The message in Luke’s Gospel is that the messiah had come in person of Jesus and he had already begun to establish the kingdom of God. Those who responded to Jesus and followed the rule of God that he taught were regarded as citizens of the kingdom. A popular saying I know mentions, “Jesus preached the kingdom of God, but the result was the church.” This is a very true saying because those who received Jesus’ word about the kingdom of God were people who followed him and became his disciples of him. So when Jesus died they continued his teaching and the result was the church.
In the bible there are many facts Jesus mentions about the kingdom of God. In Luke 9:27; it says that people who followed Jesus and his teachings would “see the kingdom of God before they die.” Another example of when Jesus talked about the kingdom was when he said to his followers to “heal the sick there, and tell them that the kingdom of God is near them.” This is saying that the kingdom of God has the ability to heal, thereby illustrating the “present” power of the kingdom of God. This example is taken from Luke 10:9. Another example of a time in Luke’s gospel where Jesus presented a teaching about the kingdom was when he said: “ If I use the power of God to force out demons, then the kingdom of God has come to you.” This means that if God casts out demons in you the kingdom will reign in your life. This teaching is found in Luke 11:20. In Luke 17:20-21, it talks about Jesus saying to a group of Pharisees: “when the kingdom of God comes to you, you will not physically see it because the kingdom of god is within you, reigning in your hearts.” This shows us that we should be expecting the kingdom of God to come, in the future sense.
The parable of the Pharisee and the Tax collector
Jesus told many parables to explain his teachings on the kingdom of God. A very famous parable is the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector. The Pharisees were a group of Jewish leaders who were the most religious at the time of Jesus. These Pharisees were very powerful and their authority was never questioned. The Pharisees were very educated and believed strongly in the Law of Moses. The Pharisees based their whole lifestyle on the Law of Moses and would never let people interpret the meaning of the law to suit themselves. Jesus also accused the Pharisees of being hypocrites.
The tax collectors were also Jewish people, however instead of keeping by Jewish beliefs, tax collectors collected money from the poor and gave the money to Roman officials. These Roman officials were in charge of the country and brought oppression to the Jews. The tax collectors often collected money for themselves as well; they were despised and were treated like outcasts. They were seen as betrayers as they collaborated with the enemies in order to make a good living.
Considering what I just mentioned, you will be able to understand why when Jesus tells a group of Jews a story about a Pharisee and tax collector the Jews expect the villain or fault of the story to be about the tax collector. When Jesus tells the Jews this story he also shows that the kingdom of God accepts outcasts such as the tax collector. Basically in the parable there is a Pharisee and a tax collector at the front of the temple. The tax collector is talking to God, boasting and praising himself. He is saying that he is not dishonest or greedy like other people or the tax collector but he fasts, pays a tenth of his income and prays everyday.
However the tax collector stood at a distance and would not even look up to heaven. But instead he beat on his chest because he was so sad. He said “ God, have mercy on me, for I am a sinner.”
Jesus said after this that when this man went home he was “correct with God,” yet the Pharisee was not. The main point or moral from this parable is that “all who make themselves great, will be made humble; but all who make themselves humble will be made great.” This means in order to enter the kingdom of God you have to be of genuine faith and religion.
This moral taken from the parable taken from the parable and the tax collector also shows that in able to enter the kingdom you need to be “correct with God” by using your heart and not your head to do things. For example not doing everything by the book but letting God speak to you first. This parable completely changes our expectation. It shows that in order for you to receive the kingdom you must be ready for change and should not rely on anything such as fasting, to get into the kingdom.
We also learn from this parable that the kingdom of God is not just about recognizing religion and following it exactly to be noticed, but about doing what is expected and wanted of God. This parable also shows the importance of the law, however it shows that the law is not meant to be a burden unto people who try to obey it.
The parable of the Good Samaritan
Another parable, which gives us a message about the kingdom of God, is the Good Samaritan. The first question a teacher of the law asked Jesus was “Teacher, what must I do to get eternal life?” This question was asked to test Jesus. As Jesus often did when an opponent confronted him, he asked the man a question. This was “what was written in the law? What do you read there?” The teacher of the law replied with two quotes from the Law of Moses, which was: “ Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your strength, and all your mind” and “love your neighbour as yourself.” Jesus agreed with the interpretation of the law.
