“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”  –  A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy

Did you know that one-third of what Jesus had to say was told through parables?

Using parables was a common teaching practice for rabbis. Jesus heard them as a Jewish boy growing up in the Second Temple period, and he, in turn, told parables during his three-year ministry.

The power of a parable lies in its use of common objects and familiar situations to convey a profound lesson. It is normal for people to listen to a parable and hear themselves in it; that, after all, is the point. In the hands of Jesus, however, parables become more than a mirror. They become a path, a winding staircase, a window, an opening, enticing and leading us to discover God. The so-called “Parable of the Prodigal Son,” for example, is not really about either the younger or oldest sons, although they are important. The heart of the story is about the father. Through this parable, Jesus invites us to ask, “What does this story reveal about God? About our God, the Hebrew God, as different from the Babylonian, Roman, Greek, or other gods?”

This is your invitation to join us for a six-week Adult Ed class beginning Sunday, February 15, on “Searching for God in Parables from Luke.”

The first class will be an Introduction to the Gospel of Luke and Parables in general. Following that, we will spend five lessons examining lesser-known and more challenging parables, most of which are only found in the Gospel of Luke. There is far more than what appears on the surface.

Let’s explore it together!