Parables

In this article I wish to examine the meaning of a few of Christ's parables. Even if you don't believe in his divine nature, the fact remains that he was a great historical figure given that he created one of the largest religions and so the wisdom of his words cannot be ignored. Therefore, one should try to understand the meaning of his teachings.
  He said in Matthew 7:6 "Do not give dogs what is holy; do not throw your pearls before swine. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces." The meaning of this is to not give the ''divine'' knowledge to people who can't appreciate it or are not ready for it. That is because the ''dogs will tear you to pieces'', that is, these people that will try to hurt you and become aggressive. A prime example of that are fanatics, who will become mad due to the fact that they can only accept their faith as true and everything else makes them angry, because they cannot justify what they believe via logic. Also, the ''pigs that may trample it under their feet'' stands for the humans that are very attracted to materialism and fulfillment of their carnal desires and therefore will not be able to appreciate the spiritual truth. But what exactly is this ''divine'' knowledge? This, according to Jesus, is the knowledge of how one can live his life in a way that will allow him, after he dies, to enter the ''kingdom of God''. The way one can do this is very simple. It requires nothing more than loving your neighbours as you love yourself, forgive your enemies and generally be kind and fair towards other people. Why is this knowledge then hidden in parabolas, especially when Christ openly talks about it, in other parts of the New Testament? As a result, there must be another part of this ''divine'' knowledge that we don't know and it is also not suitable for everyone. But again, Christ talks openly only about love and forgiveness etc. He does not say anything else. That is because by doing these actions and staying in the path of God, one will inevitably seek this further knowledge. If one fills his soul with love and kindness then by his nature he will seek this further ''hidden'' wisdom. This explains what Christ says exactly after, in 7:7-12, ''Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets'.' This parabola means that if you wish to walk the path towards God and kindness, then God being kindness and love Himself, will help you reach Him. So, if you look for this hidden knowledge, God feeling compassion for all humans, will make sure that you will find it, in one way or the other. As a result, Christ says that one has to struggle and fight in order to stay to the path of kindness and find this ''hidden'' knowledge that leads to salvation, because if he do not search for it, he will not receive it. And even further, if for example someone has a friend that is willing to give it to him, but the person does not seek for it, then the friend must remain silent and should not push further. But one might wonder who are the people who are searching for this truth? They are the people who have a bright soul, filled with kindness and light. That is because these ''hidden'' teachings are after all teaching based on good, love and hope and only the people who have light inside them would be interested in learning them. That is why Christ openly talked only about love, kindness and forgiveness. Because if one complies to all this preachings, then inside his soul there must be only light and therefore that will lead him into the difficult search for the truth that God will ultimately provide him with.
 So supposing that since you are still reading my article you are actually looking for this knowledge, I will explain superficially one final parabola. Christ said in Matthew 25:1-13 ''At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him! Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.' 'No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.' But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!' But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you. Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.''' In this parabola the 10 virgin brides represent the pure human souls while the groom stands for the human spirit. The wedding between them symbolized the sovereignty of the spirit over the soul, meaning the mind taking control of our negatives emotions and focusing on the positive ones. That is, our spirit is our intellect that must control our soul that is our emotions, and therefore elevate our character and inhibit us from giving into to anger, hate and other negative emotions, that lead us to poor choices like violence. That is the purpose of the human life on earth: to transcend, by becoming better persons, and as a result, being kind, fair and good. The number ten stands for this ''system'' of elevation. The lamps represent the spiritual knowledge that leads to salvation and the good deeds one must do in order to be saved and ''enter heaven''. Then, sleeping at night represents the incarnation in this world, where one should struggle to preserve the purity of his soul by not committing any evil actions. So when the groom returned, the ones that were good and fair joined him, meaning elevated and went into the wedding banquet, that stands for ''Heaven''. Finally, the foolish ones that where not in place when the groom arrived where not accepted into the banquet, and the Lord did not recognize them as His followers.
 Summarizing, if one seeks to be kind, fair and good, he will elevate himself and ''fill his soul with light''. Then, driven by his kind nature he will seek this further divine apocryphal knowledge that will lead into his salvation, and God, as promised, will eventually help him find it. Then, a person may truly transcend and become a ''lamp'' for all other people, in order to help them find the path out of the darkness into the light.

                                                                                                           Andreas Sarchosis