DISCIPLE

     The Kingdom of God is like unto a master who sent a large box of clothes to his head servants.     The two servants looked through the box and said, “Our Master has great love for us and is a great master. Surely what he wants is for us to be comfortably dressed; he has given us these clothes so that we may honor him and be as happy as he wants us to be.”     As time passed the two servants would go to the box – which never seemed to empty – and put on the clothes they found. In winter they had warm coats and hats and shoes; in summer, shorts and sandals. The rest of the servants always wore their same work clothes, no matter the season. Many  of the clothes in the box did not really fit the two head servants, but they would wear them anyway, satisfied they were being obedient to their Master.     One day the Master appeared at the servants’ quarters and received a warm welcome from the head servants who ...

WHO WAS THE GOOD SAMARITAN IN JESUS’ PARABLE? One of Jesus’ best-known parables is that of the Good Samaritan in Luke chapter 10. It seems on the surface to be a simple story extolling the virtues of going out of one’s way to help those in need and distress, and indeed the responsibilities of godly people to do this. This no religious or moral person would question. Theologically, however, evangelicals would part with those of a more liberal position in seeing more than this in the parable. A parable being “an earthly story with a heavenly meaning,” the meaning one gets from it depends importantly on the identification he makes with the story’s characters. The theological liberal has no hesitation in identifying with the Samaritan, who ministered to the poor man the robbers had attacked and left to die, while the priest and Levite passed by. “The meaning of the parable is right on the surface,” he would say – “you’re supposed to help those in need.” Just so, we evangelicals wo...