An Ecological View of Jesus’ Parable-Based Teachings on the Kingdom of God in the Synoptic Gospels of the New Testament

Abstract

The art of storytelling, which is enriched by parables and country folklore’s creativity, exists in every rural society. The Rabbis of Judah employed parables as a powerful teaching and encouragement tool in the Galilean Palestinian folk tradition where Jesus lived. This research examines how Jesus’ parable-based teachings on the Kingdom of God in the New Testament parables reflect an ecological vision. The main objective of this research is to explore the ecological perspective that Jesus, a Judean Rabbi, emphasized when he used parables to explain the mystery of the “Kingdom of God,” which was a typical teaching method in Galilean Palestinian folklore. Among the New Testament Gospels of the bible, Matthew, Mark, and Luke are referred to as “Synoptic Gospels” because they depict the stories and events in a similar way with regard to the teachings and mission of Jesus. These Synoptic Gospels contain parables. Parables in the New Testament are described using the Greek word “Parabola,” which means to compare two things from the natural world or day-to-day life. There, the ideas of challenge and equality are emphasized. For this, both primary and secondary sources were analyzed using the Historical method. According to the research, Jesus’ parables frequently featured natural themes such as fruit trees, wolves, sheep, birds, seeds, wheat, harvest, and flowers blooming in the field. This suggests that Jesus presented an ecological view. In the same way that a message about the Kingdom of God is conveyed by using an analogy of an item drawn from day-to-day life or nature, it is important to study the ecological context of contemporary Judean society to realize what the Kingdom of God means.