Why did Jesus teach people by useing parables in the bible?

Question

Do you really know why? And if you do know, it is because you have a personal relationship with Him?

Answer 1

Jesus taught in parables in order to blind the non-elect:

"But though He had performed so many signs before them, yet they were not believing in Him.

This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet which he spoke: "LORD , WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT? AND TO WHOM HAS THE ARM OF THE LORD BEEN REVEALED?"

For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again,

"HE HAS BLINDED THEIR EYES AND HE HARDENED THEIR HEART, SO THAT THEY WOULD NOT SEE WITH THEIR EYES AND PERCEIVE WITH THEIR HEART, AND BE CONVERTED AND I HEAL THEM." - John 12:37-40.

"who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity," - 2 Timothy 1:9.

Answer 2

Because back then most people were not educated and had a hard time grasing what the deal was. He told parables to help them understand the meaning of his teaching. The parables was an improvement from the OT though. People did not get anything that was going on then . So much so, that God was carried around in a box [the Arc] so people knew he was there.

Answer 3

God trancends human thought and language. The only way to describe what cannot be described using human speach is a parable. It is all metaphor.
THe best things cannot be told the trancendent cannot be described is can only be felt.
The second best things are attempts to describe the first, THey are limited by local vocabulary.They are always often misunderstood because they are limited by local folk images and mistaken for history and not as a metaphor.
THe Third things we talk about are things like the weather.
How does a God talk to a ape or an ant?
That is why tribalism and the idea that one religion is chosen over another one is fundemetally ridiculous.That is why people kill in the name of there Gods.
I have had moments when I have experianced the trancendent.

Answer 4

I think I do. And it doesn't have anything do to with my personal relationship. It has to do with good pedagogical techniques.

Most good teachers know that if you tell somebody "Don't push kittens in front of moving traffic," only a few would even hear you and only a fewer of those would ever take what you said to heart. But if you told them some heart-wrenching, bloody, gory story about a kid who threw a cute baby kitten into traffic then got run over himself -- they're a lot more likely to listen.

Plus, you can literally take Maslow's hierarchy of needs or Erickson's stages of moral development and see how Jesus used different parables to speak to people at all levels of morality. I've seen it done and it's amazing. That Jesus guy sure knew His stuff.

Besides, you can say more in a story than in a lecture any time, and it's more interesting.

Answer 5

Yes, I know why. And I will give you examples.

(1) When you were in high school, did you have teachers who were extremely intelligent and very knowledgeable about say, Algebra, but very few, if any of the students taking the class could understand or comprehend what they were trying to teach you? And then you would have an extremely intelligent and very knowledgeable teacher who could explain things so well and so easily, that almost everyone in the class understood the subject?

(2) When I was a child, an inquisitive and insistent child as I was, my grandfather answered every question I asked with, "because I said so", but my parents took the time to think it through and explain the answers to my questions on my level, in a way that even I, as a young child could relate and understand what was meant or why things happened as they did.

From reading The Holy Bible, you see that Jesus spoke to the religious heads in their own terminology and cant so that the meaning of His words were precisely understood by the political and religious intellects of the time. Even as He spoke to children in an easy simplistic manner that they understood. Even as He spoke to the masses in terms that they readily and easily understood and could relate to.

My personal relationship with Jesus only helps me to be a better Christian, daughter, sister, parent, and friend. Because after studying and reading about Jesus, I learned that those I love and those I want to understand me, I must be willing to take the time to meet them on their level & be willing to explain their questions in a "personally relating" way that helps them to understand me or the answer they seek.

Answer 6

JC used parables for a few reasons,
1st God and the concept of Holiness is amazing, and huge, it would be impossible to say in plain speech, God wants to be pondered, and in that pondering he connects with you and reveals his truth to you, this is impossible with plain speech.

2nd like today analogies are a helpful way to communicate with people that are are different levels of understanding, parables were a common teaching tool in those days

3rd it don't make a good sound bite, some of the religious leaders of the day were looking for something to pin him with, and parables allowed him to communicate truth to those seeking it, and confound those that were not.

a word of warning tho, it can be dangerous to build major life dogma upon parable based teaching, bc it can be difficult to differentiate the message with the bottle, so to speak, and may derive at inaccurate understanding

Answer 7

Jesus taught in parables so that the spiritual people would understand.
The natural mind does not understand things of the spirit.

Answer 8

He explained why. He clothed his public teachings in symbols in order to hide it from the profane. The same technique was applied by the ancient mystery religions, as well as the ancient Christian Church.

As Jesus put it, "Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: that seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand..."

Answer 9

The reason for this is that many would not understand the higher teachings that are given only to the initiates who can understand them in the right way.but to them that are without ,[or not initiate] then the teaching are given out in riddles and in parables.

Answer 10

Why do we use fairy tales and stories with morals to teach our children now? Because if we make it interesting, they are more likely to listen, and to remember.

It's easier to remember the rhyme "Thirty days hath September..." than it is to remember the exact days in each month. In the same way, it is easier to remember a parable than it is a long list of instructions.

And since most of the Bible is taken from oral tradition, it had to be easy to remember.


But that's just my opinion, and we all know how much that is worth... now let's forget all this and go get some sushi!

Answer 11

I think He wanted us to think.

I DO have a personal relationship with Him, but it is common knowledge that He spoke in parables for a reason.