13. Two Popular Parables that are Too Often Weaponized; Also, Why Bad Things Happen to Good People; And Divine Justice (Come Follow Me March 21-26)
LDS Come Follow Me, New Testament
March 20–26
Matthew 13; Luke 8; 13
“Who Hath Ears to Hear, Let Him Hear”
This week we are focused on the parables of Jesus. These are used by Jesus to teach us about the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Heaven. We can learn so much from these stories designed to teach. Unfortunately, some of these parables are often wielded as weapons to tell individuals or groups of people who will and who will not be part of the Kingdom of Heaven, but when we do that we not only miss the point, but actually put ourselves in the the position of being ‘last’ because we think we are ‘first’.
Bookmarks:
0:00 Intro
The last shall be first and the first shall be last
6:39 Approach the throne of grace boldly
10:31 Quick shout out to the women of the ministry!
13:19 The Parable of the Sower
25:42 The Wheat and the Tares
31:47 Additional short parables and what they teach us about the Kingdom
33:23 Jesus being rejected in Nazareth
36:49 Are these terrible deaths divine punishment?
40:53 Parable of the fig tree
Talks and Books Referenced:
Lord is it I: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2014/10/lord-is-it-i?lang=eng
When Bad Things Happen to Good People: https://amzn.to/3lkls6L
(I’m embarrassed that I said ‘Rabbi Heschel’ throughout the video. The book is by Rabbi Kushner!)
NRSV Study Bible (seriously LOVE this bible!): https://amzn.to/40kUQ43
Some of the above links are affiliate links. This means that Latter-day Stonecatchers may receive a small commission if you purchase anything after clicking the link. You won’t pay any more than usual and any income received by Stonecatchers is donated to charities. So using the links is a free way to support meaningful charities like Lift+Love, encircle, and the Equal Justice Initiative.
Quote from Rabbi Kushner’s Book:
“God does not cause our misfortunes. Some are caused by bad luck, some are caused by bad people, and some are simply an inevitable consequence of our being human and being mortal, living in a world of inflexible natural laws. The painful things that happen to us are not punishments for our misbehavior, nor are they in any way part of some grand design on God's part. Because the tragedy is not God's will, we need not feel hurt or betrayed by God when tragedy strikes. We can turn to Him for help in overcoming it, precisely because we can tell ourselves that God is as outraged by it as we are.” Harold S. Kushner, When Bad Things Happen to Good People
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