Introduction

Living the Parables
-Part I-

#1 The Wise Guy

Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.

“If you wanna help people,
you gotta know which story to tell them.”
~from the movie 'Walk the Line'
~Over 30% of Jesus' teaching was through parables
~Since we are to live on 'every word' (matt. 4:4) we must feed on the parables when building our house

What is a Parable?
A parable is a PHYSICAL story
that illustrates a SPIRITUAL reality

Why Study the Parables?
Parables are memorable (we remember stories, not sermons)
Parables are mysterious (see Matthew 13:10-17, they seperate seekers from the hard-hearted)
Parables are metaphors (the greek means 'to place alongside)
Parables are meaningful (they have a moral)
Parables are meat (Matthew 13:17, parables are milk AND meat)
Parables are mirrors (but they show us our spiritual appearence)

#2 The New Wine

He told them this parable: "No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins.

Characteristics of Old Covenant Keepers
Their focus is religious ritual instead of people
Their fasting is public instead of private
Their faith was measured by comparison instead of obedience

The Meaning of the Parable
The old garment & wineskin represents the Old Covenant
The new garment & wineskin represent the New Covenant
The Patch & the Wine represent the Gospel/Spirit (see Acts 2:13, Ephesians 5:18)

Thus, the main point of the parable is that the Old Covenant couldn't contain the Gospel! Judaism, in its 1st century form, couldn't have handled the enormous energy and power of the Holy Spirit. No, something new was needed. A new covenant. And no one with the heart of a pharisee would be able to handle it (in contrast, no one with an 'new' heart could have survived the rigidness of Judaism). Thus, this parable is about the transition from Judaism to Christianity.

3 Kinds of People
Slaves of Sin (lost in their sin)
Wanderers in the Wilderness (lacking victory)
Conquerors in the Kingdom (victorious Christian Living!)

#3 Old & New Treasures

He said to them, "Therefore every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old."

We are to celebrate/utilize all the great truth from the Old Covenant/Old Testament (shadows) and all the great truth from the New Covenant/New Testament (light)!