The Ministry of Jesus
Part 1: Parables of Jesus
SERMON TRANSCRIPT
Well, I'm excited you guys are here with us today. We are kicking off a brand new series. And as Cheryl talked and prayed this morning, as we begin our journey to the cross in Lent, and that begins in the traditional church holiday this week on Ash Wednesday. And we're gonna kind of parallel that in following the journey of Jesus and through his teaching and his word. And we're gonna journey to Easter together through the ministry of Jesus. And I'm excited today to kick this off with us. And in this series, we're gonna be looking at various aspects of Jesus's ministry. We're gonna be looking at healings and miracles. We're gonna look when he raised people from the dead. We're gonna look at these supernatural moments that Jesus had. We're gonna look at his parables and his teachings, his stories. There's a powerful moment when he actually cleanses the temple. We guys know the story of Jesus when that happened. We're gonna look at the times where he just sat with his disciples and just had kind of a one-on-one conversation, very biblical, like we're gonna do around a fire pit this Thursday, guys. They just kind of just doing life together, hanging out. And then we're gonna look at times when Jesus faced opposition, whether that was from outside pressures, if that was from people of the religious world, whether that was from the government. There's all sorts of different places we see where Jesus faces opposition. And we're gonna look at each of these different aspects of his ministry in order to better understand God's kingdom.
See, God's kingdom, there's a purpose in it. God's kingdom is upside down. When we look at the world around us, we see life, we know that that's not God's desire. That's not the way that God wants it to be. And in contrast to the world, God's kingdom is kind of an upside down kingdom. And we're gonna look at how Jesus lived so that we know how to live today. And as we journey through this, we're gonna see and kind of answer some of these questions. It's gonna have us look at and see the aspects of Jesus's ministries and what is our purpose here on earth. Jesus lived 2000 something years ago. That's a long ways away from where we are today, right? And so sometimes we gotta sit here and go, how does that relate to me now? How does that relate to me in 2025? And what does that reveal about God's kingdom today? Is it still alive? Is it still present? Is God's kingdom still important even today in our lives? Is gathering together as a faith community, is that important? What are our priorities in our lives? And do they line up with the priorities and the decisions and the teaching and the leading of Jesus that he did that first time when he walked on earth all those years ago? Are we participating in the ministry of Jesus and he wants for us in our lives?
So this morning we're gonna jump in and we're gonna look at the parables and the teaching of Jesus. And I hope you brought your lunch. We're gonna read every single parable of Jesus this morning. I'm just kidding. That's like the token pastor joke there, right? We're gonna be here for hours. No, I'm just kidding. But the parables and teaching of Jesus are actually incredible. The more I did research on this and looked into it, over a third of everything that we have from Jesus is wrapped up in parables and his teachings. Which is pretty important if you asked me, that Jesus intentionally took a third of his time here on earth. So if you break it down, he has three focused years of ministry. If you were to wrap it all together, he has an entire year of ministry just on parables and his teaching. And parables are absolutely incredible. Parables take what is this massive, complex, deep, at times confusing, not making sense struggle of the kingdom of God. And I say he makes it fun sized for us. You know, you get the candies in the bag, you get the fun size, like the Easter candy is out at Costco, right? It's out and it's present. But they have fun size. And it's like these tiny little bite sized pieces of candy, which is great 'cause you can have like 12 and you don't feel bad about yourself, right? Right? But Jesus takes parables and he takes this big complex about his kingdom and his world and heaven and supernatural and things that in our human mind, we struggled out. And he breaks it down into little fun sized pieces for us.
