Lesson 5
The Day of
Parables
It is now
Tuesday in Christ's Week of Awe, The Holy Week.
The Savior has passed the withered fig tree on His way back to
Jerusalem, and the disciples marvel at the the state of the tree. They are learning, just as we learn new
things every day. They have learned that if, they have sufficient faith, they
too can command and miracles will take place.
They have learned the importance of prayer, and that faith and
forgiveness go hand in hand.
Jesus again
returns to the temple to teach; He is again confronted by the Jewish religious
leaders. We are with Him listening to the conversations between Jesus and the
Jewish leaders. On this day, the last
Tuesday of His life, He spends His time teaching parables. Three of these parables are directed towards
these Jewish leaders.
“Parable of the Two Sons”
“But what
think ye? A certain man had two sons;
and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard.
He answered
and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went.
And he came
to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir, and he
went not.
Whether of
them twain did the will of his father?”(Matthew 21:28-31)
The first
son refuses to do the father's work, he later repents and goes to work, the
second son, the representation of the Jewish leaders agree to do the father's
work, but do not do it, a lesson about hypocrisy. (Matthew 21:23-32, JST,
Matthew 21:31-34)
“Parable of the Wicked Husbandman”
“There was a
certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and
digged a wine press in it, and built a tower, and let it out to the husbandmen,
and went into a far country:
And
when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen,
that they might receive the fruits of it.
And the
husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned
another.
Again, he
sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise.
But last of
all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son.
But when the
husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let
us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.
And they
caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him.” (Matthew 21:33-39)
This parable
is again directed towards the Jewish leaders, who have been trying to catch Him
through His words and find a reason that
they can crucify Him. Then the Master
says to them,
“Did ye
never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same
is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous
in our eyes?
Therefore,
say I unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a
nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
And
whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall
fall, it will grind him to powder.” (Matthew 21:42-44)
Here the
Master is saying that the rejected “Stone” will be the corner stone. The stone to have the chief place, was, in fact,
Jesus Christ, Him, the Messiah. He is prophesying of His Messiahship.
The Jewish
leaders were angry. They knew He was
talking about them and they sought to lay their hands on Him, but feared the
people. The multitude took Him as a
prophet.
“The Marriage Feast for the King's Son”
(Matthew 22:1-14)
This parable
is again directed towards the Jewish leaders in the temple. They had been trying to use His words to
convict Him of saying something wrong, blasphemous. It was said they had killed
the past prophets and were now seeking to arrest and kill Jesus.
Caesar's Coin
Then the
Jewish leaders tried a different approach, using a coin with Caesar's head on
it. “Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not? He tells them to “Render therefore unto
Caesar the things which are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's.”
(Matthew 22:17,21) This was a way to get
the people angry with the Savior, if He said they should pay taxes to
Ceasar. And the Romans would seize Him
if He said otherwise. Again He did not fall into their snares.
We are in
the temple, and Jesus is teaching principles to the people in the temple and to
the twelve.
On this day
He also taught about eternal marriage.
He then taught a favorite quote “Many are called, but few are chosen.”
(Matthew 22:14), He gave the first and great commandment, “Thou shalt love the
Lord thy God with all they heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy
mind.... And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”
(Matthew 22:37-39)
He also
asked the Pharisees, “What think ye of Christ, whose son is he?” (Matthew
22:42) And when the conversation was over, he had confounded them, and no man
asked any more questions.
Now His time
is spent teaching the twelve, He no longer teaches in public, even though they
are still in the temple. Now He observes
a widow and shares the story of the widow's mite, which Talmage illuminates
with a wonderful narrative about this story. “From the open courts Jesus moved
over toward the colonnaded treasury of the temple, and there He sat, seemingly
absorbed in a revery of sorrow. Within
that space were thirteen chests, each provided with a trumpet-shaped
receptacle; and into these the people dropped their contributions for the
several purposes indicated by inscriptions on the boxes. Looking up, Jesus observed the lines of
donors, of all ranks and degrees of affluence and poverty, some depositing
their gifts with evident devoutness and sincerity of purpose, others
ostentatiously casting in great sums of silver and gold, primarily to be seen
of men. Among the many was a poor widow,
who with probable effort to escape observation dropped into one of the
treasure-chests two small bronze coins known as mites; her contribution
amounted to less than half a cent in American money. (this was in 1915) The
Lord called His disciples about Him, directed their attention to the
poverty-stricken widow and her deed, and said: “Verily I say unto you, That
this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the
treasury: For all they did cast in of
their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her
living.” (Talmage, p 520-521, Mark12:41-44)
The Widow's Mite
This story
of the widow always sinks to the core of my soul. She gives her all; she has nothing
else to give, nothing. Years ago
published in a BYU magazine was artwork by James Christensen. In that publication is a depiction of the
widow. It was the first time I had ever
seen
this beautiful depiction of the widow in this scripture. She stands solemn in dark ordinary colors
with her head wrapped in a very-used long scarf; her hand is open with the
mites in the palm of her hand. Behind
her in ornate and colorful clothing are men with very haughty looks on their
faces. The scene behind them is very
dark with the men looking at her. She is
so humble in comparison to the men with extra jewels and money hanging from
their clothing. I have always kept this
picture. Even though it only comes from
a publication, it is special to me. It
always is out to remind me of who I should be and how easily it is to be
something else. Talmage tells us, “It
was not the smallness of her offering that made it especially acceptable, but
the spirit of sacrifice and devout intent
with which she gave.” (Talmage, p 521)
Jesus and
His disciples leave the temple and travel to the Mount of Olives. There have been many paintings of the Savior
looking over Jerusalem. It is such a sad
depiction of what Jerusalem represented at that time and the hatred of the
Jewish leaders towards the Master of all.
