Once again, you appear to be looking at the Bible in terms of 21st Century thought.
It was the style of teaching of the day. Just as today it is fashionable to tell it like it is, in those days, religious teachers always taught in parables. Volumes upon volumes of rabbinical writings from that era have survived to this day, and they all attest that parables were the way to go. People expected religious leaders to speak in parables. The teachers who were better storytellers developed a larger following.
Parables make teachings easier to remember and apply.
In the parable of the lost son, the son got into a terrible fix, but he realized that in his situation he had nothing to lose and everything to gain by attempting a reconciliation with his father. In the parable there was a happy ending, but if you are ever in desperate straits, and you remember this parable, you might realize that even if the reconciliation doesn’t come off, you’re still no worse off. So by remembering the parable, you might attempt a reconciliation that you otherwise wouldn’t think of.
Parables are more enduring than telling it like it is.
Social problems come and go. The way it is becomes the way it was. Old sermons addressing old social problems are out of touch with today. Parables deal with basic principles, whereas telling it like it is deals with how those principles apply to specific situations.
If the situation changes, the telling it like it was becomes irrelevant, but the parable lives on.
Jesus’ parables are still relevant to everyday life even after 2,000 years and technological, social, and political changes beyond anyone’s wildest imagining. Since Jesus spoke, four additional continents were discovered. Yet His parables live on. On the other hand, a sermon that told it like it was about the hippie movement or miniskirts less than thirty years ago would sooner move the congregation to nostalgia than to repentance.
Parables allow you to make statements that would otherwise get you in trouble.
In old England, political commentary was dangerous, so newspapers printed transparent rhymes. All those nursery rhymes like Humpty Dumpty and Little Jack Horner were political satires. Parables and rhymes have always been a form of political or social commentary in societies where either custom or the law does not permit such things to be said in plain words. Many of Jesus’ parables made the Pharisees angry, because they taught things that weren’t to their liking, but stated them indirectly. The only teaching Jesus got in trouble for was His plain teaching that He is the Son of God.
Parables have a time-release effect; they plant seeds that sprout later.
Jesus taught the public in pithy and memorable parables, so that people would remember them, discuss them, and try to figure out what they meant; and in this way the parables spread far beyond their original audience. Jesus deliberately withheld the meaning of the parables from the public to equip the disciples for successful evangelism later on. He explained the parables to the disciples, told them to wait for the proper time, and then shout from the housetops what they had heard in secret.
After the Resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit, the disciples did just that. The crowds, who were already familiar with Jesus’ parables, now heard the explanations—and that is how 3,000 converts were made on the first day of Christian evangelism.
You know, I have an image of you dressing Jesus in a suit and tie and Gucci loafers and indignantly shouting down all those who insist that He wore a robe and sandals.
It was 2000 years ago. It’s not now. Jesus spoke Aramaic. Most of the NT was written in Greek. Nobody spoke English. The early Christian Church was 98% illiterate and books each took up to six months’ labour to create. The Eucharist was 100% understood and participated in. The early Bishops instructed their flock, sometimes in very nasty tones. Put down your 21st century lens and look at the life of Christ in terms of His actual life, not your romanticized notions of it.
People expected religious leaders to speak in parables. The teachers who were better storytellers developed a larger following.
Parables make teachings easier to remember and apply.
Parables are more enduring than telling it like it is.
Parables allow you to make statements that would otherwise get you in trouble.
Parables have a time-release effect; they plant seeds that sprout later.
Jesus taught the public in pithy and memorable parables, so that people would remember them, discuss them, and try to figure out what they meant; and in this way the parables spread far beyond their original audience.
LOL. Exactly none of your explanations as to the reason for Jesus using parables is true or Scriptural. Read the text for yourself and find out why Jesus spoke in parables.
That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them." -- Mark 4:11-12"Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables:
These EXACT SAME WORDS are spoken by Jesus Christ in three of the four Gospels when He was asked "why do you speak in parables?"
The RCC is just making it up as it goes along, Mark. Read the Bible for yourself and learn the truth.