Jul 16, 2011

Parables in Bahrain

What if Jesus came to Bahrain?  One of Jesus’ ways to teach was to tell stories, or parables.   If He came to Bahrain during the summer of 2010, what would he say?  What illustrations would he use?  I can’t say for sure, of course, but I thought it would be an interesting exercise to imagine what parables Jesus would tell if He came here.  What would he say to those living in Tubli (where I live), or to those in Muhharaq?  Or to those in Riffaa or in Sanabis?   

Jesus was a master story teller.  In the four gospels (my Bahraini friends will know it as الإنجيل ), there are over 30 parables, mostly concentrated in the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke.  These parables used imagery that the people he was speaking to would have immediately connected with.   True, the parables have a universal appeal, but there's something to being told a story with images, characters and situations that I am familiar with already. 

Tomorrow I'll re-tell the six parables Jesus tells about the Kingdom of Heaven in Matthew 13:24-33, 44-50.  Click here to read the passage.  Click here to read it in Arabic.

Comments welcome. 

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