My Modern
Parables of Jesus
These four parables explain what Jesus tried to teach us about Himself, our lives here on earth, and our lives afterwards. They are a good overview of His teachings.
“The kingdom of heaven will be like ten boy scouts who took their
pocketknives and went out to meet their master. Five were foolish and five of
them were smart. The five foolish scouts, when they brought their knife,
brought no wood to whittle, but the smart scouts had gathered wood already. The
master was delayed and all of the scouts fell asleep. They woke up at midnight
when they heard someone shout ‘The master has arrived! Come meet him!’ The
scouts got their wood ready, but the foolish ones asked the five smart ones
‘Can we have some of your wood to whittle ourselves?’ But the smart ones said
‘No. There’s not going to be enough for us and you five. Go find some wood and
gather it.’ When they went off to find wood, the master came and the smart ones
entered the tent with him. The doorway was zipped up, and when the other scouts
came back and cried, 'Lord, Lord, open the door for us!' But he said in reply,
'Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.' Therefore, stay awake, for you know
neither the day nor the hour.
"Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took
their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and
five were wise. The foolish ones, when taking their lamps, brought no oil with
them, but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps. Since the bridegroom
was long delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. At midnight, there
was a cry, 'Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!' Then all those
virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise,
'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' But the wise ones
replied, 'No, for there may not be enough for us and you. Go instead to the
merchants and buy some for yourselves.' While they went off to buy it, the
bridegroom came and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him.
Then the door was locked. Afterwards
the other virgins came and said, 'Lord, Lord, open the door for us!' But he
said in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.' Therefore, stay awake,
for you know neither the day nor the hour.
In The Parable of the Ten Virgins, Jesus calls us to follow the motto
“Always be prepared,” because we don’t know when we will be called to heaven,
nor do humans know when the world shall come to and end, and we must prepare
and be ready for our judgment with God for our entrance into heaven.
“It will be like a father who has grown older and
brought his sons to him and entrusted him with his old marbles. The father gave
one of his sons fifty marbles: to anther son he gave twenty: and to his third
son he gave ten marble-he gave them the marbles according to their ability.
Then he left them with the marbles. Right away the son with fifty went to his
school and traded them, and made fifty more. Similarly, the son with twenty
played in a tournament and made twenty more. But the son with ten went to his
closet and hid them away in the back. After a while the father checked on his
sons. The son with fifty showed his father the fifty more he had made. The
father said, ‘Good job son, you have been responsible, let’s go get ice cream.’
Then the son with twenty marbles showed his father the twenty more he had won.
The father said, ‘Good job son, you have been responsible, let’s go get ice
cream.’ Then the son with ten marbles came to his father and said, ‘I know you
are a demanding father, so in fear of losing them I went off and hid them. Here
they are.’ His father became very upset and shouted, ‘You are one lazy son!
Take your ten and give them to your brother that has one hundred. Whoever has
more will get more and grow richer: but whoever has nothing even what he has he
will lose. You are going to be punished for this
"It will be as when a man who was going on a
journey called in his servants and entrusted his possessions to them. To one he
gave five talents; to another, two; to a third, one--to each according to his
ability. Then he went away. Immediately the one who received five talents went
and traded with them, and made another five. Likewise, the one who received two
made another two. But the man who received one went off and dug a hole in the
ground and buried his master's money. After a long time the master of those
servants came back and settled accounts with them. The one who had received
five talents came forward bringing the additional five. He said, 'Master, you
gave me five talents. See, I have made five more.' His master said to him,
'Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small
matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master's
joy.' (Then) the one who had received two talents also came forward and said,
'Master, you gave me two talents. See, I have made two more.' His master said
to him, 'Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in
small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your
master's joy.' Then the one who had received the one talent came forward and
said, 'Master, I knew you were a demanding person, harvesting where you did not
plant and gathering where you did not scatter; so out of fear I went off and
buried your talent in the ground. Here it is back.' His master said to him in
reply, 'You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I did not
plant and gather where I did not scatter? Should you not then have put my money
in the bank so that I could have got it back with interest on my return? Now
then! Take the talent from him and give it to the one with ten. For to everyone
who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from the one who has
not, even what he has will be taken away. And throw this useless servant into
the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.'
The Parable of the Talents tries to explain that if
we have, we shouldn’t fear loss, rather we should strive for more for God. This
parable is also sometimes seen as following the teachings of God. We shouldn’t
sit by though we know God wants us to strive for goodness here on earth, but
bring it about to all places we go.
“Listen to another parable.
There was a business owner who built up his company himself. When the owner had
to move to another country, he had supervisors step in. When the owner needed
his business profit to support his family, he sent three of his workers, but
the supervisors from the other country beat one worker and killed the other
two. The owner again sent workers, this time more, but again they weren’t
accepted. So, he thought that he could send his son because ‘they will respect
that he is my son.’ But when the son arrived they said to each other, ‘This is
the heir to the business. We need to rid of him too and get his inheritance.’
So they seized him and killed him as well. What will the owner do to the
supervisors when he comes?” The people answered, “He will kill them and put
other supervisors into place that will produce for him.” Jesus then said,” The
kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to those who will produce good
things for God.”
"Hear another parable. There was a landowner who planted a
vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a tower.
Then he leased it to tenants and went on a journey. When vintage time drew
near, he sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his produce. But the
tenants seized the servants and one they beat, another they killed, and a third
they stoned. Again he sent other servants, more numerous than the first ones,
but they treated them in the same way. Finally, he sent his son to them,
thinking, 'They will respect my son.' But when the tenants saw the son, they
said to one another, 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and acquire his
inheritance.' They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
What will the owner of the vineyard do to those tenants when he comes?"
They answered him, "He will put those wretched men to a wretched death and
lease his vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the proper
times." Jesus said to them, "Did you never read in the scriptures:
'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord
has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes?' Therefore, I say to you,
the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will
produce its fruit. (The one who falls on this stone will be dashed to pieces;
and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.)" When the chief priests and
the Pharisees heard his parables, they knew that he was speaking about them.
And although they were attempting to arrest him, they feared the crowds, for
they regarded him as a prophet.
The Parable of the Tenants
is a teaching or prediction by Jesus of what was to come to him in his death.
If you read through the story you are to feel bad for the workers who die, but
you feel even more repulsed when the tenants kill the owner’s son, and have no
respect. Jesus wanted us to see the simplicity of the situation and how cruel
the people that killed him were.
“Anyone who listens to what I teach and acts in that way is like a man
living in Texas who built his house out of brick with a secure basement. There
were great rains and a tornado, the house was beaten, but it withheld, because
it was strong and secure in the ground. Anyone who listens to what I teach but
doesn’t act in that way is like an idiot living in Texas who built his house
with wood frames on a concrete slab. There were great rains and a tornado, the
house was beaten, collapsed and was wrecked.” When Jesus finished these words,
the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having
authority, and not as their scribes.
"Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will
be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been
set solidly on rock. And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does
not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. The rain fell,
the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed
and was completely ruined.” When Jesus finished these words, the crowds were
astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not
as their scribes.
The Two Foundations calls
for two things. First, find God and put him into yourself and you will have a
strong base for life. But the most important thing that this calls for is
acting upon what Jesus teaches. Anyone can learn and understand what he is
calling you to do, but it is hard to take action. Jesus tries to tell us that
if we want to truly be strong and happy, we will act upon His teachings.