The Parables of Jesus E-Book

Douglas Sean O'Donnell

• Herausgeber: Crossway
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Serie: Knowing the Bible
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

Engaging 12-Week Study Helps Readers Better Understand and Apply God's Word The Knowing the Bible series is a resource designed to help Bible readers better understand and apply God's Word. These 12-week studies lead participants through books of the Bible and are made up of four basic components: (1) reflection questions help readers engage the text at a deeper level; (2) "Gospel Glimpses" highlight the gospel of grace throughout the book; (3) "Whole-Bible Connections" show how any given passage connects to the Bible's overarching story of redemption, culminating in Christ; and (4) "Theological Soundings" identify how historic orthodox doctrines are taught or reinforced throughout Scripture.   In The Parables of Jesus, Douglas Sean O'Donnell helps readers study some of Scripture's most famous narrative parables—including the good Samaritan, the prodigal son, and the rich fool—and understand their place in the storyline of Scripture. - Helpful Bible Study Resource: Features date and historical background, theological context for the Bible passage, "Whole-Bible Connections," compelling reflection questions, and more - In-Depth: Ties the biblical text in with the whole story of Scripture, shows how each passage unveils the gospel, and illuminates the doctrines taught in each passage - Part of the Knowing the Bible Series: With contributions from an array of influential pastors and church leaders, these gospel-centered studies help Christians see and cherish the message of God's grace on every page of the Bible

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“This series is a tremendous resource for those wanting to study and teach the Bible with an understanding of how the gospel is woven throughout Scripture. Here are gospel-minded pastors and scholars doing gospel business from all the Scriptures. This is a biblical and theological feast preparing God’s people to apply the entire Bible to all of life with heart and mind wholly committed to Christ’s priorities.”

Bryan Chapell, pastor; author, Christ-Centered Preaching and Christ-Centered Worship

“Mark Twain may have smiled when he wrote to a friend, ‘I didn’t have time to write you a short letter, so I wrote you a long letter.’ But the truth of Twain’s remark remains serious and universal, because well-reasoned, compact writing requires extra time and extra hard work. And this is what we have in the Crossway Bible study series Knowing the Bible. The skilled authors and notable editors provide the contours of each book of the Bible as well as the grand theological themes that bind them together as one Book. Here, in a 12-week format, are carefully wrought studies that will ignite the mind and the heart.”

R. Kent Hughes, Senior Pastor Emeritus, College Church, Wheaton, Illinois

“Knowing the Bible brings together a gifted team of Bible teachers to produce a high-quality series of study guides. The coordinated focus of these materials is unique: biblical content, provocative questions, systematic theology, practical application, and the gospel story of God’s grace presented all the way through Scripture.”

Philip G. Ryken, President, Wheaton College

“These Knowing the Bible volumes provide a significant and very welcome variation on the general run of inductive Bible studies. This series provides substantial instruction, as well as teaching through the very questions that are asked. Knowing the Bible then goes even further by showing how any given text links with the gospel, the whole Bible, and the formation of theology. I heartily endorse this orientation of individual books to the whole Bible and the gospel, and I applaud the demonstration that sound theology was not something invented later by Christians, but is right there in the pages of Scripture.”

Graeme L. Goldsworthy, former lecturer in Old Testament, Biblical Theology, and Hermeneutics, Moore Theological College

“What a gift to earnest, Bible-loving, Bible-searching believers! The organization and structure of the Bible study format presented through the Knowing the Bible series is so well conceived. Students of the Word are led to understand the content of passages through perceptive, guided questions, and they are given rich insights and application all along the way in the brief but illuminating sections that conclude each study. What potential growth in depth and breadth of understanding these studies offer! One can only pray that vast numbers of believers will discover more of God and the beauty of his Word through these rich studies.”