However the teacher of the law wanted to show the importance of his question by asking the question “ Who is thy neighbour?” Jesus replied with the story of the Good Samaritan.
A man, who was travelling from Jerusalem to Jericho, met some robbers on the way and was attacked. He was beaten up, had his clothes torn off and was left lying dead there.
A Jewish priest noticed the man and ignored him as he walked along the other side of the road, abandoning him there. After this a Levite did the same. Both of these men worked in the temple. However both avoided helping the needy. This possibly could have been because they were afraid of attack, or may have thought touching the man would lead to them not working in the temple for a number of days.
Then a Samaritan saw the man and told him. This was because he pitied the man that was in need. The Samaritan poured olive oil and wine on his wounds and bandaged them. He put the hurt man on his donkey and put him where he could care for him, in an inn.
The next day the Samaritan brought out too silver coins, gave them to the innkeeper and said, “take care of the man and if you spend money on him and I will pay you back.”
Then Jesus asked the man “who was a neighbour to the man that was attacked?” The Samaritan spent time, money, and energy, comfort of travelling on his own donkey, pride, and personal risk of attack from robbers. The expert of the law answered “the one who showed mercy on him.” Jesus replied, “Then go and do what he did.” Jewish people despised Samaritans because they worshipped God in a different temple from the Jews.
However the point of the story is to teach us that we should treat other people with kindness, even people who we regard as our enemies should be treated with acre and consideration. We should not look down, discriminate or be prejudice towards others because they are from a different race. We should treat others how we want to be treated. Hence the commandment “Love your neighbour as yourself.”
One of the principles of the kingdom of God is this command given to us from God. This parable shows the command to treat every individual human being as a neighbour, irrespective of religion, race, social or other division. The kingdom says that all people must be treated the same and held with the same esteem. This parable is the basis of Christians working for justice to relieve pain. This is true because there is now an organisation that helps others who are in need regardless of a thing. Love is the basis of Christian attitudes, which Christians should have taken from this parable.
There is also an allegorical interpretation of this parable. Through research I found out that people think that the man who was attacked was meant to be Adam. Jerusalem represented the heavenly city of peace from which he fell, and Jericho was the human mentality that he inherited as a result of his fall. The robbers were the devil and his angels, who stripped him of immorality. The priest and Levite who passed by on the other side was the ministry of the Old Testament who could not help or save him. The Good Samaritan was Christ himself and his binding of the travellers’ wounds was the comfort and encouragement of the hard work. The donkey he rode was the church, and the innkeeper the Apostle Paul. The two silver coins that were paid are the commandments to love God and our neighbour. This is an ingenious account of the story of salvation. However is quite unrelated to the story of the Good Samaritan, so we can say that this is the spiritual meaning to the story.
The parable of the Sower
Jesus is telling us about the Kingdom of God. We know this because Jesus starts by saying “the Kingdom of God is like…” The story starts off with a farmer planting seeds. While the man was planting these seeds they fell into different places. Some fell on the pathway, which were eating by birds or trampled on. Some seeds fell on rocky ground and is had no moisture so died. Whilst some seeds fell on bushes of thorns, so when they grew they were choked. Others fell on good fertile soil so when they grew they produced 100 grains each. In this parable the seeds are the word of God. The first seeds represented people who hear the word of God, and then the devil comes and takes the word away from their hearts. The second seeds portray people who receive the word of God with joy, yet have no stability so when temptation comes they fall. The third set of seeds show people that hear the word of God, accept it but are choked by their cares, riches and pleasures. The last set of seeds show the people who heard the word of God, accept it and use it well in their lives and make a difference to others.
The message or moral of this parable is that the Kingdom of God will be successful in spite of all frustrations and difficulties. The parable shows the frustration of the labourer with the weeds, greedy birds and rocky ground, yet it still shows the contrast with the picture of a rich harvest. The parable however still has an allegation interpretation where different types of soil represent different hearers of the message of Jesus. People understand that the allegorical meaning was given by the Church when the parable was used for teaching new converts about Christianity people are asked to reflect on “what kind of soil am I?” This tends to miss the original, simple truth of the parable.
