Thursday, February 19, 2015
The Gospel of Mark
In Chapter 4, Jesus compares the kingdom of God to a mustard seed, saying, "With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade," (Mark 4:30-32). In this parable, Jesus is saying that although this religion is starting small, one day it will grow to be great, and will become the refuge of many. Jesus used many parables such as this to explain things in ways that all kinds of people could understand them. In this way, he could relate the truths of God in familiar settings and languages that were common to the people at the time. Using these stories, he was able to gain the attention of large crowds. Since these stories were easy to remember and filled with symbolism, they were also easily spread to other people. Parables also often provided an open-ended metaphor that allowed followers to interpret them for themselves. This made them think and reflect on their faith and on what Jesus was saying. Using parables, Jesus was able to take on a new approach to teaching and was also able to attract a lot more people to the faith. What do you think about Jesus's use of parables as a means of teaching? Do you think they were effective? Or were they just confusing?
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I think his use of parables is good because people of all ages and backgrounds can understand them. When I was a kid in catholic school it was always the parables that I remembered so I would say they're definitely effective. Perhaps part of what enabled the rapid spread of christianity was that the ideas and teachings were so basic and easy to understand. Then again, our American culture was founded on ideas common in christianity so it may just seem easy to understand to us.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sarah and Maggie. Because parables often force the readers to interpret the metaphors and come to their own interpretations and conclusions, the message of the parable will be committed to memory. Another benefit of parables may be that because individuals have to interpret the parable for themselves, rather than being told what to believe, individuals may feel more personally attached or involved with the religion. Both of the explanations prove Jesus's use of parables to be effective in terms of gaining a following of Christianity.
ReplyDeleteI agree as well that the use of parables are a good way to teach because there are multiple ways to interpret them and they can be applied to any group of people. The mustard seed parable is especially meaningful because it has a sort of 'rags to riches' view. The religion of Christianity can grow into something huge from being an idea in the mind of one person and that can give hope and inspire a lot in people.
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