Some Parables and Sayings of Jesus
Topics:

Worry     Compassion     Trust     Hope
Judgmentalism     Society     Salvation     Confidence



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Worry

From the Sermon On The Mount

The following is a summary of Jesus' words about worrying.


"I'm telling you not to worry about everyday life - what to eat, what to drink, what
to wear. Surely life means more than food and your body more than clothes. Can
all your worries add a single hour to your life? So why worry? God will certainly
take care of you.

Why do you have so little faith? Don't worry about those things. They dominate
the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your
needs. Instead, devote yourself to the Kingdom of God above everything else
and live righteously and he'll give you everything you need.

So don't worry about tomorrow because tomorrow will take care of itself. Each
day has enough trouble of its own."
Matthew 6,25-34

Jesus isn't saying believers don't need to make plans and act responsibly, but He is saying that we should first ask God to bless our plans, then do our best and, above all, trust Him. Worrying implies we think He'll let us down.

Like any father, God likes to be trusted. This world is a random place where good and bad things can happen to anyone, but if we pray God can step in and control events in our favour. People who say "If all else fails, pray" have their priorities the wrong way round. Instead it would be better to say, "Pray, trust, behave sensibly and be patient".


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Compassion

Let he that is without sin cast the first stone.


At daybreak he went back to the Temple again and as all the people came to him, he sat down and began to teach them.

The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman along who had been caught committing adultery. Making her stand there in full view of everybody, they said to Jesus, "Master, this woman was caught in the very act of adultery and Moses commanded us in the Law to condemn women like this to death by stoning. What do you say?" They asked him this question as a test, hoping for something to use against him.

But Jesus bent down and started writing in the dust on the ground with his finger.

As they persisted with their question, he straightened up and said, "If there is one of you who has not sinned, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." Then he bent down and wrote on the ground again.

When they heard this they went away one by one, beginning with the eldest, until Jesus was left alone with the woman, who remained standing there. He sat upright again and said to her, "Where are they? Has no one condemned you?"
"No one, sir" she replied.
"Neither do I condemn you," said Jesus, "go on your way and don't sin anymore."
John 8,2-11

Jesus didn't fall into their trap by contradicting their Law. Instead, He reminded them of their hyprocrisy. He didn't condone her sin either, but He was compassionate. He told her to mend her ways and not to do it again. By the way, what the religious leaders failed to mention was that their Law stated that both the man AND the woman should be stoned to death. The Ancient World was a harsh place.


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Judgmentalism

From the Sermon On The Mount


Jesus said,"Don't judge other people and God won't judge you. God will judge
you by the same standard you use on others and with the measure you use on
them it will be measured back to you.

"Why do you observe the speck in your brother's eye and never notice the plank
in your own? Hypocrite! Take the plank out of your own eye first and then you
will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye."
Matthew 7,1-5

Everybody, of whatever religion, or no religion, will be judged at the end of their life. Firstly, Jesus will judge them, based on whether their faith matched their deeds. He will either welcome them to heaven, or turn them away to hell. Then God will judge what rewards they have accumulated over the course of their lifetime, in heaven, or what punishments they have accumulated in hell.

Where circumstances didn't give them any opportunity to welcome Jesus into their lives during their lifetimes, they will be judged on whether they followed their God-given consciences. In this way they will be "A Law unto themselves".


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Society

Jesus' last talk with His Disciples before being crucified


Jesus said,"I have set you an example to follow so that you can copy what I
did."

"I'm giving you a new commandment: love one another; just as I have loved
you, you should love one another."

"If you love me you will keep my commandments."
John 13,15; 13,34; 14,15

Jesus came down from heaven to live amongst us to demonstrate how God wants us to live our lives. But knowing how God wants us to behave towards each other isn't enough - we have to turn the words into deeds.

Further on in the Bible Saint Paul explains what this type of love is:


Saint Paul wrote,
"Love is patient; love is kind. Love is not envious, boastful, or conceited.
Love is not ill-mannered.
It is never selfish, or quick to take offence and keeps no record of wrongs.
Love takes no pleasure in wrongdoing, but delights in the truth.
Love never gives up, always trusts, always hopes, and endures whatever
comes.
Love is eternal."
1 Corinthians 13,4-8


The Golden Rule


Jesus said, "Always treat others the same way you would like them to treat you."
Matthew 7,12




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Trust

With God all things are possible

In Aramaic, the mother tongue of Jesus, the word "gamal" could mean camel
or rope, rather like English "beech / beach" having the same sound but two
meanings. When Jesus' words were later translated into Greek, and then
hundreds of other languages, the camel meaning was chosen.


