Self-Portraits of God

Studies in the Life and Work of Jesus

Lesson 2: Pictures from the Parables

The message which this parable carries by its context is to tell its hearers that the way to pass the coming judgment is to have the Spirit of the Lord functioning in your life, before the bridegroom comes; that there is a time coming when the personal preparation will have to have been already made. The presence of the Spirit of the Lord in His word can guide you to the bridegroom, but a personal preparation is required for one to pass the coming judgment, and enter the home of the bridegroom.

In this parable we have again the recurring central themes of invitation, and of the need for personal readiness; the personal readiness which is having the Spirit of the Father; it is this which makes one able to rejoice with Him. Here the negative conclusion pushes to the front. Those who were not admitted were those who though they had heard the invitation and intended to respond did not have the Spirit of God operating in their lives, and therefore they did not have the character of the Father. In the context the message is clear- the Lord’s work on behalf of His people will be accomplished, not by might nor by power, but by the Spirit of the Lord, while the question as to who has a proper preparation is answered in the story by the portrayal of the crisis in the life as being that which reveals the preparation having been already made.

here is of one who invites to participation in the happiness of his family- the marriage festivities of his son. But the invitees must make the proper preparation and come on time because the father loves his son and wills to give him only the best.

1. The told story
2. The lessons Jesus acted out
3. Natural acts interpreted
4. The story that starts with an observation regarding the world around Jesus and His hearers, and leads into a story that Jesus wants to tell.

Probably our favorite type of parable-story is the nature observation followed by interpretation. In these stories Jesus interprets the message which He Himself had given to the lilies, the weather, and the grass of the field. He shows that the working power of the Kingdom of Heaven is invisible and comes from without. This working power is introduced by some outside force and only becomes visible by result. Here the Kingdom of Heaven works from within outward, until the essential nature is changed. In the parables which Jesus told, the central teaching we now find to be about the working of grace.

In the parables we find the One who answers questions- not only about our lives but about what God is like as He works out salvation for His children.

The self-portrait is of the One who knows, and who shares His knowledge; as such, the One who follows the Golden rule- do unto others according to your superior knowledge as they would have you do for them if they knew what you know.

In the mirror which is the individual parable we see looking back at us the revelation of a Presence we did not see without the mirror- the One making the object carrying the revelation.

Parables—revealer’s of the presence of God. Self-portraits of the Creator.