Devotion - Thursday, March 4

Jesus continues, in Mark 4, to tell parables. Verse 34 concludes, “With many such parables he spoke to them, as they were able to hear it; he did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything.”

The advantage of Jesus teaching in parables is that we are more apt to remember a story than we are to remember a statement. Stories stick in our minds and form a life of their own. We can draw conclusions from a parable, only to later find another truth in the same parable.

The disadvantage is that parables have to be interpreted. We have to draw conclusions as to what the speaker was trying to say.

Some parables are clear; there is little doubt as to the point Jesus is making. Other parables expose a wider range of meaning. We can draw conclusions, but we must be prepared to accept that other conclusions are equally valid.

Jesus leads us to understanding. With the twelve, he explained everything. Living in his presence, we too come to see and understand clearly. But living into that presence takes time and attention. Living into that relationship takes patience.

Here is today’s thought – we sometimes want to know, now, the rule or the teaching or the truth. This is not the way that Jesus went about establishing his Church. What he had in mind is something that takes time; it involves lots of interactions.

We will only understand the parables when we spend time discussing them with other followers. We will only come to know their truths when have spent time with them. Jesus does not send us a miracle, salvation pill. Jesus invites us into a relationship and into a community which leads us to the way of salvation.