Picture a gate.
How did that picture get there? It’s drawn in your mind from your experience of gates. Our experiences allow us to have a deeper understanding of a concept or prevent us from making sense of a message. If you had no idea what a plectrum was, and someone asked you to get one from a teacher, where would you go? Where would you go?
It says in the gospels (the books in the Bible written about the life of Jesus on earth) that he told lots of stories, called parables. This might seem strange to us now, but it would have been normal back then for Rabbis (teachers) to do this, to make their followers (disciples) think about the deeper meaning of their words.
Jesus’ disciples came and said to him, “Why do you use parables when you speak to the crowds?”
Jesus replied, “Because they haven’t received the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but you have. For those who have will receive more and they will have more than enough. But as for those who don’t have, even the little they have will be taken away from them. This is why I speak to the crowds in parables: although they see, they don’t really see; and although they hear, they don’t really hear or understand. (Matthew 13:10-13)
Understanding comes from our experience of life—what we have seen and what we have heard. It is also hidden so that it must be found by those who desire to know. I love a treasure hunt. I loved watching the ‘Easter Eggstravaganza’ reward at the end of last term for Year 9 and 10. Seeing students sprinting around the school, searching for clues. Showing a strong desire to find what they were looking for.
What are you searching for? For those looking to be saved, to find protection and resource, Jesus said, “I am the gate”.