And Jesus, after he tells a parable of the seeds to his disciples and those who are present, the disciples ask him this in Matthew 13:10. The disciples came up to him and asked, "Jesus, why are you speaking to them in parables?" The disciples say, "Hey, Jesus, you've been telling these stories for a while. Why do you talk like that? Why are you intentional in when someone asks you a question or somebody comes up to you and say, "Hey, Jesus, what about this?" Or you have someone who's trying to challenge Jesus who thinks they're all the hot stuff. Jesus turns around and he'll either ask them a question or he'll tell a story. And the disciples are like, "Yo, Jesus, why do you do this?" And Jesus responds with a parable, fitting, right? It says this, he talks about the kingdom of God. And he says the kingdom of God is different than anything that you've ever experienced or seen or even understand in your life. And because of this, we can only begin to scratch the surface of his world, God's world, and how we perceive it as upside down compared to the world that we see around us today. And because this kingdom of God is so vast and huge and different than the world around us, we need to be broken down into little bite-sized pieces so we can even begin to comprehend what Jesus is trying to tell us. A theologian reading a commentary says it this way. I thought this was really good. So lock in, this is a little long, but I want you to lock in with this. It says, "It is because people are so different," talking about parables, "and react so differently. A parable is a story which does not carry its meaning on the surface. It challenges the here to engage with it in an educational process, which, if the here brings to it the right attitude and openness, will result in their perceiving and responding to the truth of the parable. But it can equally be resisted and dismissed as a simple, mere story. In a situation where some are open to the truth and some are not, parables, as imaginative challenge, rather than simple proposition, are an appropriate way to communicate new ideas. For some, they will break through barriers to understanding. And to some, like Jesus says, as a disciples, "The secrets of the kingdom of heaven will be given to them. But others, who it remains unpenetrable, the meaning will be lost. Putting truth before such people only in the form of a parable is a way of implementing the principal knowledge in hopes of understanding.”
See, this is incredible, incredible power in storytelling. Did a little research into the psychological effects of hearing a story on our minds. And it's absolutely powerful what it can do for us. There are actual physical effects on our brain. And they've done this with this. Somebody tells somebody a story and they're running scans on their brain, that it physically changes our brain. We feel emotions, we feel passion, we feel empathy, we feel sadness, we feel joy. And it's in those moments when we experience those emotions that it actually opens us up to be able to soak up information, to learn, to grow, to be transformed. If you guys have ever done any history search on the story of Pixar, there's a great book out there. I can't remember what the title of it is, but it goes through the history of Pixar and how they began to be, and then how Apple and Steve Jobs came alongside of them, and then ultimately how Disney ended up buying them in the end. But the core of what they were about was to tell a story. We had movie night here, Friday night for family night, and we watched a movie. And at the end of the movie, I looked around in the room and I watched people respond to the end of the story. There was joy, there was happiness, there was sadness, there were tears. (laughs) But it was this story that drew us in, that we left changed. We left different than when we came in, when we saw that movie together. And Jesus does this masterfully in how he teaches and he talks in parables. And it begins to break down more and more and more of who God is and his character, but also his kingdom. And it reveals to those who are open and willing to listen and to learn how Christ begins to reveal himself through these stories.
We're gonna look at a handful of different ways and things that parables teach us this morning, but the first of which is parables begin to paint this image of a loving, gracious and compassionate God that we don't know a whole lot about. Jesus in a series of parables, one after the other, as are recorded in the Bible, talks about things that were lost then became found. He first says this. So he told them this parable, Jesus did. What man among you who has 100 sheep and loses one of them does not leave the 99 in the open field and go after the lost one until he finds it? And when he has found it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and comes home. And he calls his friends and neighbors together saying to them, rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep. Jesus continues on. Or what woman who has 10 silver coins and if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, search carefully until she finds it. And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors saying, rejoice with me because I have found the silver lost coin, that coin that I lost. I tell you in the same way, there is joy in the presence of God's angels over one sinner who repents. Jesus continues to tell the story of the prodigal son, the lost son that goes off and spends his inheritance and finds himself just trying to eat with pigs just to survive. And he decides, I have to go home. Even if I go home and I just work for my dad, maybe he'll let me come home. I've squandered everything that he's blessed me with. And as the son comes home, the father sees him from afar and just takes off after him. See, parables tell us and teach us that God is loving, that he's gracious, he's merciful, he's compassionate. And without these stories that evoke emotions within us and tell us the story, we wouldn't understand who God is. God is a father who forgives. God is a father who loves. God is a father who cares so deeply for us more than we can understand or imagine.
