The Parables

 

Not one of the parables

Is about the things there viewed,

Their meanings go far deeper

And implicated the Jews.

 

In every one of the parables

Jesus points at the Jews

And I dare say that for many of us

This might just be news.

 

Not only the parables

But in most of what he taught,

And when the Jews were aware

They were sorely distraught.

 

From the old Testament stories

To the New Testament parables,

The Jews are the main reference

Yes, God’s chosen people.

 

In Sunday school we heard them

And we remember them well

But they are more than just stories

And of Israel’s history tell.

 

Pick out any Bible story

Or any parable for that matter

And you will be utterly amazed

If you go beyond the chatter.

 

I learnt in Sunday schools I attended

Sunday morning and evening,

That a parable is an earthly story

With a heavenly meaning.

 

We enjoyed them as stories,

Back then they got our attention

But we need to dig a little deeper

For a fuller comprehension.

 

Permit me to take one parable

And illustrate what I mean,

Storing new wine in old wineskins

Was not about the liqueur scene.

 

 

 

Instead it was an admonition

That was given regarding the Jews

That the old Jewish covenant

Cannot contain the Good News.

 

The Good News that was Jesus

Whom they ridiculed and abused

Continuing with their old wineskins

And the new wineskin refused.

 

Jesus had come unto to his own

But his own had received him not,

Therefore, upon them fell God’s judgment

And desolation was their lot.

 

Not one of the parables

Is about the things there viewed

But their meanings went far deeper

And implicated the Jews.

 

Stewart Russell © April 25, 2021