"Jesus spoke to the people in parables so that they would be able to understand the lessons in familiar everyday terms."
"Those were lucky people, to have Him there in their time."
"We can learn those lessons though, by learning about their time too. About Jesus' time."
"Why doesn't God speak to us in our own terms, like He did for the people in Palestine and in Moses' time?"
"Well you see He does speak to us. You just have too learn a bit about the ancient culture and then these stories make more sense."
"Which culture?"
"Well actually there are a few of them."
"I think there are 5000 years of them in the Bible."
"Well yes, sort of."
"And there are a lot of different nations and cultures these stories are set in."
"Yes..."
"So why does God want me to learn all that anthropology just so I can hear a parable?"
"Ahem. That's just the way God has given us to do it."
"Did Jesus give lessons in historical context and then tell stories from Moses' time?"
"No."
"Then why do we do that? Doesn't Jesus speak our language, in our time, in our place, in our hearts?"
YOU ARE READING
Conversations Around the Holy Hand Grenade
PoetryA lot of people are confused. These are stories about people that might be confused, except for the ones who are not confused, and their friends, and some acquaintances.
