Teaching in Parables

What is a parable?

According to the Bible Dictionary the Greek word parable means "setting side by side" or a "comparison." When Jesus speaks in parables he is presenting divine truth by comparing it with material things. 

Why does Jesus teach us  in parables? 

Some of the most famous parables that Jesus taught his disciples were the parable off of tares, the parable of the mustard seed and leaven, the parable of the treasure and the pearl of great price, and the parable of the gospel net. 

1. The parable of tares and the parable of the gospel net explains why some people choose to leave the church. Jesus explains that the kingdom of heaven is like a field and the Lord sowed good seeds, but the devil sowed tares in the field as well and the Lord is allowing the tares and the wheat to grow together so that at the time of harvest he can collect the tares, burn them, and keep the wheat in his barn. The same with the net which is cast into the sea and gathers every kind, and when it is all gathered in the good stay in the vessel and the bad are cast out to sea. 

2. The parable of the mustard seed and leaven explains how the church is going to grow and why we send so many missionaries out. The kingdom of heaven, Jesus taught, is like a mustard seed that is tiny and miniscule but grows into a tree that provides herbs and shelter. Our church is that tiny seed that is growing and will eventually bless the whole world. The leaven is symbolic for our missionary work. The woman puts leaven (the missionaries) in three different measures of meal that have no leaven (no gospel) and that leavens the whole. (the world) 

3. The parable of the treasure and the pearl of great price explains why  our church has grown so considerably in the last few centuries and why people are willing to give up so much for our church. Jesus teaches that the kingdom of heaven is a treasure hidden in a field and when the man found it he hides it and buys the whole field. Our church grows so quickly that when someone discovers the truth they are so filled with joy that they let it in to their whole life and share it with everyone they can. The reason people are so willing to give up all they have is because the kingdom of heaven, like Jesus taught, is like a pearl of great price. It's a pearl that is more valuable than any money in the world and having it in your life is more of a blessing than any worldly thing has to offer. 

I know the sacrifices that I am willing to make for this church. Living with it in my life has brought life changing blessings that I can't bring into words. The faith I have in this Gospel and this Church is immeasurable. It is more than a treasure to me. 

Jesus teaches this way because using parables is a way to help people understand. Sometimes it's hard to take meaning from the pure teachings of this gospel, we know what they are, but through parables we can come to know what they mean. This helps us not only to teach, but to learn. 

Who is Blessed?

One of the most impressive moments in Bible history is Jesus giving his "Sermon on the Mount."  Jesus proclaims to his followers the specifications of what it means to be blessed. 

But what does it mean to be blessed?

In the footnotes of Matthew 5:3a it say's that, "The Latin beatus is the basis of the English 'beatitude' meaning to 'be fortunate','to be happy', or 'to be blessed.' I think that we can all agree that being fortunate and happy are all things that we want in this short mortal life, but where does this happiness come from? How do we get it? These are all things that Jesus describes for us in his sermon. His preachings here give us a road map to becoming blessed. As blessed people we are a lot of things and have lots of responsibilities. As stated in chapter 5 of Matthew we are "the salt of the earth," and "the light of the world." Therefore we are required to maintain our savour and "let [our[ light so shine before men that they may see [our] good works..." 

I try my best to live the beatitudes in my life, some of the ones I focus on are, 

1. Blessed are the poor in spirit: Having a poor spirit is something that is required of all of us. Being humble in the face of the Lord is not something that always comes easy. The way I try to remember to stay poor in spirit is by reminding myself constantly that everything I have is because of the Lord, and everything I'm doing is in his name. 

2. Blessed are the meek: This is one that I really struggle with. It is hard for me not to show my talents and feel pride when they go noticed. What I try to do is recognize the talents and gifts the Lord has given me and use them to bless the lives of others. Instead of treating them like achievements to bask in, I treat them like tools to help me work towards greater goals. 

3. Blessed are the peacemakers: This is my favorite thing to do. The trick is to find the goodness in every situation and every person's point of view. When we can successfully find the good in every person, we can be the peacemaker and show the people who have a harder time seeing the positives where they can find them. 

When we act in the way that Jesus preached about in this sermon, we can become blessed. The happiness and the fortune, come from knowing that we are moving closer to inheriting our true prize.... being with Heavenly Father for all eternity. 

Entering the Waters

 

One of the first things you will have to teach your children is the importance of Baptism and what Baptism does for your soul and for your eternal life. Some of the best baptism scriptures are found in the New Testament and the Book of Mormon. Two of my favorites are Mark 3:1-8 and Mosiah 5:7. In both sections the importance of Baptism is greatly stressed. Jesus makes this abundantly clear when he says, 

"Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." John 3:3

What Jesus is clearly telling John is that there is no way to get into the kingdom without being born again. This is can be kind of confusing because all of us have already been born. We all have physical bodies and have been born of our earthly parents. Christ was talking about another kind of birth. He clarifies in his statement,

"That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." John 3:6

We are born of the flesh. That is how we have physical bodies and that is part of the plan, but we also have another creator. The Lord. And he requires that we also choose to be born of the spirit so that we can be with him. To reign alongside Heavenly Father we need to be Spirit, the only way for us to become spirits is through baptism by immersion. 

The blessings we will recieve in life by being members of the church start with this important principle. 

Jesus the Light

Part of having an effective relationship and connection with eternal life is understanding the Savior and who he is. The Savior is the center of all and he is the reason we have life and a promise for the future after this life has ended. To know more about him we have to understand 5 things about him before he was alive and 5 things about him while he walked the earth. 
                                                       Before
                                        1. Jesus was the Light
                                        2. God created Jesus to save his children
                                        3. Jesus was The Word of God
                                        4. Jesus knew about his fate before he came down
                                        5. Jesus wanted to save us.
                  
                                                        After
                                        1. Jesus was in the world. He is one of us, and the world                                                       rejected him
                                        2. He was selfless in all that he did.
                                        3. He knew on Earth what he needed to do and did it willingly
                                        4. He was aware of his powers and the Light inside him. 
                                        5. Those who received him were blessed as God's children.

Jesus the Christ had a lot of different names. One of the ways we can learn more about who he is is by learning about his different names. Some of his most famous ones are Christ, Messiah, Jehovah, Immanuel, and The Word.

• Christ means the anointed one. The Lord anointed Jesus as the chosen one. As his firstborn son he was chosen to do the Lord's work on earth and save mankind.
• Messiah means the anointed one in Aramaic; it's used as a title of office. The Hebrews used this name to identify their prophesized deliverer that they were eagerly expecting. 
• Jehovah is the covenant or proper name of the God of Israel. It means "the unchangeable one" or "the great I AM." Jehovah is the premortal Jesus Christ, before he came down to earth to save mankind.
• Immanuel means "God with us" it's a name title given in Isaiah as sign of God's deliverance. It signifies that Christ as God will be born into mortality from a virgin and will walk the earth and redeem mankind.
• The Word refers to the Greek meaning of "Word." It meant Logos or expression, and it was also another name for master. Jesus was the Word, or the expression of His Father to the world.