Jesus and his parables

Part one

Lark Garges Smith

Picture yourself in one of the crowds that gathered to hear Jesus teach. Perhaps you're up in the hills near your town, or on the shore of a lake. Or maybe you're in a courtyard, or even on the street outside someone's house, listening through an open door. What are you expecting to happen?

You may have heard about the wonderful healing work Jesus has been doing. You may have been told that he speaks with great wisdom and authority about the Scriptures and God's laws. You want to hear what this holy man has to say and hope to see truly awesome things.

If you'd been there, what would you have heard? Well, Jesus taught facts about the spiritual universe—the kingdom of heaven—and he also taught rules about how we should act toward each other. Now, it's pretty hard to talk about spiritual things that you can't see with your eyes or touch with your hands. Sometimes it's also hard for people to know exactly how to act, even after they've been given some general rules to follow.

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