valley vine
Valley Presbyterian Church September 2017 Volume sixty-two, Number eight
Dear friends, We turn our attention this fall to the teaching of Jesus found in his “Parables of the Kingdom.” An old Scottish preacher, James Stewart, begins his book on the teaching of Jesus by describing the Master’s method. Jesus taught orally, trusting that the seed of his word would lodge in minds and hearts and reverberate through the centuries. He taught spontaneously, responding to immediate problems, to people, and to events, like a quarrel among his disciples (Luke 9:46) or a meeting with a paralytic in the synagogue (Matthew 12:10). Yet because his teaching dealt with real situations and actual human problems, it has outlasted dozens of systems of thought whose generalities became antiquated. The personal and situational have become universal.
and parables which made listeners, and now readers, engage and think. He stimulated questions and discussion, rather than giving cut and dried answers. Most of all, he lived the truths he taught, including forgiveness and love. His pupils felt encouraged, despite their misunderstanding and mistakes. They grew by following the power of his example and feeling his acceptance of them, even and especially, when he believed in them despite their failings. I pray as we uncover his parables that you will feel their power to lodge in your heart. I hope that they will connect in personal ways with your questions and life circumstances. I trust that you will hear his divine authority and engage with the questions he raises. Most of all, I want you to live his truths, knowing that he offers to you and I that same encouragement and blessing, even when we struggle. Yours faithfully,
Jesus adapted his teaching to his audience, responding to their questions and concerns. To lawyers, he discussed the law; with those hoping and praying for the Kingdom, he discussed its character and coming. He held some things back knowing they’d be inexplicable–like the full meaning of his death and return because “you cannot bear them now” (John 16:12). He taught with authority, not like the teachers of his day, deriving his power from his gospel of God’s will and ways, his understanding of the O.T., and his sense of divine identity and calling (Matthew 7:28; John 17:68). His style was usually figurative and never coercive. Jesus used epigrams, stories,
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