Bruce A. Ware, T. Rupert and Lucille Coleman Professor of Christian Theology, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Knowing The Bible

Douglas Sean O’Donnell, Series Editor

••••••

Genesis

Exodus

Leviticus

Numbers

Deuteronomy

Joshua

Judges

Ruth and Esther

1–2 Samuel

1–2 Kings

1–2 Chronicles

Ezra and Nehemiah

Job

Psalms

Proverbs

Ecclesiastes

Song of Solomon

Isaiah

Jeremiah

Lamentations, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah

Ezekiel

Daniel

Hosea

Joel, Amos, and Obadiah

Jonah, Micah, and Nahum

Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi

Matthew

Mark

Luke

John

Acts

Romans

1 Corinthians

2 Corinthians

Galatians

Ephesians

Philippians

Colossians and Philemon

1–2 Thessalonians

1–2 Timothy and Titus

Hebrews

James

1–2 Peter and Jude

1–3 John

Revelation

The Ten Commandments

The Sermon on the Mount

The Parables of Jesus

••••••

Douglas Sean O’donnell (PhD, University of Aberdeen) is the Senior Vice President of Bible Editorial at Crossway. He is the author and editor of more than a dozen books, including The Beginning and End of Wisdom; The Pastor’s Book; The Song of Solomon and Matthew in the Preaching the Word commentary series; and Psalms and The Parables of Jesus in the Knowing the Bible series. He also contributed “Song of Solomon” and “Job” to the ESV Expository Commentary.

The Parables Of Jesus

A 12-Week Study

Douglas Sean O’Donnell

Knowing the Bible: The Parables of Jesus, A 12-Week Study

Copyright © 2023 by Crossway

Published by Crossway 1300 Crescent Street Wheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law.

Some content used in this study guide has been adapted from the ESV Study Bible, copyright © 2008 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Crossway owns all the material written for Knowing the Bible (KTB), and authors were contracted on a work-for-hire basis for their labors. Since 2023 the contributors to KTB have been asked to incorporate the best Gospel Glimpses, Whole-Bible Connections, Theological Soundings, and other features from previous contributions in order to enhance later volumes. The author of this volume incorporated material from Drew Hunter (Matthew), Jimmy Agan III (Luke), and Michael LeFebvre (1–3 John).

Some content in this study guide is drawn from Douglas Sean O’Donnell and Leland Ryken, The Beauty and Power of Biblical Exposition: Preaching the Literary Artistry and Genres of the Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2022); Douglas Sean O’Donnell, Matthew: All Authority in Heaven and on Earth, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2013); Douglas Sean O’Donnell, Mark: Arise and Follow the Son, ESV Commentary on the Four Gospels (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, forthcoming). Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Some content is drawn from Douglas Sean O’Donnell, Matthew, The Gospel Coalition Bible Commentary (Austin, TX: The Gospel Coalition, 2021), available at https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/commentary/matthew. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Cover design: Simplicated Studio

First printing 2023

Printed in the United States of America

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

All emphases in Scripture quotations have been added by the author.

Trade paperback ISBN: 978-1-4335-8944-7

EPub ISBN: 978-1-4335-8947-8 PDF ISBN: 978-1-4335-8945-4

Crossway is a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

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Table of Contents

Series Preface: Douglas Sean O’Donnell6

Week 1:   Overview9

Week 2:   The Sower (Mark 4:1–20)13

Week 3:   The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37)21

Week 4:   The Rich Fool (Luke 12:13–21)29

Week 5:   The Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11–32)37

Week 6:   The Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19–31)45

Week 7:   Two Parables on Prayer (Luke 18:1–14)53

Week 8:   The Unforgiving Servant (Matthew 18:21–35)61

Week 9:   The Laborers in the Vineyard (Matthew 20:1–16)69

Week 10:   The Tenants (Mark 12:1–12)77

Week 11:   The Wedding Feast (Matthew 22:1–14)85

Week 12:   Three Parables on Christ’s Return (Matthew 25)93

Series Preface

Knowing The Bible, as the title indicates, was created to help readers know and understand the meaning, the message, and the God of the Bible. This series was created and edited by Lane Dennis and Dane Ortlund, and J. I. Packer served as the theological editor. Dr. Packer has gone to be with the Lord, Lane has retired as CEO and president of Crossway, and Dane now serves as senior pastor of Naperville (Illinois) Presbyterian Church. We are so grateful for their labors in overseeing the first forty-plus volumes of this series! To honor and expand upon their idea, we are continuing the series, focusing on key sections from Scripture, such as the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount.

