Just Some Stuff

I almost thought I wasn't going to be able to post today, because I am visiting my parents, and their DSL went out. It just recently came back on. Unfortunately, having had all this time to think about what I would like to blog about today, I have no idea. What a conundrum.

One thing that I should point out: I am aware that sometimes when I post I use the first person plural ("we" or "us"), and sometimes the second person plural ("you"--which, unfortunately, is pretty indistinguishable from the second person singular). I hope I'm not fooling anyone. I learn a lot from these blogs--some of them seem to me to be directed right at me. If there are other people out there who benefit from my ramblings, I am glad of it. I'm certainly not going to tell you to butt out just because these entries are for me. I really do hope that these help other people, too.

By the way, some time ago, I mentioned in one of my blog postings that I had gotten frustrated with the situation regarding Christian radio stations in my area: Yesterday someone was kind enough to respond to that post with URL's for online Christian radio stations. I appreciate that, even though my point was really more about the way people responded to the radio stations that we did have. It is nice to have alternatives, though.

I lifted the above illustration from gravestmor.com. Specifically, from here.

Parables

In the gospels, Jesus did a lot of teaching in parables. This was a way to get a point across by relating to people, talking about things that they already knew, but relating that to something that they didn't. One of the things that I have heard people say about parables is that, since they don't represent things that actually happened, they aren't actual doctrine; you can ignore them with impunity. That position doesn't make sense to me. Jesus, God manifest in the flesh (1 Tim 3:16), was teaching His followers through parables (Mark 4:2). Now He was able to create characters and situations to convey an idea. If anything, we should probably pay more attention to the parables than to all the stories in the Bible (not to suggest that it would be okay to ignore the stories, it wouldn't be).
In Luke 14:15-24, Jesus taught something which has become known as, 'The Parable of the Great Supper." In this story, a man planned a great supper, but his chosen guests started making excuses, so he sent his servants to look for other people to eat this dinner, so that, at least the food wouldn't go to waste. They went out and just found anybody they could, even carrying in crippled people to partake of the feast. Now, the obvious interpretation of this parable is that, since the Jews rejected Jesus as their Messiah, God opened the door to the Goyim, the Gentiles, to attain salvation. Some people have gone as far as to say that we are the new chosen people. I don't think that's the case; I think the parable is somewhat broader than that. Keep in mind that Apostle Paul wrote, in Romans 11, that we Gentiles have no right to boast against the Jews, because, just as Paul himself, being a Jew, had rejected Jesus but had repented and been saved, so too, other Jews could be brought to the knowledge of Christ. They were taken out because of unbelief, but, if they, God's first choice, were to accept Jesus as their Messiah, they would be saved. Perhaps Antisemitism has some of it's roots in jealousy--they were God's preference, and, even now, God would prefer them over us. Of course, the other excuse is that 'they killed our Lord and Saviour...' Please. Get over it. It was His plan to die for our sins in the first place. In any case, back to the parable, anybody that rejects Jesus, misses out on the reward--be they Jew or Gentile. Fortunately for us, anybody can repent, and get back in God's grace--be they Jew or Gentile. Remember Romans 1:16?