Parables of Jesus: The Priceless Parables (REAL LDS/Mormon)

Frank F. Judd Jr., "Parables of Jesus: The Priceless Parables", Ensign, Jan. 2003, 56

So simple a child can understand yet profound enough for the sage, the parables of Jesus are a priceless source of gospel principles.

Jesus Christ was the greatest teacher who ever taught,” declared President Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985).¹One of the Savior’s most striking teaching methods was His use of parables. Concerning the parables of Jesus, President Howard W. Hunter (1907–95) said: “They are so simple a child can understand, yet profound enough for the sage and philosopher. …

“Each of the parables spoken by the Savior seems to teach a principle or give an admonition regarding the attributes necessary to qualify for exaltation.”²

Two Kinds of Parables

The word parable comes from the Greek paraballo, which means “to set beside” or “to compare.”³A parable, therefore, is a simple story in which the narrator compares the common experiences of his listeners to some divine truth (see Bible Dictionary, “Parables,” 740–41).

Jesus primarily employed two types of parables, depending upon His audience. The first is what we might call “parables of instruction,” which the Savior used to teach His disciples and curious seekers about basic gospel principles. These parables included such commonplace people and objects as a sower, an empty house, a great supper, a lost coin, a steward, a servant, laborers in a field, sheep and goats, as well as vines and branches. The principles taught include “faith, repentance, baptism, development of talents, forgiveness, perseverance in doing good, being a profitable steward, charity, mercy, and obedience.”⁴Other parables might be described as “parables of rebuke” which the Savior directed toward those who had ill will for Him. The parables of the two sons, the wicked husband-men, and the marriage of the king’s son (see Matt. 21–22), which specifically condemn those who were conspiring against Him, are examples of this type of parable.

The Savior sometimes used a single parable to both instruct and rebuke. For example, the parable of the lost sheep teaches on one occasion about Heavenly Father’s genuine concern for our welfare (see Matt. 18:12–14), while on another occasion, it delivers a rebuke to a group of Pharisees and scribes for their self-righteousness (see Luke 15:1–7).

Why the Savior Used Parables

One day when a great multitude was gathered to hear His teachings, the Savior taught in parables. Soon thereafter the disciples asked Him, “Why speakest thou unto them in parables?” He responded, “Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given” (Matt. 13:10–11). Alma taught Zeezrom the same principle: “It is given unto many to know the mysteries of God … according to the heed and diligence which they give unto him. And therefore, he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word; and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full” (Alma 12:9–10; emphasis added).

Those who heard the Savior’s parables of instruction, therefore, were able to understand those principles they were prepared to receive. Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has said, “As the Master Teacher, Christ tailored His tutoring, depending upon the spiritual readiness of His pupils.”⁵In this way the parables both reveal and conceal at the same time. The Savior was not so concerned with concealing when He used parables of rebuke. To His enemies, He said, “Unto you that believe not, I speak in parables; that your unrighteousness may be rewarded unto you” (Joseph Smith Translation, Matt. 21:34; emphasis added).

The Master Teacher’s parables show both the justice and mercy of God at work among those who hear them. “Two men may hear the same words,” wrote Elder James E. Talmage (1862–1933). “One of them listens in indolence and indifference, the other with active mind intent on learning all that the words can possibly convey; and, having heard, the diligent man goes straightway to do the things commended to him, while the careless one neglects and forgets. The one is wise, the other foolish; the one has heard to his eternal profit, the other to his everlasting condemnation.”⁶

Interpretation and Application

Discovering how to interpret and apply the parables of Jesus is essential to getting the most from them. To interpret a parable, one must study what it meant to them, there, then. To apply a parable, one must ponder what it means to me, here, now. “The only true interpretation is the meaning the parable conveyed, or was meant to convey, when first spoken. The application of a parable may vary in every age and circumstance” (Bible Dictionary, “Parables,” 741).

The most important helps in making a proper interpretation are the explanations given by the Savior Himself. They are usually given in the same chapter as the parable, just before or after the parable. For example, after the Savior gave the parable of the sower and the parable of the wheat and tares, He explained each of them to His disciples (see Matt. 13:3–8, 18–30, 36–43). It is also helpful to learn the background and setting of each parable. We can do this by finding answers to such questions as: To whom was Jesus talking? Why did He address this parable to this particular audience? What was the concern or question that caused Jesus to give this parable? How did this parable answer that question or situation?

