Aphorisms and Parables
 PRAY
 READ Luke 6:36-49
So that you may know the exact truth
9/12/2012
Study #28
APHORISMS/PARABLES
Aphorisms – “Compact, memorable, and evocative, they are crystallizations of insight. Even more numerous
than the parables, there are over 100 of them, with the exact number again dependent on definition and
classification. They are the most common form of Jesus’ speech” (The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary).
36
“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful — Our tendency is to deal with others as they treat us. Jesus
teaches that our heavenly Father is the standard for how we treat others. (2 Samuel 24:14; Psalm 25:6; 40:11;
51:1; Daniel 9:9; Hosea 2:19; Jonah 4:2; Zechariah 1:16).
37
“Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and
you will be pardoned — Do to others what you would have God do to you.
38
“Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken
together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.” — The Law
of reciprocity applies to generosity.
15
Again he said, “Give me the cloak that is on you and hold it.” So she held it, and
he measured six measures of barley and laid it on her. Then she went into the city.
(Ruth 3:15)
Negative




Nabal (I Sam. 25:10, 11, 37, 38)
the Israelites in the days of Haggai (Hag. 1:6, 9)
Israelites in time of Malachi (Mal. 1:6–8)
the rich in the days of James (James 5:1–5).
Positive
 The woman of Shunem (II Kings 4:8–10, 36, 37; 8:1–6)
 Ebed-melech (Jer. 38:7–13; 39:15–18)
 Mary of Bethany (Matt. 26:6, 7, 10–13) 1
1
Hendriksen, W., & Kistemaker, S. J. (1953-2001). Vol. 11: Exposition of the Gospel According to Luke. New Testament Commentary (357). Grand Rapids: Baker
Book House.
39
And He also spoke a parable to them: “A blind man cannot guide a blind man, can he? Will they not both fall
into a pit? —
40
“A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher. —
“Although a rabbi could have an occupation, being a disciple was a full-time activity and dedicated disciples
were expected to give their whole lives to study…If a disciple didn’t have private means, he had to live very
simply. According to a later story, Hillel was so poor when was a disciple that he couldn’t afford the entrance
fee to attend his master’s lectures. On one occasion he almost froze to death by lying in the snow outside an
upstairs lecture room window in order to listen in” (Instone-Brewer, 95).
41
“Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
“Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you
yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and
then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.
42
You cannot put straight in others what is warped in yourself.
—Athanasius of Alexandria, Patriarch of Alexandria and Church Father (c. 293-373)
Fruit (vv.43-44) - a reference to a person’s behavior (Psalm 1:3; Prov. 1:31; 11:30; Isaiah 3:10; 32:16–17; Jer.
6:19) including speech (Prov. 12:14; 13:2; 18:21; Hos. 14:2)
Paradoxically, what propels people toward atheism is above all a sense of revulsion against the
excesses and failures of organized religion.
Alister McGrath, “The Twilight of Atheism,” Christianity Today (March, 2005)