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Daily Devotions

Matthew

Matthew 
Day 
Day 206

A Master Story-Teller

Text: Matthew 13 : 24 - 43

Great skill is involved in creating and telling stories. Parables are essentially stories that make use of common, every day elements, and woven together cleverly into a powerful spiritual lesson. Jesus was supreme in this skill.

“But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop,
then the tares also appeared.
So the servants of the owner came and said to him,
‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field?
How then does it have tares?’
He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’
The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go
and gather them up?’ ”
MATTHEW 13:26-28

Let’s take time to appreciate the skill of Jesus as a Master-Story Teller! There are many things to appreciate about His teaching techniques!

1. Deep factual knowledge

More than just having a good imagination is needed in the crafting of a good parable. If you were to create such a parable, you would have to have deep factual knowledge of agriculture.

a) You would have to know about wheat and tares.

b) You would have to know that the story line is absolutely plausible.

c) No part of the storyline must appear weak or incredulous.

2. Creating suspense

Any good story-teller must be able to sustain the interest of the hearers. One of the important elements in any good story is the ability to hold the audience in suspense. This element, Jesus was able to create most effectively. The hearer can barely wait for Jesus to go on with His story. “What happened next” must be on the mind of all hearers.

3. The effective use of dialogue

As Jesus told the parable of The Wheat and The Tares, He created dialogue within the short story.

a) This compels even greater interest from the audience.

b) The story becomes more animated and thus more interesting.

c) It is a well-coordinated dialogue.

The dialogue was not so complicated that it distracted. It was simple and direct and thus blended well with the parable over all.

ON WITH THE STORY

“But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares
you also uproot the wheat with them.
Let both grow together until the harvest,
and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers,
“First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles
to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ‘ ”
MATTHEW 13:29-30

Let us continue to make careful observations of the skill Jesus displayed in telling parables.

1. The natural flow of the storyline

In just a few words, Jesus described the planting and harvesting of the wheat. At the same time the outline provided the necessary means to convey deep spiritual lessons! A lot of thought must have gone into the crafting of the parables!

2. An Engaging Beginning

The story line began simply enough. Nevertheless it was engaging! A Master storyteller knows how important it is to capture the attention of the hearers right from the start! If He fails to do this, the impact of the parable would be severely muted.

3. An Exciting Conclusion

The conclusion must be even more exciting! To have a conclusion that goes flat would be disastrous! Jesus had a great ending too!

4. Provision for Spiritual lessons to be communicated

A parable is essentially a story. However, a story is not necessarily a parable. The challenge is to tell a story in such a way that it becomes a vehicle for communicating rich spiritual lessons! That is the most difficult part!

HOW MANY ASKED JESUS TO EXPLAIN HIS PARABLES?

Judging from the following text, not too many people asked Jesus for an elaboration of His parables.

“Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house.
And His disciples came to Him, saying,
‘Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.'”
MATTHEW 13:36