Occasionally a Bible passage strikes you a little different than it did before—in my case, Luke 11:5-10, where Jesus instructs his disciples as to how to pray. I immediately sent this passage to a friend. “We’re supposed to be impudent?” she said. “Maybe I don’t know what that word means. I thought it meant disrespectful or…
Tag: parable
The Hidden Truth of Jesus’ Parables
To illustrate the need for the Holy Spirit to operate as an interpreter of the Bible, read through Mark 4:1-20 for yourself. Try reading the first 9 verses alone and see if you can figure out the parable without reading Jesus’ explanation (though if you know this story too well the answers will come flooding…
The Secret of the Kingdom of God
While we can understand parables logically to some extent, Jesus told us that we actually need the “Secret of the Kingdom of God” to fully understand (Mark 4:11). That’s a very intriguing phrase right there and it leaves us wondering what Jesus is talking about. To find the answer, we need to first understand how…
Jesus Used Parables to Conceal Truth
In church one Sunday I asked people why they thought Jesus spoke in parables. Many of the answers were to be expected: People like stories; stories can more effectively communicate a point; stories cause us to think; stories stick with us; and so on. While I believe that all of these statements carry truth, none…
The Already But Not Yet
While the Bible writers often assumed that the last days would be shorter, they still believed that they were living in the last days (He 1:2). The Kingdom of Heaven and its king, Jesus, were inaugurated on the cross—and now we wait for His return to bring the Kingdom into its fullness. It is here,…