The parable of the Prodigal Son
Another parable, which explains Jesus’ teaching on the Kingdom of God, is the “Lost Son” or “Prodigal Sin”. The term “prodigal” means wasteful, so in this parable we are referring to the prodigal son as wasteful and when the word “Lost” is used, it is referring to the son as lost but then was found by God the father.
In the Law of Moses it stated that the first-born son has a right to two-thirds of his father’s property and a second son to one third of the property. A young man asked his father for his one third of the property, as he was a younger brother. His father gave him the money. The young brother wasted his money on foolish things. It was unusual for a share of the property to be given on request. Possibly, the younger son did not ever intend on coming home. Soon the younger brother had no money so had to work as a pig feeder. He became very hungry and so began to eat the pig’s food. Jesus regarded pigs as ‘unclean’ for food and so the younger son must have been desperate for help too have taken such a jab.
The younger son realized that his father’s servants are better off than him and he decided to return home. By now the son had reached a point where he wanted to repent. The Greek word for repentance was melanomas, which means change of heart or mind.
When the son was a long way off, his father saw him, and then embraced him with a hug and kiss. This shows that father must have really missed his son. In the father’s response there was no sign of anger. The son said “father, I have sinned against God and have done wrong to you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son”. The son was not able to finish the little speech he had prepared. The father did not agree that the youth was no longer fit to be called his son. I know this because father treated the son like an honoured guest. The robe he was given was a sign of honour; the ring was a rich gift and a sign of position or authority; the shoe he was told to wear were also a sign of honour.
Meanwhile the older son was in the house. He was so angry because he had obeyed his father as if he was a servant and never gave him a feast, yet when his other son wasted all his money on prostitutes he killed a fat calf. The father reassured him by telling him how his son was dead before but now he is alive again, before he was lost but now he is found.
Some people feel certain sympathy with the elder son. He had slaved away. He had been disobedient and never received the fuss that was being made over the return of his brother. He shows the typical standard of human forgiveness and in doing so, he minors exactly the same attitude of the Pharisees and scribes to the poor and outcast of Jesus’ day. The forgiveness they offered fell for short of what they required.
The younger son is a wonderful illustration of how a person stays from God and from his fellow human beings. His actions results in him being utterly and completely lost. This is what sin does to a person.
Most people see in the actions of the father a picture of God’s forgiveness to absolute sinners. There is no condition attached. God longs for people to come to him like the son returned to father is the parable.
The meaning of the parables for today is about the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom is one in which a forgiving father offers people a chance to return to him. The Judaism of the scribes and Pharisees did not care for the lost. Christians, see in these parables of the lost, a picture of God’s forgiveness. He does not hold sin against people. They also claim that forgiveness produces reconciliation only when it is proceed by repentance. God forgives without conditions, but forgiveness is only effective when like the younger son a person realizes the need to be.
Question b – Discuss the meaning and relevance of parables to the belief and life of Christians today.
Parables have been here for about 2000 years; therefore it is not always easy to relate to the original concept of them. These parables were told in a very specific life situation and were expressed to a particular audience. The language of the parables would have been very familiar to those listening. For example, the parable of the Sower is addressed to an agricultural community. For most of us today we do not have agricultural jobs and do not see the relevance of the parable.
There are many parables, which language is not related to us but we still understand them. One example of a parable like that is the parable of the Good Samaritan. The Good Samaritan uses language of journey. The main events of the story are that a man who was travelling from Jerusalem to Jericho was robbed. Two people who worked in temple, a priest and a Levite saw this man in need and still abandoned him. This man was left to die until a Samaritan came and helped this man. The Samaritan cared for him, spending time, money, comfort and personal safety on the man. The Good Samaritan was the neighbour to the man that was attacked unlike the priest or the Levite. This parable talks about “Loving thy neighbour.” The parable tells us not to be racist, prejudice, discriminate, or marginalize. We learn from this parable that we are not to be cruel and thoughtless to social outcasts; even they can enter the kingdom. We are taught to be tolerant and to care for our community and environment. From this parable we can learn to respect others and to show compassion to all. This parable helps Christians today to recognise that we are to help social outcasts and treat them as human beings. The social outcasts of today are the homeless, homosexual, asylum seekers, ethnic minorities, people with diseases such as aids, and ex convicts. Most people of today treat them with cruelty and hatred. That is why Christians have to use our morals and teachings from parables to make a difference in their lives. This parable also helps us to recognise that we have to have inclusive church communities where everyone is accepted. This includes all kinds of people including penitent sinners.