Parables teach us loving, gracious, merciful, and compassionate God. And because this is who God is in his character, this love isn't limited, right? This love extends to the whole world, especially those who society sees as the least, the last, and the lost. Jesus, as he's teaching and walking around with people, he gets challenged from some time to time, where people will try to trip Jesus up by throwing a trick question out there to go, okay, if this guy thinks he's the son of God, he's Jesus, then he's gonna know the answer for this. And there's this one time in Luke chapter 10 that this well-educated, religious, pious man, he stands up and he asks Jesus, he says, what do I have to do to inherit heaven and receive eternal life? And Jesus masterfully throws it back at him, and he says, what do you think? And so in Luke chapter 10, verse 27, he said, he, being the religious man, answered Jesus, love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus says, you have answered correctly. Do this and you will live. But the righteous man wanted to justify himself. He's like, all right, I got Jesus right where I want him. And he said, who is my neighbor, Jesus? And so Jesus replies with a parable. He says, a man was going from Jerusalem to Jericho, taking a journey, one big city to the other. And when he was attacked by robbers, they stripped him of his clothes, they beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest, all right, priest, this is a good guy, right? A priest happened to be going down the same road. And when he saw the man, he passed on the other side. So too, a Levite, hey, okay, maybe the priest won't do it, but at least a Levite, this is a good guy, going back all the way to Jewish roots, this is right, this is gonna be the good guy. He came to the place and saw him, and also too, passed on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was, and when he saw him, he took pity on him, compassion. He went to him, he bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day, he took out two denarii, and gave them to the innkeeper. Look after him, he said, and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expenses you may have. Jesus turns to him and says, which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell to the hands of the robbers? The expert in the law, humbled for the one who had mercy on him. Jesus told him, go and do likewise. See, the Samaritan went the extra, extra mile, right? Did you guys catch everything that he did? The Samaritan man went to him, went to him. It wasn't just walked up to him, went to him. Bandaged his wounds, put oil and wine on them. That cost him some money. He put the man on his own donkey, so he wasn't able to ride anymore. So he's walking to the town now. But the injured man is able to be taken by donkey. He brought him to the inn, and took care of him. Didn't just drop him off and say, see you later, buddy, good luck. He took time. He used his own personal time. That cost him. He paid for his care, that cost him. He gave financial commitment or guarantee to the innkeeper who said, take care of this man. That cost him. This is the love that Jesus is teaching for those who are listening. This is what God does for us. This is the picture of Jesus giving his life for you and for me. And Jesus says, go and do the same to your neighbor. Jesus teaches this with tax collectors, those who were greedy, who were hated, who were despised in society. He did it to beggars, people who couldn't do anything. Lots of them were injured or had disabilities, and all they could do was sit in the city streets and just ask for someone to give them money to try to bless them with food. The downtrodden, the outcast. Jesus did this with widows, who in that time, in that society, weren't able to work because it was the man's world, right? And so the widow would have to rely on family, children, neighbors to take care of them, to help provide for them. Jesus says, the kingdom of God is for the least, the last and the lost. And that we as followers of Christ, are to care for those people with the love of Jesus. And what I love about these stories is that those in society that are outcast in the parables of Jesus, actually become the heroes of the story. That is a great reversal. That is an upside down kingdom compared to the world today.
So if parables teach us in all of these things that we are to realign our priorities with God's priorities and joining God's kingdom, then our lives will look different, right? Our lives will look different than the world around us. If we follow these teachings and parables of Jesus. So the parables show us how to live on mission through love and justice. It says in Matthew chapter seven, that believers must bear fruit. It says, you'll recognize them, Christ followers, by their fruit. Our grapes gathered from thorn bushes or figs from thistles. In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can't produce bad fruit. Neither can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that doesn't produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So you'll recognize them by their fruit. 'Cause there's another level of just not hearing, but there's a level of hearing and doing his will, right? He continues on in Matthew chapter seven. Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord," will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of my Father in heaven. On that day, many will say to me, "Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy in your name or drive out demons in your name and do miracles in your name?" Then I will announce to them, "I never knew you, depart from me, you lawbreakers." Jesus tells this story so clearly in Matthew chapter 25, where he talks about two groups, sheeps and goats. I think if we look at our world today, it's kinda hard to understand that, right? I don't think anybody here is a shepherd. Anybody got goats or sheep on property in here? No? But Jesus said, "When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious thrones and all the nations will be gathered before him and he will separate them one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put sheep on the right, goats on the left. Then the king will say to those on the right, "Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." He continues on, "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you took me in. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you took care of me. I was in prison and you visited me." And the righteous will answer him, "Lord, when did we see you hungry? Or when did we feed you? Or when were you thirsty and we gave you something to drink? When did we see you, Jesus, as a stranger and take you in? Or without clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?" And the king will answer them, "Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." Kind of a strange way to get there in that story, right? But Jesus explains that when we follow Jesus, when we take care of the least, the last, and the lost in our world, when we strive for love and we strive for justice and we live on mission with purpose, to share with the world around us this kingdom of God, we live on mission. We live on mission through love and justice, taking care of those who society says is not important. 'Cause in the kingdom of God, the least, the last, and the lost are the most important.
