An embarrassing chapter in my life was during a preaching practice lab in school, and I couldn’t preach because the teacher found that I had misinterpreted a parable which I was preaching from.
I don’t want that to happen to you. A while back we looked at what are parables, now we are going to learn the Steps to understanding Parables:
Step 1) Know the context.
I can’t stress enough how important it is to know the background to the story (well…you should want to know the background to every story, not just parables…just saying).
I’m trusting the very, very first thing you do is read the passage. Best thing you can do for yourself is read the whole chapter to capture the whole idea. Then read it again. Read the preceding and seceding chapters is even better. Ask these questions while you’re reading:
• who is He talking to?
• why is He talking about this?
• when and where is He when He is saying this?
By knowing the context, we are one step closer to unlocking the door to understanding parables; but for every door there is a key, and the key here is called the central theme.
Step 2) Look for the central theme in the story.
When you’re shooting an arrow, you want to aim at the target. In a parable, you’re looking for the point that the speaker wants his listeners to derive from the parable. Glare at the passage and ask yourself:
• what drives the story?
• what are the key elements in the story? How do they relate to each other?
When you have found the central theme, it is imperative that you don’t indoctrinate it. I mean adding details that aren’t necessary are in the parable.
Step 3) Don’t detail
I was preaching on the Parable of the Pearl on that faithful day I was alerted to my sin of misinterpreting Scripture. My error was that I was detailing the story. I made the characters literal. I said Jesus was the Pearl whom we should give everything to receive for ourselves. That sounds sentimental, but it’s unscriptural. Observe these pointers when attempting to understand the parable:
• remember Parables are ONLY illustrations (don’t detail characters, etc).
• parables convey truth, not found it.
• every parable has only one interpretation, but can have various applications.
• rely on the Bible as your authority; commentaries, etc can deceive you. (as one of my Bible teachers enjoys to say: “The Bible is the best commentary on itself”)
Knowing the context, finding the central without detailing it, will enable you to healthily unlock the treasure of the parable. Happy treasure-seeking!