Jesus in Christianity

===Parables===
[[File:Brooklyn Museum - The Good Samaritan (Le bon samaritain) - James Tissot.jpg|thumb|upright|''The Good Samaritan'' is a painting by [[James Tissot]]. The [[Parable of the Good Samaritan]] is one of the parables of Jesus.]]
The [[parables of Jesus]] represent a major component of his teachings in the gospels, the approximately thirty parables forming about one third of his recorded teachings.<ref name="Lockyer174">Lockyer, Herbert. ''All the Parables of the Bible''. Zondervan, 1988. {{ISBN|978-0-310-28111-5}}. p.174</ref><ref name="JDPentecost10">Pentecost, J. Dwight. ''The parables of Jesus: Lessons in Life from the Master Teacher''. Zondervan, 1998. {{ISBN|0-8254-3458-0}}. p.10</ref> The parables may appear within longer sermons, as well as other places within the narrative.<ref name=Howick7 /> Jesus' parables are seemingly simple and memorable stories, often with imagery, and each conveys a teaching which usually relates the physical world to the [[Spirituality|spiritual]] world.<ref name="Lisco9-11">Lisco, Friedrich Gustav, and Patrick Fairbairn. ''The parables of Jesus Explained and Illustrated Volume 29''. Nabu Press, 2010. {{ISBN|978-1149508398}}. pp.9-11</ref><ref>Oxenden, Ashton. ''The parables of our Lord.'' William Macintosh Publishers, London, 1864. ASIN: B008RW5N2S. p.6</ref>

In the 19th century, Lisco and [[Patrick Fairbairn|Fairbairn]] stated that in the parables of Jesus, "the image borrowed from the visible world is accompanied by a truth from the invisible (spiritual) world" and that the parables of Jesus are not "mere similitudes which serve the purpose of illustration, but are internal analogies where nature becomes a witness for the spiritual world".<ref name="Lisco9-11"/> Similarly, in the 20th century, calling a parable "an earthly story with a heavenly meaning",<ref name="Barclay12"/> William Barclay states that the parables of Jesus use familiar examples to lead others' minds towards heavenly concepts. He suggests that Jesus did not form his parables merely as analogies but based on an "inward affinity between the natural and the spiritual order."<ref name="Barclay12">Barclay, William. ''The Parables of Jesus''. Westminster John Knox Press, 1999. {{ISBN|0-664-25828-X}} p.12.</ref>

One of the major reasons why Jesus spoke in parables to the [[Jews]] was explained to the disciples of Jesus by Jesus himself. It is found in Matthew 13:13-14; there Jesus explains why he used much of parables to the people of [[Israel]]. Jesus explained that it was so for the fulfillment of the prophecy of [[Isaiah]] the prophet, and this is found in Isaiah 6:9-10. This was for the people of Israel not to understand and realize who Jesus is and accept him, he purposely did this to make provision for [[Gentiles]]<ref>{{Citation|title=The Temple and Gentiles|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781472550286.ch-006|work=Attitudes to Gentiles in Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity|year=2013 |publisher=Bloomsbury T&T Clark|doi=10.5040/9781472550286.ch-006 |isbn=978-0-56763-766-6 |access-date=2022-01-02}}</ref> to be part of the children of God.