The Kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all seeds but when it is grown, it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches. Matthew 13: 31-32
“When Jesus told a parable, he lit a stick of dynamite and then covered it with a story.” Clarence Jordan
Teachers of all kinds are very familiar with what is known as “teachable moments”. These are the times in your classroom, your home, the ball field, the grocery store, and other places when you throw out the lesson plans for the day and go with the moment. It may seem like a small thing, sometimes even an annoyance, but this deviation is usually the result of a question that is asked, a curious child, a wrong that must be righted, or a lesson that needs to be taught. It must be addressed in the moment to be effective.
Jesus liked to deal in “small things” and “teachable moments.” He could have chosen hundreds of disciples, but He chose 12. He could have performed thousands of miracles, but only 37 are recorded. He could have come up with food for the five thousand, but He chose to use the five loaves of bread and two fish to make His point.
I don’t think He had lesson plans, but I do think that He used parables as teachable moments. Parables are defined as earthly stories with a heavenly meaning. People around him were drawn to the simple stories which taught them morals and spiritual truths. Jesus engaged the people in the discovery of the gospel by using questions to guide their thinking so they would understand and believe. How many parables contain questions like, “Which one of? Which of these? Who will?” to guide understanding?
The truth of God is understood spiritually, thus those interested in understanding the truth of the message will understand
, while those uninterested will remain without understanding. God gives people every chance to accept the message of Jesus and accept Him as the Messiah.
So many people could be won to Christ if we all threw out our lesson plans for our day, week, year, and ignited an explosion all around us by engaging in those teachable moments we encounter every day.