Ben Wilson

Even though, yeah, like the righteous people, they have their reward. They're keeping the commandments and they're doing what they're supposed to be doing. But we should celebrate when people who were wayward come back. And he could have just said that, but the story just is really, really powerful. And so that's one of these things that great communicators are good at is making comparisons.

Parable is just one of the most effective teaching devices there is, period. And Jesus was a master of it. Paul Johnson has a good quote about this. He says, There are not half a dozen lines of his teaching without an image, and often an unforgettable one, which has entered into the repertoire of writers all over the world.

Parable is just one of the most effective teaching devices there is, period. And Jesus was a master of it. Paul Johnson has a good quote about this. He says, There are not half a dozen lines of his teaching without an image, and often an unforgettable one, which has entered into the repertoire of writers all over the world.

Inadimate objects spring to life, animals are anthropomorphized, nature teems with purposeful moral activity, and human beings often assume a dignity, a profundity, or a pathos thanks to the brilliant glitter of Jesus' imagery. We hear of living water, the blind leading the blind. Jesus wishes to gather the children of Jerusalem.

Inadimate objects spring to life, animals are anthropomorphized, nature teems with purposeful moral activity, and human beings often assume a dignity, a profundity, or a pathos thanks to the brilliant glitter of Jesus' imagery. We hear of living water, the blind leading the blind. Jesus wishes to gather the children of Jerusalem.

Jesus loves single trees standing in isolation, the olive, the fig, the vine, and uses them tenderly. He speaks of the late summer and the whitening harvest. He loves roots, branches, and leaves, and sees images of people in all of them. And I think he does. He often uses metaphors of nature to explain principles. And I think those are particularly powerful because they're universal.

Jesus loves single trees standing in isolation, the olive, the fig, the vine, and uses them tenderly. He speaks of the late summer and the whitening harvest. He loves roots, branches, and leaves, and sees images of people in all of them. And I think he does. He often uses metaphors of nature to explain principles. And I think those are particularly powerful because they're universal.

Everyone understands trees and seasons and things like that. And so that's a major part of his most famous teachings. And I think the other thing that parables do is they help stimulate thought in others. Instead of just hearing and then accepting or rejecting a teaching, when you hear a story like that, you turn it over in your mind and you really think about it and its implications.

Everyone understands trees and seasons and things like that. And so that's a major part of his most famous teachings. And I think the other thing that parables do is they help stimulate thought in others. Instead of just hearing and then accepting or rejecting a teaching, when you hear a story like that, you turn it over in your mind and you really think about it and its implications.

So like I said, he has many, many parables. Those are just two of my favorites. Um, but there are dozens of parables in the gospels.

So like I said, he has many, many parables. Those are just two of my favorites. Um, but there are dozens of parables in the gospels.

episode is brought to you by one of my favorite podcasts founders it's like how to take over the world but specifically for and about founders so if you're an entrepreneur and you love how to take over the world the chances are you're going to love founders as well it's a great resource for anyone on their journey to founding a company or really to founding anything new anyone who has that founder mindset i think can learn a lot from history's greatest entrepreneurs the host david senra is a good friend and he's done nearly 400 episodes so he's great at finding

episode is brought to you by one of my favorite podcasts founders it's like how to take over the world but specifically for and about founders so if you're an entrepreneur and you love how to take over the world the chances are you're going to love founders as well it's a great resource for anyone on their journey to founding a company or really to founding anything new anyone who has that founder mindset i think can learn a lot from history's greatest entrepreneurs the host david senra is a good friend and he's done nearly 400 episodes so he's great at finding

common connections and drawing those out and so it's great at inspiring new thoughts and ideas for how you can supercharge your entrepreneurial journey or just what you're trying to accomplish in life so check it out that is founders wherever you get your podcasts OK, well, next in our narrative, John the Baptist has been imprisoned for basically the entirety of Jesus's ministry.

common connections and drawing those out and so it's great at inspiring new thoughts and ideas for how you can supercharge your entrepreneurial journey or just what you're trying to accomplish in life so check it out that is founders wherever you get your podcasts OK, well, next in our narrative, John the Baptist has been imprisoned for basically the entirety of Jesus's ministry.

But now Herod, the king, executes him. He's beheaded. There's a whole story there. He's convinced to do it by a dancing girl who is also his stepdaughter. Anyway, this is a huge blow for Jesus. Remember, this is So not only a man who he followed and kind of looked to, but was also his cousin. So he's obviously very grief stricken and he goes out into a desert place to be alone.

But now Herod, the king, executes him. He's beheaded. There's a whole story there. He's convinced to do it by a dancing girl who is also his stepdaughter. Anyway, this is a huge blow for Jesus. Remember, this is So not only a man who he followed and kind of looked to, but was also his cousin. So he's obviously very grief stricken and he goes out into a desert place to be alone.

But this crowd of people finds him and they follow him out into the wilderness. Of course, the problem is now all these people are following, but he's in the middle of the desert. So how do you feed all these people? You're away from the towns and cities where food could be bought.

But this crowd of people finds him and they follow him out into the wilderness. Of course, the problem is now all these people are following, but he's in the middle of the desert. So how do you feed all these people? You're away from the towns and cities where food could be bought.

So after Jesus has healed the sick who have come to see him, he takes what little food they have, five loaves of bread and two fishes, and he blesses it and puts it into baskets and tells the disciples to go feed it to the people. And miraculously, the loaves and fishes keep replenishing and 5,000 people are fed from these few loaves and fishes.