In most parables there is a common theme and strong concept of journey. One parable that shows this is the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax collector. When the two men, a Pharisee and a tax collector go to the temple they are making a physical journey. They go to the temple; the place where God’s presence is and where they can truly worship. Jesus told this parable to a group of Jews who believed that tax collectors were betrayers, and who respected Pharisees. Therefore when they hear the story they expect the person in the wrong to be the tax collector. In the parable the Pharisee praised himself to God. Whilst the tax collector was so ashamed that he could not even raise his head. The tax collector said to God, “Lord have mercy on me, for I am a sinner.” The great twist in this story is that the tax collectors action of repentance meant he took a step on the journey of having a relationship with God. His journey began with him repenting and does not end till he reaches the kingdom of God. However the journey of the Pharisee is over even though he fasted and prayed thinking that was enough to enter the kingdom. Jesus says that our relationship with God is a continuous journey and is not an instant event because of one particular action. People will make mistakes, for example Peter who made a journey of denial but at the end of it became a stronger person. All of the parables have the same illustration. The problem with the Pharisee was that he was a boaster and Jesus said that he had no right to hide his humility and dependence on God. True religion is not about going to mass on Sunday in the finest robe and doing what the church requires, but is about your attitude and relationship with God which is important in the lives of Christians today. Our relationship with God should be based on humility. God said it is not our external rites that are significant but it is our attitudes towards him. I know this because he said to the Israelites, “ It is better to love than to sacrifice.” The best leaders in the world are those who are clothed with humility. For example Nelson Mandela, he was in solitary confinement for over 30 years and when he was freed became one of South Africa’s best leaders. Nelson Mandela was like the tax collector, he realised his faults and accepted this mistakes, learning from them. This parable helps Christians today to grow stronger, by accepting their wrongs and learning from their mistakes.
Another parable, which is important to Christian beliefs today, is the parable of the Rich fool. Jesus told this parable to a man in the crowd who was squabbling with his brother for his share of an inheritance. Jesus sorted out this argument with a parable. A rich man who had a lot of crops had nowhere to put them so he decided to tear his barns and build bigger ones. The man praised himself thinking he will now be able to take life easy. God spoke to him, classifying him as a fool because that very night he was to die and no one will be able to receive anything from it. Jesus said that is how a person who is rich in the world is not with God. This parable is telling us that we need to value our lives and make it worth something. We are to try and make a difference in the lives of others and ourselves during our journey to the kingdom of God. Another relevance of this parable today is that it helps us get our priorities sorted. Even though we are wealthy in the eyes of people, we may not be in the eyes of God. Many rich people of the world tend to be pitilessly selfish, like the rich fool, forgetting our Christian duty of being a charitable person. Money and riches of this world has no intrinsic value, meaning it is worth nothing in it self. Jesus does not condemn wealth, but simply is saying that it has no worth because when we enter the kingdom of God it will not go with us. We also learn the importance of this parable through the fact that it teaches us that riches are transitory and will pass away. The only lasting thing on this earth is people, despite the fact that we die because we still have life after death. That is why this parable teaches us that we should be loving to all and enrich the lives of others so at least we can have the joy of knowing you have helped someone during your life journey. The meaning of this parable today is that money is not everything. This parable teaches that people can have nothing in terms of material wealth, but still have spiritual riches. These include dignity, self respect. We also learn that power can be bought but not self-respect. This parable shows that a journey of amassing great earthly wealth and not spiritual wealth is worth nothing.
