This morning as we continued our journey to read through the New Testament as a family this year, we were reading in Matthew 13. We’ve been inspired to read through the New Testament through Danika Cooley’s book Help Your Kids Learn and Love the Bible. As we read through the parables Jesus used when teaching the crowds I kept thinking about how God set out to rescue his people. How? Jesus talked in parables, stories with meaning hidden within. In a way I suppose you could say that his job was to rescue through stories.
Kate gave us the word prompt Rescue for us to test our skills on.
Rescue through Stories
In Matthew 13
parables told
Stories by Jesus
His words extolled.
A sower with seeds
a pathway, rocks and field.
From nothing but trouble
to various yield.
The disciples did wonder
why stories do tell?
Jesus responded,
This information might befell.
Listening, hear, or not.
Seeing, see, or not.
Parables tell, without telling.
Kingdom bound, perhaps befraught?
Good seed sown,
Secretly weeds brought in,
Collect them now,
or wait til harvest begin?
The smallest of seeds,
Grows a mighty tree
Like yeast that leavens
for a breadmaking spree?
A treasure, a pearl
What will you give?
A wealth untold
It’s worth all you have?
A net full of fish
Oh the wealth untold
Tossing the bad, and
Keeping the good yes Behold!
Can you listen?
Oh, can you see?
Jesus spoken to all
hidden mystery!
Listen … HEAR
Look … SEE
Don’t you hear it?
He’s calling to thee!
Hidden in stories
truth hidden well
but if time taken
This truth will swell.
Scripture Speaks
Matthew 13 has many words that speak. Parables interwoven between words such as these:
11 He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12 Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables:
“Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing, they do not hear or understand.
14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:
“‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
15 For this people’s heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.’
34 Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable. 35 So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet:
“I will open my mouth in parables,
I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world.
So good as ever. Visiting from fmf #4 Have a blessed day x
Thank you.
I’m going through Matthew 13 right now with a discussion group around the Bema podcast. So many good insights, and questions from this passage
Oh, glad I could help!
The things Christ told in stories
saved us from our prison bars
by telling of the glories
that laugh and play among the stars,
the graces that came down to Earth
in Bethlehem’s deep night,
attending to a single birth
that filled the world with light.
We could neither hear not see
’till His words opened hearts
to that blessed Mystery
with which salvation starts,
the sacrifice of Son of Man
that we might join the Great I Am.
Oh! I like this! 🙂
The power of stories is amazing, isn’t it? Because they stay with you and help you remember and visualize the truth. Especially the stories of Jesus. It’s why I absolutely love teaching the creative writing class at co-op. 🙂
I’m at FMF #26 this week
The stories of Christ stick close don’t they? And there are stories I remember years later.
Well done.