And when we live on mission through love and justice, we together collectively as the church, show the world that there is a greater way to live. I don't think it's coincidence that God created the church. That God created a group of believers who together can do so much more than an individual, but can bring people together from all different backgrounds, places on this earth, economical status, different communities and neighborhoods and streets, from different careers and backgrounds. He brings everybody together. And he shows this incredible picture and image for the world to see here and now that outside the church, there would be conflict, right? There would be fighting, there would be hatred. There would be such a dysfunctional relational community that it's only by the power and the grace of Jesus that we can gather together and care for one another. And it is a physical image to the world around us. Jesus equates this with two things he calls with salt and light. Jesus says that we are the salt of the earth. What does that mean? It says you are the salt of the earth, but the salt should, but if the salt should lose its salty taste, how can it be made salty again? It can no longer be good for anything, but to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. He says, you are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. You guys ever been out so far in the darkness somewhere that even a tiny flashlight miles away is as bright as day? That's what he's saying. No one puts a lamp, no one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lamp stand up high. And it gives light to all who are in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your father in heaven. Each of us are a light. Each of us have light inside of us when we take on and accept Jesus into our hearts. We shine differently. And when you start gathering light together, it just gets brighter, right? Gets brighter and brighter and brighter. And it gets to a point where the world can't help but see how bright the light of Jesus is in our lives and in our faith community together. There's transformational power in community and being with one another. And Jesus shares this in this parable. Let your light shine before others that they may see your good works and glorify, give glory to God, Father in heaven. It's about pointing people to Jesus. That's all Jesus was doing. Telling these parables, going, it's God. It's God. It's God, my heavenly Father. It's God, it's God, it's God.
See, the life in the kingdom of God is countercultural. It's different. And that's why when the disciples first asked Jesus, why do you speak in these parables? Why do you teach in this way? See, Jesus had actually just shared the story of the seeds that fell on different ground. Jesus said that some fell on the path and the birds came and ate them. The other seeds, they fell on rocky ground where there wasn't a whole lot of soil and maybe they sprouted up real quick but because their roots weren't deep, deep down in the earth, that the hot sun came along and they withered away. Jesus said other seeds, they fell among thorns and the thorns came in and it choked them out. Still other seeds fell on good soil or good ground and grew up and produced fruit, some 100, some 60, some 30 of what was originally planted. See, I always thought that this story from Jesus was about people who hear about the gospel. That when people hear about Jesus dying on the cross for them, forgiving them, saving their sins, I always thought that that was just what this story was about. But right at the end, if you miss the final verse from Jesus, his words, you miss the meaning of this and he says, Jesus says, "Let anyone who has ears listen." The parables teach us about this countercultural kingdom of God and Jesus says with that, with anyone who has ears, listen, it says in verse 16, "Blessed are your ears because they do see." Or sorry, excuse me, "Blessed are your eyes because they do see. Blessed are your ears because they do hear." Following Jesus means that we are a lifelong learner. Notice what Jesus didn't say there, right? Jesus didn't say, blessed are those who have everything figured out. It's not what he says. And I think he's super intentional with that. But rather he said, blessed are those who keep their eyes open and their ears open. I think there's something incredibly profound about someone who keeps themselves in an open position towards God, learning more and more through seeing and hearing.
