Thursday, August 10, 2006
NAUTICAL PULPIT
PARABOLIC MYSTERIES ABOUT THE KINGDOM
82. The setting of the parables
Matt. 13:1. On that day Jesus went out of the house, and was sitting by the sea. 2. And great multitudes gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole multitude was standing on the beach. 3. And He spoke many things to them in parables,
Mark 4:1. And He began to teach again by the sea. And such a very great multitude gathered to Him that He got into a boat in the sea and sat down; and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land. 2. And He was teaching them many things in parables, and was saying to them in His teaching,
Luke 8:4. And when a great multitude were coming together, and those from the various cities were journeying to Him, He spoke by way of a parable:
Jesus has delayed His family long enough who has stood outside the door calling for Him. He cuts his lesson at the point of explaining the eternal family and leaves the house where He has been confronting the traditional and orthodox. Now on that day, the same in which He healed the demon possessed man (Matt. 12:22), Jesus went out of the house and most likely conversed with His family and received nourishment from them so He could continue to deal with this great multitude.
He has the ire of the top men in religion and the attention of a great multitude. Luke even tells us this gathering of people included those from various cities were journeying to see Him. He would talk to all without distinction; young and old, rich and poor, men and women, Jew and Gentile.
It is interesting to note that Mark says, “Again” that He taught by the sea. He doesn’t elaborate of give us the other occaision(s) specifically but we note that He was unlimited to the places where He would teach. He would spend time in the temple and synagogues but as the friction between the religious and Himself escalated, He would teach in more public arenas. Even when He would enter the synagogues He would find eager listeners with the exception of the scribes and Pharisees. These would eventually ban Him altogether from the territory they had hijacked.
We witness Jesus departing to the outside and beyond where the multitudes would continue to follow Him. It is fortunate in this case that He knew the fisherman so that a boat could be available for His pulpit. Had this method of escape not been provided the crowd could have crushed Him or pushed Him into the sea.
Ken Wuest gives us insight as he writes on Mark’s gospel:
“The word here is ploion, not ploiarion as in 3:9, the distinction there noted being that the former was a large vessel drawing too much water to be brought right into shore, and the latter being a rowboat used to reach the shore from the larger vessel. Mark’s source is generally conceded to Peter. The latter was a fisherman and owned both types of boats. It would seem therefore that Peter would make a clear distinction between them in reporting this incident to Mark. All of which means that the boat Jesus kept in readiness for escape purposes from the crowd that might crush Him, was a rowboat, and the boat from which He preached, was a larger vessel, moored close to shore. With a narrow strip of water between Himself and the crowd, Jesus taught them. The acoustics on a lake shore are excellent. One can hear and understand the human voice quite a distance.”
He got into a boat and sat down. We again find this rabbinical custom where the teacher, or rabbi, has called his class to order demanding their full attention indicated by when he sat down. In this position he would command full authority over his students and would display that class was in session.
Jesus’ students are defined as the whole multitude that was standing on the beach, or as Mark puts it, by the sea on the land.
It was from this time on that His teaching style became more parabolic in nature. We have touched on some of this method of teaching but now it will become a major part of Christ’s teaching. He will explain the reason as to why He would teach this way in this next section where we will view several of His parables in succession.
We have previously defined parables as stories that use common physical examples to explain the supernatural or spiritual realm in its reality.
82. The setting of the parables
Matt. 13:1. On that day Jesus went out of the house, and was sitting by the sea. 2. And great multitudes gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole multitude was standing on the beach. 3. And He spoke many things to them in parables,
Mark 4:1. And He began to teach again by the sea. And such a very great multitude gathered to Him that He got into a boat in the sea and sat down; and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land. 2. And He was teaching them many things in parables, and was saying to them in His teaching,
Luke 8:4. And when a great multitude were coming together, and those from the various cities were journeying to Him, He spoke by way of a parable:
Jesus has delayed His family long enough who has stood outside the door calling for Him. He cuts his lesson at the point of explaining the eternal family and leaves the house where He has been confronting the traditional and orthodox. Now on that day, the same in which He healed the demon possessed man (Matt. 12:22), Jesus went out of the house and most likely conversed with His family and received nourishment from them so He could continue to deal with this great multitude.
He has the ire of the top men in religion and the attention of a great multitude. Luke even tells us this gathering of people included those from various cities were journeying to see Him. He would talk to all without distinction; young and old, rich and poor, men and women, Jew and Gentile.
It is interesting to note that Mark says, “Again” that He taught by the sea. He doesn’t elaborate of give us the other occaision(s) specifically but we note that He was unlimited to the places where He would teach. He would spend time in the temple and synagogues but as the friction between the religious and Himself escalated, He would teach in more public arenas. Even when He would enter the synagogues He would find eager listeners with the exception of the scribes and Pharisees. These would eventually ban Him altogether from the territory they had hijacked.
We witness Jesus departing to the outside and beyond where the multitudes would continue to follow Him. It is fortunate in this case that He knew the fisherman so that a boat could be available for His pulpit. Had this method of escape not been provided the crowd could have crushed Him or pushed Him into the sea.
Ken Wuest gives us insight as he writes on Mark’s gospel:
“The word here is ploion, not ploiarion as in 3:9, the distinction there noted being that the former was a large vessel drawing too much water to be brought right into shore, and the latter being a rowboat used to reach the shore from the larger vessel. Mark’s source is generally conceded to Peter. The latter was a fisherman and owned both types of boats. It would seem therefore that Peter would make a clear distinction between them in reporting this incident to Mark. All of which means that the boat Jesus kept in readiness for escape purposes from the crowd that might crush Him, was a rowboat, and the boat from which He preached, was a larger vessel, moored close to shore. With a narrow strip of water between Himself and the crowd, Jesus taught them. The acoustics on a lake shore are excellent. One can hear and understand the human voice quite a distance.”
He got into a boat and sat down. We again find this rabbinical custom where the teacher, or rabbi, has called his class to order demanding their full attention indicated by when he sat down. In this position he would command full authority over his students and would display that class was in session.
Jesus’ students are defined as the whole multitude that was standing on the beach, or as Mark puts it, by the sea on the land.
It was from this time on that His teaching style became more parabolic in nature. We have touched on some of this method of teaching but now it will become a major part of Christ’s teaching. He will explain the reason as to why He would teach this way in this next section where we will view several of His parables in succession.
We have previously defined parables as stories that use common physical examples to explain the supernatural or spiritual realm in its reality.
# posted by Castusfumus : 7:17 PM
