than any garden plant; like a tree, the birds come and rest in its branches.”
He told them another parable, “The kingdom of heaven is like the yeast that a
woman took and buried in three measures of flour until the whole mass of dough
began to rise.” Jesus taught all this to the crowds by means of parables; he did not say
anything to them without using a parable. So what the Prophet had said was fulfilled:
I will speak in parables. I will proclaim things kept secret since the beginning of the
world.

Reflection:

Why is the parable the preferred method of many spiritual masters
in their teaching? Because parables disclose as well as hide the
meaning of the teaching. It discloses only that much to satisfy
our need to understand. Yet, it hides a lot so that we will not stop at
what we understand. We are forced to continue meditating on it so
that the truth progressively enlarges and we begin to grasp
and understand little by little the mystery. In this process, patience
helps us go deeper into the truth. For we cannot rush it. Thus,
spiritual strength is required to hold on to a truth not fully grasped.
For the limits of our understanding requires that our faith is
strong to supply what we do not understand for the moment. Thus,
parables are more challenging to understand than a mere literal
exposition of the truth of God.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2021