Be cautious in identifying the symbols and their meanings, asking the Lord in prayer to help you understand. Guard against overinterpretation—trying to press every little detail of the parable for a precise meaning. Jesus’ parables were intended to be understood by the Spirit, in a straightforward and simple manner. Concerning the parable of the prodigal son, the Prophet Joseph Smith said: “What is the rule of interpretation? … Understand it precisely as it reads.”⁷

Many Applications

Although there is normally one original interpretation of the elements in a parable, there may be many principles and applications that can be drawn from it. Elder Merlin R. Lybbert (1926–2001) said, “The beauty of the parables of the Lord is that they have many applications, and thus their teaching value is unending.”⁸Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has also stressed that the occurrence of multiple meanings or applications in scriptures “underscores the importance of our seeking revelation from the Holy Ghost to help us interpret them.”⁹He has also said, “The Holy Ghost is a better guide to scriptural interpretation [and application] than even the best commentary.” Thus, to discover the most appropriate application of a parable “our minds need to be enlightened by the Spirit of the Lord.”¹⁰

This does not mean, however, that we should ignore other valuable resources to guide our study of the parables of Jesus. Modern scripture, particularly the Doctrine and Covenants, elucidates the parables of the Savior. For example, the Lord has given an interpretation and application of the parable of the wheat and tares in Doctrine and Covenants 86:1–11 [D&C 86:1–11] and 101:63–68 [D&C 101:63–68]. The Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible, found in the Bible footnotes and appendix, also provides additional details concerning the setting, content, and interpretation of many parables. The inspired teachings of latter-day prophets and apostles are important resources to guide us.¹¹And the Prophet Joseph Smith commented extensively on several parables.¹²

Winston the mormon works his fingies off correcting back copies of sermons...

Eerily familiar...

Party ownership of the print media
made it easy to manipulate public opinion,
and the film and radio carried the process further.

16. Ministry Of Truth

.......

The Ministry of Truth, Winston's place of work, contained, it was said, three thousand rooms above ground level, and corresponding ramifications below.

The Ministry of Truth concerned itself with Lies. Party ownership of the print media made it easy to manipulate public opinion, and the film and radio carried the process further.

The primary job of the Ministry of Truth was to supply the citizens of Oceania with newspapers, films, textbooks, telescreen programmes, plays, novels - with every conceivable kind of information, instruction, or entertainment, from a statue to a slogan, from a lyric poem to a biological treatise, and from a child's spelling-book to a Newspeak dictionary.

Winston worked in the RECORDS DEPARTMENT (a single branch of the Ministry of Truth) editing and writing for The Times. He dictated into a machine called a speakwrite. Winston would receive articles or news-items which for one reason or another it was thought necessary to alter, or, in Newspeak, rectify. If, for example, the Ministry of Plenty forecast a surplus, and in reality the result was grossly less, Winston's job was to change previous versions so the old version would agree with the new one. This process of continuous alteration was applied not only to newspapers, but to books, periodicals, pamphlets, posters, leaflets, films, sound-tracks, cartoons, photographs - to every kind of literature or documentation which might conceivably hold any political or ideological significance.

When his day's work started, Winston pulled the speakwrite towards him, blew the dust from its mouthpiece, and put on his spectacles. He dialed 'back numbers' on the telescreen and called for the appropriate issues of The Times, which slid out of the pneumatic tube after only a few minutes' delay. The messages he had received referred to articles or news-items which for one reason or another it was thought necessary to rectify.

In the walls of the cubicle there were three orifices. To the right of the speakwrite, a small pneumatic tube for written messages; to the left, a larger one for newspapers; and on the side wall, within easy reach of Winston's arm, a large oblong slit protected by a wire grating. This last was for the disposal of waste paper. Similar slits existed in thousands or tens of thousands throughout the building, not only in every room but at short intervals in every corridor. For some reason they were nicknamed memory holes. When one knew that any document was due for destruction, or even when one saw a scrap of waste paper lying about, it was an automatic action to lift the flap of the nearest memory hole and drop it in, whereupon it would be whirled away on a current of warm air to the enormous furnaces which were hidden somewhere in the recesses of the building.

As soon as Winston had dealt with each of the messages, he clipped his speakwritten corrections to the appropriate copy of The Times and pushed them into the pneumatic tube. Then, with a movement which was as nearly as possible unconscious, he crumpled up the original message and any notes that he himself had made, and dropped them into the memory hole to be devoured by the flames.

What happened in the unseen labyrinth to which the tubes led, he did not know in detail, but he did know in general terms. As soon as all the corrections which happened to be necessary in any particular number of The Times had been assembled and collated, that number would be reprinted, the original copy destroyed, and the corrected copy placed on the files in its stead.

In the cubicle next to him the little woman with sandy hair toiled day in day out, simply at tracking down and deleting from the Press the names of people who had been vaporized and were therefore considered never to have existed. And this hall, with its fifty workers or thereabouts, was only one-sub-section, a single cell, as it were, in the huge complexity of the Records Department. Beyond, above, below, were other swarms of workers engaged in an unimaginable multitude of jobs.

There were huge printing-shops and their sub editors, their typography experts, and their elaborately equipped studios for the faking of photographs. There was the tele-programmes section with its engineers, its producers and its teams of actors specially chosen for their skill in imitating voices; clerks whose job was simply to draw up lists of books and periodicals which were due for recall; vast repositories where the corrected documents were stored; and the hidden furnaces where the original copies were destroyed.

And somewhere or other, quite anonymous, there were the directing brains who co-ordinated the whole effort and laid down the lines of policy which made it necessary that this fragment of the past should be preserved, that one falsified, and the other rubbed out of existence.

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Parables of Jesus: The Priceless Parables

Two Kinds of Parables

Why the Savior Used Parables

Interpretation and Application

Many Applications

The Parables and You