Another parable that shows the importance of parables, is the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. There was once a rich man who was very well fed and clothed. There was also a poor man who lived outside the rich man’s house. The beggar was so desperate to eat and dogs often licked his wounds. Lazarus died and was taken to heaven to sit with Abraham. Whilst the rich man was tormented in hell. The rich man cried to Abraham to ask Lazarus if he could cool the heat of the rich man with the tip of his finger. Abraham said this was impossible because there was a gulf fixed between heaven and hell. Then the rich man asked Abraham if Lazarus could be sent down to his fathers’ house to convince them that they should repent. Abraham said this could not happen because Moses and the prophets were there to convince them. Then the rich man replied saying that they would not listen to them, but there was nothing that could be done. The rich man had a great life with no relation to God, so went to hell. Riches often blind us to the realities of life and distract us from our journey to entering the kingdom of God. We learn from this parable that we are to get our priorities right. We also learn that riches on earth are not equivalent to riches in heaven. The rich mans journey was not of humility, but was a selfish one which excluded the poor people which were not up to his standard. There are many excluded or marginalized people of today, such as homosexuals and the poor. These social outcasts can be respected through parables because the one of the main principals taken from parables is: “ Love God, you neighbour and love yourself.”
Another parable that shows us that parables are significant to our beliefs today is the parable of the lost coin. There was a woman who had ten coins, and it is said that if one was to go missing she would search morning till night till she found it. Then when she found them she would rejoice with all her friends. The ten coins were obviously very important to her, even though it was not a lot of money. To find the coin would have taken a lot effort and time. This parable is telling us that we are like the missing coin to God. This parable shows us that we are all important to God and deserve to take journey into entering the kingdom. People of today often go missing through sin, but this is only part of the journey because God will find and forgive us, thereby showing the meaning and relevance of parables of the lives of Christians today.
Question c -“The parables are no longer relevant for life today.”
Do you agree? Give reasons to support your answer and show that you have thought about different points of views. You must refer to Christianity in your answer.
One could argue that the parables are both relevant to our lives today and one could equally well argue that they are not relevant at all. I would like to argue that there is more that makes the parable relevant than irrelevant.
Parables were intended for an audience of Jews living two thousand years ago in Palestine and just because we are separated by these 2000 years do not mean that we have probably lost any real sense of their original concept. On the other hand you could say the same about any piece of literature written a long time ago. The fact that something is old does not mean that it has no relevance to the world today. Take for example the Declaration of Independence, which was over 250 years ago, but is still significant today.
Parables were told through speaking. Jesus spoke of parables as stories, and like all good stories there is an illustration behind it. Even today people pass down eternal truth through stories from generation to generation. For example the story of the “boy who cried wolf.”
The parables of Jesus were told in a very different environment from ours. Today, nevertheless they still contain important moral truths. For example the story of the Good Samaritan, which talks about being prejudice and discriminating against others. Even today we still live in a world where particular people are discriminated against. However when we read parables such as the Good Samaritan, we learn to deal with this problem.
Another parable that is self-evident in showing the moral contained in them is the parable of the Lost Son. This parable talks about forgiveness, repentance and acknowledging your faults. This is related to today because there is so much sin, even in Christians and this parable helps us to realise that God can still love us, and let us enter his kingdom.
The parable of the Sower is another parable that still shows a powerful moral truth. The parable talks about people and the Word of God. The moral is that when we hear the Word of God, we should not be the “hearers alone, but the doers of the word.” This is still relevant today because there is even more temptation today that 2000 years ago.
Some people argue that we live in a very sophisticated world today and that stories do not really have a place. However it should be clear that stories occupy a very important place in our hearts and lives today. These parables are still relevant because they still challenge us to reflect on our own values in relation to each other and to God.
Another point to consider is that parables are not able to deal with modern issues such as disease, environmental issues and modern warfare.
However, we must take into consideration that parables are great works and their characters and situations have a correspondingly universal quality that can be understood by anyone today. This is because they deal with the basic needs of human beings. We do not need special insight to understand the parable of the lost son, or the parable of the good Samaritan, their meanings are obvious as read them.
GCSE Religious Coursework
Bibliography
I used a variety of books to assist me in my coursework. I used the bible to help me with saying what happens in each of the stories. I used the GCSE blue booklet on the “Nature of Christian discipleship, Jesus the healer, and Christian life.” I also used to borrowed books to give me a further insight of parables. These books were: “Jesus and the four gospels” which gave an illustrated documentary about Jesus portrayed through the four gospels. The second book was “ Jesus and his teachings” which covered areas similar to the first book.
Produced by Oluwatoyin Aiyegbusi
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