Each volume in the series consists of twelve units that progressively take the reader through a clear, concise, and deep study of certain portions of Scripture. The material works best for a small group, as the questions are designed for good interactive group discussion. Even so, an individual could easily use the material for a personal Bible study as well.

Week 1 provides an overview of the section or sections of Scripture to be studied, which includes placing the text into its larger context (e.g., the Sermon on the Mount within the Gospel of Matthew), providing key historical background, and offering some questions to get started. Weeks 2–12 each have the following features: a summary of how the text fits into the rest of Scripture (“The Place of the Passage”), a summary sentence on the main theme (“The Big Picture”), and ten or so questions (“Reflection and Discussion Questions”). Moreover, each unit highlights the role of the gospel of grace in each text (“Gospel Glimpses”), identifies whole-Bible themes (“Whole-Bible Connections”), pinpoints Christian doctrines (“Theological Soundings”), defines key terms (“Definitions”), and allows space to respond (“Personal Implications”).

Lastly, to help readers understand the Bible better, we urge readers to use the ESV Bible and the ESV Study Bible, which are available in various print and digital formats, including online editions at esv.org. The Knowing the Bible series is also available online.

May our gracious God, who has generously given his Spirit and his Word, use this study to grow his people in their knowledge and love of the Father, Son, and Spirit.

Douglas Sean O’Donnell

Series Editor

Week 1: Overview

Getting Acquainted

If you are familiar with the Gospels, you know that parables play a prominent part in Jesus’ teaching. Depending on how one defines the Greek term parabolē,1 which occurs fifty-two times in the New Testament (mostly in Matthew and Luke), the Gospels record up to seventy parables, including forty narrative ones.2 This study will focus on some of the most famous narrative parables, such as the parables of the sower and the seed, the good Samaritan, the rich fool, and the prodigal son. This study will also feature a variety of different types of parables, such as parables of judgment, extended comparisons, and example stories.

Most of us enjoy reading and hearing Jesus’ parables. However, we often struggle as much as his first disciples, who asked “what” a particular “parable meant” (Luke 8:9). And just as those first disciples asked Jesus how to pray (“Lord, teach us to pray,” 11:1), so we need his help in understanding the “secrets of the kingdom of God” revealed in the parables (8:10). We trust that this Bible study will prove invaluable in your quest for such knowledge through the eye-opening work of the Holy Spirit.

Placing Them in the Larger Story

Jesus’ parables are not merely simple, short narratives that teach morals. They are similes and stories that help us understand the nature of the kingdom of God and point us to the King of that kingdom. Thus, when we study the individual parables, we must think about how the parables relate to how Jesus fulfills the promises of the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) and how he embodies various characters in his stories—the heaven-sent Son, the bridegroom, the king upon his glorious throne, the judge on judgment day.

Key Verse

When his disciples asked [Jesus] what this parable meant, he said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand’” (Luke 8:9–10).

Date and Historical Background

Mark (the earliest Gospel) was written in perhaps the mid- to late-50s AD, roughly twenty-five years after the death and resurrection of Jesus. Mark contains only two narrative parables (found also in Matthew and Luke), while Matthew contains ten unique parables and Luke fifteen. Jesus’ parables have appealed to billions of people living over two millennia. Yet it is important to understand them first as set within their original context (first-century Palestine) and audience (mostly Jews). How would the original audience have understood the parables? And, since Christ’s parables were intentionally provocative, what would have shocked his first hearers? For example, a Samaritan as the hero in a story about loving others would have shocked Jewish cultural and spiritual sensibilities.

As You Get Started

As stated above, Jesus preached around forty narrative parables.2 There is some precedent in the Old Testament for Jesus’ teaching style. Read Judges 9:7–15; 2 Samuel 12:1–4; 2 Kings 14:9–10; Ezekiel 17:2–10; and Isaiah 5:1–7. How do these forms and stories resemble what you know of Christ’s parables?

Why did Jesus teach in parables? This question will be answered by Jesus in the next study. But, without turning there for the answer, give your best answer now.

What does Mark mean when he writes that Christ Jesus