Jesus spoke in parables
Oft to the multitude
His words are more important
Than our daily food
Heaven and earth he said
Will one day suffer decay
But not one jot of his word
Will ever pass away
These forty-six parables
In Matthew, Mark and Luke
Should be critical learning Matters
In any institute
Scenes from daily life
Such understanding brings
As Jesus fashions our minds
To think on heavenly things
None spoke like this man
The greatest master teacher he
Who taught in myriads of ways
So that his students could see
Object lessons from the Word
He shares with you and me,
Everyone an earthly story
But teaching about eternity
A new cloth patch
Placed on an old garment
Will invariably produce
A much greater rent
Storing new wine in old wineskins
Why that is worse
For the new wine will most certainly
Cause the old skins to burst
And just as a city on a hill
Cannot ever be hidden
Hiding one’s light from view
Is also strictly forbidden
One man will build on a rock
Another will build on the sand
But it’s better to trust in God
Rather than trust in man.
The servant whose master forgives him
Of the greater debt
Would surely show greater love
To his benefactor yet
Consider that no one lights a lamp
And puts it under a bed
So that he ends up hiding the light
By which another may be led
I’d rather have a little barn
With just a single stool
Than by Almighty God
To be called a fool
Far better to be a servant
Who’s working and watching
Than on the master’s return
To be caught while napping
He that is unfaithful
Questions his master’s return
But the faithful servant
Holds to what he has learned
That unfruitful fig tree
That is likely to be hewn
Just give it another year
Before axing it too soon
Four types of soil
And only one brought a yield
But the sower was generous
As he sowed the precious seed
Let the tares and the wheat
Grow in the very same field
For at harvest time
The Harvester will both of them reveal
By itself the soil produces
Grain in the rain and the sun
And the ripened grain is reaped
As soon as harvest time comes
The kingdom is like a mustard seed
Planted in the ground
But becomes a towering tree
Whose immensity abounds
Know that the kingdom of heaven
Is like yeast, Jesus said
That is mixed in the flour
But works right through the bread
It is like a hidden treasure
That a man found and bought
By selling all he possessed
What great pleasure it brought!
The kingdom is like a merchant
A precious pearl having found
Sells all that he has
So that he might own that pearl of renown
Another time it’s represented
As a great net cast into the lake
The bad fish are cast into the fire
The good ones the fishermen take
Every teacher of the law
Who is versed in kingdom knowledge
Relishes the treasures of old
And treats the new as privileged
One lost sheep is valued
Over that of the other ninety-nine
Thus will the shepherd search
Until that one sheep he finds
Jesus is the Good Shepherd
Who gave his life for the flock
If today he is not your shepherd
Now is your time to take stock
Stewart Russell 2016
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