Bridges to Spiritual Insight: Understanding the Parable's Miraculous Work (en Inglés)
Reseña del libro "Bridges to Spiritual Insight: Understanding the Parable's Miraculous Work (en Inglés)"
The parable of the sower, of the mustard seed, of the pearl of great price, of the talents, of the lost sheep, of the tares, and so many more are stories that place visual images of people, places, things, and events in our minds. Jesus purposefully told these tales to give us the ability to understand spiritual truth by placing those images in our minds. These word pictures give us the framework that holds all the myriad detail of truth given to us in the Word of God. Without them our minds could not grasp or properly place those many statements of truth.The ineptitude of the carnal mind to comprehend spiritual truth is clearly stated in I Corinthians: "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." (I Corinthians 2: 14)Parables are the bridge between the natural mind and spiritual truth. Yet, there is effort required on our part to cross that bridge. This effort is the first step in determining if the parable will have its intended affect on us as it is read. Simply, we must care. The desire to understand is a prerequisite to receiving the revelation that the parabolic teaching is designed to facilitate. If the desire is not within us, then the mystery of the parable will remain veiled. However, one of the parable's purposes is still served, as our lack of spiritual hunger has been judged by it. Our spiritual growth, therefore, is stunted; or worse yet, our spiritual birth is aborted. Indeed, our spiritual lives are dependent on our understanding concepts, which the natural man cannot grasp.The parables of the Bible, however, are not there to condemn us, but rather to reveal the wonderful mysteries of the Kingdom of God, including our entrance into it... "...except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3: 3)We see then, the parables both conceal the truth and reveal the truth, as stated by Jesus in His response to the disciples' question of why He taught in parables."Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath." (Matthew 13: 11)As the mysteries are revealed the unity of the Kingdom is evidenced because we all have put away our private interpretations of the scripture and understand it through the eyes of the concepts laid forth in the parable. Even the concepts of the Lord Himself.The wonderful visuals afforded us by the parabolic teaching method of Jesus (and indeed of the whole Bible) are our bridges to the awesome mysteries of the Kingdom of God. The parable is intended to bring revelation of those Kingdom mysteries to us. It is my prayer that you hunger for the true manna... the hidden manna that God is eagerly waiting for you to receive.
