Everybody enjoys stories! Adults try to pretend that stories are for children, but have you ever watched their faces when a “children’s story” is being told? They are often more intent on hearing what happens next than are the children!

There have been a lot of good storytellers. You may have even had the privilege of hearing stories from one of the great storytellers, who is able to make you see and feel and hear what’s happening in the stories he tells–and remember them ever after. But the greatest storyteller of all time was Jesus Himself. Frequently He caught the attention of the people by the simple means of telling a story.

Jesus’ stories often were in the form of parables. Parables are stories with a double application–yet the fact is that most stories are parables. Students of literature are educated to look for the story behind the story. Psychologists and counselors are trained to listen to the stories people tell, to find evidence of deeper communication than the stories themselves.

In parables and stories and comparisons, Jesus found the best method for communicating divine truth. One of His purposes in teaching through parables was to reveal that truth. By connecting spiritual lessons with scenes familiar to His hearers, He was able to help them understand and remember His teachings. Another purpose Jesus had in using parables was the exact opposite–His parables concealed truth. Thus He was able to speak out against sin and error in such a way that His enemies could find nothing in His words to use against Him. Often, in spite of themselves, they would be caught up in the stories He was telling and condemn themselves.

Many of the stories Jesus told began with the words, “The kingdom of heaven is like unto.” He must have known how hard it is for us who live under the kingdoms of this earth to understand the nature of the kingdom of heaven.

Stories abound that tell us what the earthly kingdoms are like. Even in the days of Christ there must have been plenty of stories told about the kings and queens who exercised arbitrary power, who were greedy, selfseeking, and powerfully rich. Over the centuries there have been unnumbered stories of wars and conquests and battles. There have been stories of the struggles and hardships of the common people in society, as they try to live under the rule of the kingdom that ruled over them. There have been stories of insurrection and rebellion which were met by harshness and cruelty as the rulers tried to maintain the force of their control over a dissatisfied people.

But in the parables of Jesus we are given a glimpse into the kingdom of heaven, which operates on a completely different set of values than the kingdoms of this earth. We hear Him describe the basis of the kingdom of heaven to come–and also the kingdom of grace in the heart, which is the beginning of the heavenly kingdom.

If we are not comfortable with the kingdom of heaven now, we will not feel at ease with that kingdom throughout eternity. The kingdom of heaven is on the gift system–the kingdoms of earth are based on merit and on earning your own rewards. The kingdom of heaven offers service for others as the highest privilege–the earthly kingdoms seek service from others as evidence of highest honor. The heavenly kingdom works through the freedom of love–the kingdoms of earth use force to accomplish their goals.

Does the prospect of living forever in the heavenly country sound good to you? Are you attracted by the prospect of fellowship with Jesus here and now? One of the simplest methods for understanding what the kingdom of heaven is all about is to be found in a study of Jesus’ Parables of the Kingdom.