Human beings are storytellers. This isn’t accidental; it’s part of being made in the image of God. Stories, or word pictures, help us organize our thoughts, experiences, and knowledge. They form lasting pictures in our minds that help us bring concepts to life.
A parable is a story that teaches a moral lesson or points to a deeper truth. Parables can bridge the gap between concrete thoughts about events or objects, and abstract thoughts about concepts and ideas. Parables were a key element of Jesus’ teaching style. He used them to illustrate deep truths about God, redemption, and the kingdom of God. Jesus’ parables were short, simple, and memorable, and often perplexing to his listeners.
A living parable is an illustration that is “acted out” as a story in real people’s lives. Sometimes the picture of redemption embedded in a living parable would only make sense after Jesus’ time on earth.
There is a lot of substance packed into the phrase we read from 1 Corinthians, “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures”. The New Testament breaks that phrase down into more manageable topics:
- Jesus has Redeemed (ransomed) us
- Jesus has defeated sin, Satan, and death
- Jesus has secured our forgiveness
- Jesus has healed our sin-diseased nature
- Jesus has brought reconciliation
- And Jesus has sealed God’s new covenant
We’ll find aspects of each of those concepts previewed in the following living parables from the Old Testament.
The people who lived or observed these events didn’t know how they would fit into the story of redemption. But we’re living after Jesus’ death and resurrection, and we can see it all through that lens. So, I’m using Facets of Redemption at the end of each parable to show how each one applies to Jesus.
Over the course of centuries, God inspired living parables to point us to a Messiah who would redeem our broken world. They offer everybody a chance to adopt the pictures that resonate for them.