I recently saw this video clip on social media of a basketball player, I think it was a college player, and game's going on and coach calls timeout and everybody comes over to the bench and they kind of huddle up together. And this, I've never seen this before with somebody, a player, the player sits down and locks eyes with the coach. I mean, like uncomfortably locks eyes with the coach. And the coach is teaching him, he's talking about the game, he's talking about the, there's no audio, so I don't know what all coaches talking about. But this kid is locked in, he's like, mm-hmm, mm-hmm, yep, mm-hmm, yep, mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm. And the coach is pointing over at the whiteboard, he's drawing some stuff, he's looking at the whiteboard, he's looking back at the coach, mm-hmm, mm-hmm, yep, mm-hmm, yep, yep, mm-hmm, mm-hmm. That player had two options when he went to that bench. And I've seen it time and time again. The player comes over, sits down on the bench, crosses his arms, head down, doesn't even acknowledge that there's even a coach in front of them. But this kid came over, sat down, locked in to what his coach was trying to tell him, and listened and looked and was so focused on what was being said to him. I think that's the example that Jesus is saying here to us. Do we have open eyes to see what Jesus wants to teach us through his word? Do we have open ears to hear what he is trying to speak into our lives of what he wants to teach us through his stories, through his parables, about who he is, about his kingdom, about how to live our lives, about how to care for the least, the last, and the lost, of how to show up and to be the hands and feet of Jesus to our hurting and broken lost world around us? Do we take time to be with Jesus and go, "Uh-huh, yep, mm-hmm, yes, Jesus, mm-hmm, yes, God, yep, mm-hmm, I'm listening, I'm listening, yep, mm-hmm, yes, I'm focused, I'm locked in, I'm locked in." Do I think that that player knew everything that that coach said to him 100%? No. I guarantee you he didn't. But what I guarantee you happened was that later that game, or maybe another game later that season, maybe years down the road, did that player find himself in a situation, in a game, to go, "I remember what coach told me. I need to do this."
Love what it says in Isaiah 55. It says, "So my word that goes out from my mouth, it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." I'm gonna assume here, okay, taking assumption that that coach was a good coach. And that coach was trying to teach that player about the game of basketball. And that everything that that coach was teaching that player was for his benefit, for a win, for a successful career, for the success of the team. Question for us is are we working and learning about God's upside down kingdom to the point that we are so locked into who Jesus and God is that when we read his word, we go, "Yep, mm-hmm, I hear you, God. I'm listening, I'm listening, I'm hearing." Or when we take time to pray, to go before God, to go, "God, I'm here, I'm listening. What do you have for me today? What do you want me to know so that I am prepared, that I am ready for the mission that you have for my life today, this week, next month, next year, next decade?" 'Cause sometimes God will deposit these little truths into our hearts for a future time that we might not be in in the moment, but we need to make sure we're locked in and we're listening and we're hearing from God what he wants to teach us.
Do we continue to learn and to look and to listen and then take steps and faith in action towards God's kingdom in our lives? And what are we doing to bring about God's upside down kingdom to our world today? Are we learning more about God's kingdom and his world and his teaching and his way of right upside living compared to society today? Are we listening and looking to bring God's kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven? The parables of Jesus open up God's kingdom to us to reveal to us things that we did not previously know or understand or comprehend or anything at all. And he breaks it down in these little fun size, bite size pieces for us so we can understand his priorities and realign ourselves with what is important to him because what's important to him should be important to us, right?
Jesus, thank you for your teachings. Jesus, thank you for your word and your parables and God, everything that you did for us. Jesus, your kingdom is upside down compared to our world around us. And God, there's times where it can be really confusing and hard to understand what you're even beginning to talk about. You probably had a story of a parable we heard this morning. You're like, God, I don't get that. I don't understand that, but I'm open. I'm listening, I'm looking, I'm learning, I'm hearing. I'm trying to understand, God, what you want to teach me in this moment. God, it's so hard to take just a sermon and to cover an entire third of everything that you said on this earth, Jesus, for us. We could take one of these parables and go into it for six weeks, it seems like some of these. But God, I love how with this, in your parables, if we truly study, we truly look, we truly try to learn, you begin to reveal to us, God, what you want for us. And what's incredible is we can come back to these parables time and time again, and you have another nugget of truth for us in each one of these parables. So God, I pray that we would be lifelong learners, Jesus, that we would continue to every single day seek after you, God, that we would look, we would listen, we would be in tune, God, with what you want to show to us of how we are to live on mission, caring for the least, the last, and the lost in our world around us so that we ultimately can be a light to the world, being a beam to heaven, Jesus, showing God wherever we go. We love you, Jesus, we thank you for this time. Amen.