Today’s scripture: Matthew 13:10-17 (ESV-text and audio) (KJV) (The Message) What might God be saying to me?
My thoughts (Brenda Corbello):
The human mind is a very interesting learning machine. Almost everything we ever see, hear, or experience is stored in our mind. Yet, for many of us, retrieving and interpreting that information is often difficult.
When Jesus wanted to help people learn a concept that they would need to later interpret into their own situations, it was helpful to teach them using stories. He knew that many of His teachings were new concepts. He wanted the people to learn to think for themselves. He wanted them to be able to take what He taught and translate the lessons to their daily lives.
Jesus took situations that were familiar to the people and combined them with teachings about how God wanted them to live, about how they could open their hearts to God and to each other. This allowed the people to understand the lessons even if they did not have the desire to follow yet.
The mind stores information in two different ways; as either concrete (information we can see, touch, hear, and feel) or abstract (those things which we must imagine, or attempt to make real). One of the reasons that storytelling is such a successful tool is the ability to use it for converting abstracts into concrete situations. I think this is precisely what Jesus was attempting to do during His travels. He took things that they could see, touch, and feel, and taught them about things that they could only begin to imagine.
Abstracts are like water, fluid and hard to grasp or hold. Concretes are like clay; easy to sink our fingers into and very easy to hold on to. So, the goal was to turn those watery, slippery things into something the people could grasp.
Because humans are primarily storytellers, people respond favorably to messages presented in a narrative framework. In teaching stories, each story segment presents a familiar scenario that then requires a series of judgments that need to be made. The individual must choose among alternative actions and are then provided immediate feedback about the consequences and correctness of the actions selected. This method reinforces the correct decisions.
Jesus used stories to teach His followers how to understand God’s love. One of the beauties of a story is the ability to confront existing beliefs without putting someone on the defensive. Things that one could never say to another directly can be put in story form and related to that individual without them even realizing at the time that they are the one being challenged. Jesus’ use of stories is just another example of His gentleness. He taught with love and compassion, a lesson many could look to today.
Thought for the day: There are so many people hurting today, and in need of the grace we share; Lord, help me to be a gentle deliverer of the message through the stories I tell.
We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.