Hanging in
our house is a beautiful picture of Jesus looking over a wall towards
Jerusalem. He surely loved all the
people and wanted them to be with Him, to believe in Him, to someday live with
Him. He tells the people before He
leaves the temple, “He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him
that sent me. And he that seeth me seeth
him that sent me.” Commitment to the Savior is commitment to God. These
pictures of the Savior around our home, they are a constant reminder to us that
our commitment to Him is a commitment to God. (John 12:44-45)
He gives the
Olivet Discourse, the Parable of the Ten Virgins, the Parable of the Entrusted
Talents, and the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats. Bruce R. McConkie in his
four volume set The Mortal Messiah, writes 107 pages of narrative and
quotes about this very day, the last Tuesday of the Saviors life. He is so
complete in the telling of each event
that occurs, as are James Talmage, in Jesus the Christ, and Alfred
Edershem, in The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah. These texts
cannot be wrapped up into an easy evening of reading, but they are well
worth the study.
I so love
the Parable of the Ten Virgins and the many meanings we can bring into our
lives through this parable. The Master
is sharing with us that we need to be prepared personally for His Second
Coming. The oil that we put in our lamps
is the commitments and offerings we give in our lives, our service, our love,
our compassion, everything that we do for good.
Each thing we do is a drop of oil in our lamps. These drops of oil are ours and cannot be
given to someone else. Others have to
put their own drops of oil in their lamps, do those things themselves. Much as
we would love to share, these are deeds and doings only we can earn on our
own. “Symbolically, the wise are found
consistently keeping the commandments and fulfilling their duties in the
gospel, which continually adds to their supply of oil. The foolish are found disobedient and
neglecting their duties, failing to replenish their supply of oil.” (Ridges,
p.6)
As Jesus is
on the Mount of Olives teaching the twelve, in Jerusalem the Jewish leaders are
plotting against the Savior in Caiaphas's palace. This is the day that Judas is also plotting
against the Master, bargaining the Master's life for thirty pieces of silver,
the cost of a slave in Jerusalem. There
is so much information and so many stories
that go along with the events of Tuesday, it is hard to choose just a few to
spotlight.
The Day of Parables
What is the
significance of the Savior returning to the
temple daily?
Prepare
Matthew 21:23-46,
22:1-22, 24:1-51, 25:1-46, 26:3-13, 27:3
Mark 13:1-37, 14:1-9
John 12:37-50
How
can we relate these parables and stories to our everyday life?
Pick
your favorite parables or stories for the last Tuesday in the Saviors life;
share these stories. What are we learning from these stories? Why did the
Savior tell these parables during the last week of his life? What is he teaching us, what should be the
most important things we should focus on in our lives?
Why
did the Savior teach in parables?
Remembering
Find
pictures depicting the story of the Widow's Mite or the Ten Virgins.
Many
years ago our son in law gave us
a
coin that was a mite in the Master's time.
It is very tiny,
Share
what its value is. Talmage tells us it
was worth less than
a
half a cent in 1915, what would it be worth today?
Find
an oil lamp that is the size that was used in the Saviors day.
It is
quite small. Why couldn't the virgins
share their oil?
What
did they prepare for? How does this
relate to the things we
are
doing in our lives?
Act of Service
What act of service
can you do to remind you of these parables?
Note: It doesn't tell
us where Jesus spent the night on Tuesday evening, nor are there any recorded
events in the scriptures for Wednesday.
It is also an interesting thought that at the end of the day on
Wednesday Jesus went to bed that night never to lay again in a bed to
sleep. On Thursday morning he will awake
“never to sleep again.” (Farrar, p.595)
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