Favourite Parables
Jesus told stories, or parables, to his followers, to convey the messages of God and His Way. These are a few of my personal favourites.
THE SOWER AND THE SEEDS (Luke 8:4-15)
When a large crowd was coming together, and those from the various
cities were journeying to Him, He spoke by way of a parable:
"The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell
beside the road, and it was trampled under foot and the birds of the air ate it
up.
"Other seed fell on rocky soil, and as soon as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture.
"Other seed fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew up with it
and choked it out.
"Other seed fell into the good soil, and grew up, and produced a
crop a hundred times as great." As He said these things, He would call
out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
His disciples began questioning Him as to what this parable meant.
And He said, "To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of
the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables, so that SEEING THEY MAY
NOT SEE, AND HEARING THEY MAY NOT UNDERSTAND.
"Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God.
"Those beside the road are those who have heard; then the devil
comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe
and be saved.
"Those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the
word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in
time of temptation fall away.
"The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have
heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and
pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity.
"But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard
the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with
perseverance.
THE WEEDS AMONGST THE GRAIN (Matthew 13:24-30)
Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, "The kingdom of
heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field.
"But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares* among the wheat, and went away.
"But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became
evident also.
"The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you
not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?'
"And he said to them, 'An enemy has done this!' The slaves said to
him, 'Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?'
"But he said, 'No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you
may uproot the wheat with them. Allow both to grow together until the harvest;
and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather up
the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into
my barn.' "
* tares = weeds
THE TEN MAIDENS (Matthew
25:1-13)
"Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who
took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
"Five of them were foolish, and five were prudent.
"For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps.
"Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and
began to sleep.
"But at midnight there was a shout, 'Behold, the bridegroom! Come
out to meet him.'
"Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps.
"The foolish said to the prudent, 'Give us some of your oil, for
our lamps are going out.'
"But the prudent answered, 'No, there will not be enough for us and
you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.'
"And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom
came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the
door was shut.
"Later the other virgins also came, saying, 'Lord, lord, open up
for us.'
"But he answered, 'Truly I say to you, I do not know you.'
"Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the
hour."
THE GOOD SAMARITAN (Luke 10:25-37)
And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, "Teacher,
what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"
And He said to him, "What is written in the Law? How does it read
to you?"
And he answered, "YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR
HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR
MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF."
And He said to him, "You have answered correctly; DO THIS AND YOU
WILL LIVE."
But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, "And who is my
neighbor?"
Jesus replied and said, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to
Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went
away leaving him half dead.
"And by chance a priest was going down on that road, and when he
saw him, he passed by on the other side.
"Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him,
passed by on the other side.
"But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he
saw him, he felt compassion, and came to him and bandaged up his wounds,
pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him
to an inn and took care of him.
"On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the
innkeeper and said, 'Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I
return I will repay you.'
"Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the
man who fell into the robbers' hands?"
And he said, "The one who showed mercy toward him." Then Jesus
said to him, "Go and do the same."
THE PRODIGAL SON (Luke
15:11-32)
And He said, "A man had two sons.
"The younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.' So he divided his wealth between them.
"And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything
together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered
his estate with loose living.
"Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that
country, and he began to be impoverished.
"So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that
country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.
"And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the
swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him.
"But when he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's
hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger!
'I will get up and go to my
father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in
your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your
hired men."'
"So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long
way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced
him and kissed him.
"And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and
in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'
"But the father said to his slaves, 'Quickly bring out the best
robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; and
bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of
mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.' And
they began to celebrate.
"Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and
approached the house, he heard music and dancing.
"And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these
things could be.
"And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and your father has
killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.'
"But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father
came out and began pleading with him.
"But he answered and said to his father, 'Look! For so many years I
have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet
you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my
friends; but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with
prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.'
"And he said to him, 'Son, you have always been with me, and all
that is mine is yours. 'But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother
of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been
found.'"
THE FATHER AND HIS SONS (Matthew 21:28-32)
"But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the
first and said, 'Son, go work today in the vineyard.'
"And he answered, 'I will not'; but afterward he regretted it and went.
"The man came to the second and said the same thing; and he
answered, 'I will, sir'; but he did not go.
"Which of the two did the will of his father?" They said,
"The first." Jesus said to them, "Truly I say to you that the
tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you.
"For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not
believe him; but the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you,
seeing this, did not even feel remorse afterward so as to believe him.