sell everything?
Who is going to sell ALL to buy one pearl of great price (Matt. 13:45)? And then what about those “lost parables” of Luke 15. What’s up with that? I mean, who is going to leave 99 and go looking for one? What makes sense out of that? What Shephered would leave 99 sheep unprotected, just to find ONE? Is that where the military got the philosophy of not leaving one soldier on the field?
And what’s up with the punishment of a steward for not losing any money that was invested with him?
In the parable of the Talents, we’re dealing with some pretty hefty sums of money. A talent in the days of Jesus was the value of 571 pounds of silver. Let’s bring the story up to date. We’re talking about 9,136 ounces of silver and at today’s prices, that’s about $128,000.00! The poor guy who handed back to Jesus $128,000, not only saw it given to the guy who had ten talents (Matt. 25:28). And, worse yet, we read “Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Outeer darkness? Why?
Surely those who heard His parables went away scratching their heads and wondering just what in the world He meant or was trying to say.
In other words, today, like then, just when you think you have God or Jesus figured out, you don’t.
Comprende? 
0 Response to “Paradox Of Parables”