Wanna explain parables? Why so hard to understand?

[Maisy]

It's interesting to me the posts on if Jesus would say such things or not. That gets into so many things. I think it is kind of a touchy subject. Jesus was God as man/human. Humans are flawed. Not perfect. What does God as man mean? Do we accept what the bible tells us Jesus said and did and believed or do we decide for ourselves what things in the bible we accept or don't accept?

I guess it has to do with our own reasons for why we worship Jesus and what we expect and want him to be. Jesus in modern times is a huge cultural religious and spiritual icon.

Icon: a person or thing regarded culturally as a representative symbol or as worthy of veneration. A person or thing widely admired (popular) especially for having great influence or significance in a particular sphere. Jesus is a spiritual icon to many I would say.

Now days one does not have to be a Church goer to worship or venerate Jesus or even a Christian. Jesus appears in mass entertainment, movies, tv shows, on the internet (there is now a tiktok channel with millions of people watching AI short films of Jesus talking to people.) He appears on T-Shirts, coffee cups etc. Other religions put Jesus in their line of Guru's. People write books making him eastern and teaching meditation. Some write books about the "secret real" teachings of Jesus that have him teaching new age type things. Some claim to channel Jesus and publish books of his talking about and saying all kinds of things very different from what the bible tells us he said and believed.

The Jesus of the bible believed demons could live in people and posses them. He routinely did exorcisms to make the demons leave them. Very few believe in such things today. These were cultural beliefs in those times. Now days many think these "possessed people" found in the bible were probably suffering from mental illnesses like schizophrenia. A large Danish study of twins found that schizophrenia is about 79% heritable. In other words, 79% of the risk of developing schizophrenia is due to genetic factors. So many are born with the brain disorder.

Here one bible passage of Jesus talking about the Pharisees. The Pharisees were a Jewish social movement and a school of thought in the Levant during the time of Second Temple Judaism. After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, Pharisaic beliefs became the foundational, liturgical, and ritualistic basis for Rabbinic Judaism.

Pharisees believed that they were the teachers of what was right religiously, but Jesus swayed many of their followers. In addition, Jesus taught the poor and the sinners—all people the Pharisees considered beneath themselves. Teaching the lowest of the people upset the Pharisees and stoked some of their dislike for Jesus. This is an interesting point to me! Jesus saying the Pharisees' would never understand means he was flipping this! Jesus saying the nobody's and downtrodden would "get it" and the Pharisees, the authorities, never would.

Look at what Jesus says here:

New International Version Matthew 23:13 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.

15 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.

Jesus was competing with the Pharisees for followers. It seems Jesus did not like the Pharisees. He judges them pretty harshly in the bible. Jesus did not say things about the Pharisees' like, forgive them they know not what they do.

Jesus goes on and on in Matthew 23's verses calling them names and condemning them.

Matthew 23:33 “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? 34 Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town.

Jesus said not to judge others but he sure seemed to judge the Pharisees. Were there some good kind and loving Pharisees? I myself would assume so from my experience with cultural groups and religious and cultural organizations. Just living their lives, lovingly raising families. The bible does mention two good Pharisees, Nicodemus (John 3) and Gamaliel (Acts 5:33-39).

[sky]

[QUOTE MAISY - It seems Jesus did not like the Pharisees. He judges them pretty harshly in the bible. Jesus did not say things about the Pharisees' like, forgive them they know not what they do.]


What about 'truth in love' ?
Maybe the offensive language surposedly spoken by Jesus could be understood as a desperate 'love-motivated' attempt to shock them into realising their behavior was unacceptable.
Judging others imo depends on what your judging and if it comes from an 'inflated ego' or a sincere wish (healthy ego) to help/protect others..

[Redchic12]

Molearner……” Certain people are not suitable custodians for anything of great value. A basic verse for this is “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

So where do the people who are neither proud nor humble fit in?

[sky]

Originally Posted by Redchic12

Molearner……” Certain people are not suitable custodians for anything of great value. A basic verse for this is “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

So where do the people who are neither proud nor humble fit in?

Good question, I presume they fit in the middle

Originally Posted by Redchic12

Molearner……” Certain people are not suitable custodians for anything of great value. A basic verse for this is “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

So where do the people who are neither proud nor humble fit in?

Maybe stuck in the middle ? Potential candidates for either way……..

[Miss Hepburn]

I've heard diff things ...anyone think they really understand this parable for me, esp in this group that is interested?
And I thank you for all your inputs. :) Too many to single out.

... that the kingdom of heaven is like this: "Ten virgins took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
Five of them were foolish
and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them.
Matt 1

(Couldn't that mean 50 things??)

Gosh, it's like I'm in Eng Lit class again..trying to fig out the symbology!
Some was obvious, some was so obscure.
Shakespeare was always so obvious, not Jesus!

[BigJohn]

..... even today, it appears many have no idea what Jesus meant when he spoke of the Kingdom of Heaven whereas others claim they know what he was talking about. In the past, some people have been arrested on sedition charges for saying the Lord's prayer because of the "let thy kingdom come" phrase.

It appears that if Jesus' students did not understand what he was talking about, they waited till the answer would be later revealed.

Originally Posted by Miss Hepburn

... that the kingdom of heaven is like this: "Ten virgins took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
Five of them were foolish
and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them.
Matt 1

!

A course in preparation for the life to come………

[sky]

Originally Posted by Miss Hepburn

... that the kingdom of heaven is like this: "Ten virgins took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
Five of them were foolish
and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them.
Matt 1

(Couldn't that mean 50 things??)

I think it's referring to Mat:24:42 and also Luke 12:37
Therefore stay awake/alert , for you do not know which day /hour your Lord is coming.

Luke 12:37
Blessed are those servants whom the master finds on watch when he returns. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve and will have them recline at the table, and he himself will wait on them.

The Oil Lamps represent Jesus being the light of the world.

Just my personal interpretation though

[Miss Hepburn]

I should have mentioned ---I usually get very different ideas about the brides and the lamps parable. You'll all see, lol.

Btw....sky, [/quote] rather than [./quote]...I fixed the dot.