Jesus said to his disciples, "Truly, I'm telling you, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. Yes, I'll say it again, it's easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven."

When the disciples heard this they were astonished. "Who can be saved, then?" they asked.

Jesus looked at them intently. "For people" he told them "this is impossible, but for God everything is possible."
Matthew 19,23-26

Notice that Jesus didn't say it was impossible for a rich person to go to heaven, but rather it is difficult. Wealth on its own isn't the problem. The problem is that for many people wealth leads to materialism and then to the idea that they are self-sufficient and won't ever need God. When they die, as everyone will one day, and find themselves outside the gates of heaven, should they be surprised if they are not invited in?

If you find your prosperity is coming between you and God you could try being more charitable with some of your money, while at the same time doing some humble praying. If this doesn't appeal to you, have you thought you might not be suited to spending eternity in heaven?

To read what people who have had a Near Death Experience say on the matter you could go to my NDE page.

When you are praying for something and you think there is no hope, take comfort from the words of Jesus "For men this is impossible, but for God everything is possible." Remember, He knows what the future holds and sincere and trusting prayers can make good things happen.


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Salvation

The Discussion with Nicodemus


[Jesus said] "God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have
everlasting life."
John 3,16

People sometimes say that if there is such a thing as heaven, they think they're good enough to go there. Unfortunately, this isn't how Christianity works.

Heaven is a perfect place - no worries, no illness, no injustice and no wrongdoing. If admission to heaven is based on goodness, no human being alive today is good enough to go there. Sure, in heaven we will be rewarded generously for every good thing we ever did, but those good deeds are not the basis for entry.

More than anything, what God wants to see in us is faith, especially faith in His Son Jesus, who went through agony on our behalf, voluntarily taking the punishment for our sins so that we would be redeemed and be suitable for heaven. Just as a parent wants to be trusted by their child, even if what they doing is too complicated to explain, God wants us to trust and have faith in Him. If it means we can't always understand why things happen the way they do, remember God sees the bigger picture.

People who never had an opportunity to welcome, accept, ignore, reject or verbally attack Jesus, or ridicule, or persecute His followers are "a Law unto themselves" and are judged on how much they followed their God-given consciences.


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Hope

Jesus brings light into darkness.


Jesus said in a loud voice,"Whoever trusts in me trusts in the one
who sent me [God] and whoever sees me sees the one who sent me."

"I have come as a light into the world so that everyone who trusts in
me will not remain in the darkness."

John 12,44-45

You can choose to put your trust in politicians, or you can put your trust
in God. You can pray to God and He will hear your prayer and as soon
as He sees the time is right He will help you. It is very unlikely you will
have a chance to talk to a politician and even if you do you may
well be ignored!


Jesus said,"I am the good shepherd, willing to die for the sheep."

"I know my sheep and my sheep know me."

John 10,11; 10,14

You can have a close personal relationship with God and Jesus, if
you want to. Some people prefer to pray mostly to Jesus and others
prefer to pray mostly to God, our Father in heaven.


You can pray for yourself.

You can pray for someone else.

You can pray with someone else.

You can pray for others.

You can pray with others.

You can pray for the world situation.

God hears every prayer and He acts on those which are heartfelt, believing and sincere.



Earlier in the Bible one of the Psalms says:



"Don’t depend on powerful people, in human beings who can’t help you."

"Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob."

"He made heaven and earth, the sea and everything in them. He remains
faithful forever."

Psalms 146;3,5,6

It is so much better to be friends with God than to be in conflict with Him!

Ordinary hope is trusting in luck - Christian hope is trusting in God.


"I am counting on the LORD, my soul is waiting. I have put my
hope in his word."

Psalms 130,5


Next time you start thinking there is no hope, remember that Jesus said


"For God everything is possible."

Matthew 19,26


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Confidence

Jesus invites us to share our troubles


Jesus said,"Come to me, all who are weary from carrying heavy loads
and I will give you rest."
Matthew 11,28

Jesus is well aware that people who are stressed and anxious need someone to turn to. Over the past two thousand years countless millions of people have taken their troubles to Him and found confidence and wisdom as a result. Sometimes He puts excellent ideas into our hearts and at other times we look for guidance in Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, or Proverbs.

In the Old Testament God says:


"Be determined and confident! Don't be frightened or discouraged,
because I, the LORD your God, am with you wherever you go."
Joshua 1,9

I say this to myself whenever I have to go somewhere I don't want to go.




"I will bless anyone who puts their trust in Me."
Joshua 1,9

That's an invitation.



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