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The meaning and use of parables in the gospels
The meaning and use of parables in the gospels
The meaning and use of parables in the gospels
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Throughout the Bible the author(s) and, by default, Jesus try to reassert the importance of Jesus and his calling. They try to illustrate Jesus as the leader to human kind’s salvation and the only way to God. This depiction of his importance isn’t always subtle but hidden between the lines and in parables.
Jesus found a way to stress his importance regardless of what his preaching topic is. Luke 6:39 is a good example of that. Luke wrote “He (Jesus) also told them a parable: “Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit?” Jesus was giving a sermon on passing judgment onto others. His argument’s premises were that due to sin no one is perfect, other than himself. Therefore everyone should be bettering themselves instead of correcting or passing judgments onto their peers. He then goes on with a parable about blind persons leading other blind persons. He says “...Will not both of fall into a pit?” Blindness here is an example of a handicap. Jesus here is presenting sin as a handicap using the analogy of blindness. There he questions whether handicapped persons can guide other handicapped persons. He suggests that they will lead each other into a pit, an unpleasant situation. This analogy is questioning whether sinners can guide other sinners into righteousness.
While on the surface and in context this parable might just simply imply that one shouldn’t judge others or try to correct others since they themselves don’t know the way. But Jesus in fact is saying a lot more. He is reasserting himself as the only one with clear vision. He is free of sin and therefore can lead those who are blind. In reasserting himself as the only one able to lead he is also decreasing the importance and influence of the rabbis ...
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...be one with vision. Being that he is sin free he doesn’t have a clouded or a handicapped judgment. He is a righteous man who led some of the blind out of darkness; Blinds like Paul who then became missionaries spreading his word and leading people to eternal life with his father. He fought for his noble mission to lead humanity into salvation and to show God’s love to the world. The writings of Luke, John, Paul and others stress the importance of his mission as well as the importance of his role in leading mankind to God. Whether it was preaching not to judge, against darkness of the world, revealing the truth he was leading the blind because as her said if they lead each other they most likely will fall into a pit.
Works Cited
The Oxford Study Bible. Ed. M. Jack Suggs, Katherine Doob Sakenfield, and James Mueller. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992. Print.
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