​THE CITY ON A HILL: 
LESSONS FROM THE PARABLES OF JESUS
By R. Herbert. Second edition, revised and expanded, Living Belief Books, 2019.   ISBN 978-1-942573-62-3

This new edition of one of our popular e-books has been revised to make its information more accessible.  It also includes new material and a new appendix on the parables of the Old Testament.  The City on a Hill: Lessons from the Parables of Jesus is a practical but carefully researched commentary on all of the parables found in the Four Gospels. Use it as a study aid or reference, to prepare lessons or sermons, or simply enjoy it as a profitable Christian read!  ​

Like all our e-books, The City on a Hill is free and free from advertising.  It is available in multiple formats for reading on any computer, e-book reader or smart phone. You do not need to register or provide an email address to get a copy –  simply click on the link on the download page  here.

​“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…. No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known” (John 1:1, 18).

​The opening paragraphs of the first chapter of the Gospel of John are one of the most majestic sections of the Bible. John’s eloquent prose seems unique in its presentation of Jesus as the “Word” of God.  Yet despite its apparent uniqueness, John’s introductory chapter – like almost every other part of the New Testament –  has its roots in the Old Testament and can only be fully appreciated when we see what those roots are. 

It is often said that the Greek word logos –  literally “word” –  with which John begins his description of the preexistent Christ was used in ancient philosophy to signify the “reason” or underlying principle that created the universe. The Hellenistic Jewish thinker Philo of Alexandria who lived around the time of Christ used logos in this manner.  However, the majority of John’s audience would not have known this philosophical usage, and they would have more likely understood the apostle’s description of Jesus as the “Word” in terms of their own Scriptures. 

Jewish people would naturally have associated what John wrote with the opening statement of Genesis, that “In the beginning God made ...” (Genesis 1:1); but while Genesis stresses God’s action, John chooses to first stress the Son of God’s person and identity.  Jewish readers (or hearers) would, however, also have recognized wider associations regarding John’s use of “Word.”  They knew that “by the word of the Lord” (meaning by his command) “the heavens were made …” (Psalm 33:6), and they also knew that the Book of Proverbs personified that word or “Wisdom” as being active in the Creation of the world, and it is likely that most of John’s readers understood the personified “Word” in a similar manner.  Some early Jewish commentators even pointed out that the Creation story of Genesis 1 used the expression “God said” ten times, seeing an analogy in this with the Ten Commandments which were called the aseret hadevarim –  the “ten words” or “ten utterances.” God’s “word” could also mean, of course, all of God’s revelation to man. So John’s readers would have understood that he was characterizing Jesus as the personification and embodiment of God’s wisdom, law, and even all of God’s word – the entirety of the Scriptures. 

But there are more specific connections between what John says in the introduction to his Gospel and the Hebrew Scriptures.  The most significant are the parallels we find between John’s description of Jesus and the portrayal of God in the Book of Exodus.  These connections are frequent and clear.  

For example, just as Exodus tells us that God dwelt among his people in the tabernacle (Exodus 40:34), so John begins his description of Jesus by telling us that the Word dwelt (literally “tabernacled”) with humankind (John 1:14).  Just as Exodus tells us that Moses beheld God’s glory (Exodus 33:18), so John makes a point of recording that the disciples and others beheld “…his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father…” (John 1:14).  Just as Exodus tells us that God’s glory was full of graciousness (grace) and truth (Exodus 34:6 Holman, NKJV, etc.), so John goes on to say that Jesus was full of grace and truth (John 1:14).
 
Because the New Testament makes it clear that the preexistent Christ was the One who was with Israel in the wilderness (1 Corinthians 10:4), these connections may seem straightforward to us, but to John’s audience they were revelatory.  The single verse John 1:14 alone would have suggested numerous parallels that devout Jews of that day would have recognized, but found amazing. 

First century readers versed in the Hebrew Scriptures would have picked up other similarities between John’s record and that of Exodus.  Most of the associations John makes within his first chapter are those expanding on the divine nature of Jesus.   The Word is shown to be not just the promised “prophet like Moses,” but also very God himself. John does this by emphasizing not only Christ’s preexistence, but also his superior position to Moses. While Exodus tells us that the law was given through Moses (Exodus 34:29), John confirms that although “…the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17).  Jesus was not simply a prophet relaying the words of God, he was the One who was the Word and who himself exhibited the very nature of God.

This was John’s central point in comparing Jesus with the revelations of the Book of Exodus. Although Exodus stressed that no one could see all of God’s glory, and John confirmed the fact that “No one has ever seen God…” (John 1:18), John also stressed that in Jesus that glory was revealed: “…but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known” (John 1:18).   Seeing this, we see John’s Gospel in a different light.  The apostle who perhaps knew Jesus best did not just preface his Gospel with a grandiose but unconnected introduction. What John truly did, and what should inform our reading of his whole Gospel, was to show his readers from the outset that Jesus was everything that the “Word” of God was revealed to be –  the personification of the wisdom, the law, and the very nature of God himself.

Scriptures in Question: Isaiah 43:18, 26
“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.”   (Isaiah 43:18)
“Review the past for me.”  (Isaiah 43:26)
 
These two verses, from within the same chapter of the book of Isaiah, are sometimes said to be an example of the Bible contradicting itself.  While the one verse clearly tells us to forget the past, the other verse is equally clear in stating that it should be remembered. 

As is so often the case, the simple answer to this apparent contradiction is found in the contexts in which the two verses appear. When we look at the verses surrounding Isaiah 43:18 we find that God is speaking of working with those who had turned to him and whom he had redeemed. We see this beginning in the first verse of the chapter: “But now, this is what the Lord says – he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: 'Do not fear, for I have redeemed you'” (Isaiah 43:1).

The same situation applies in a number of verses in the following chapters – as when we read “I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist” (Isaiah 44:22).  It is because of this forgiveness that God offered the comforting words: “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.”   

But the situation is entirely different with those who had turned from God and refused to walk in his ways.  It is to those people that the words of Isaiah 43:26 and its surrounding verses were addressed.  Notice that verse in full: “Review the past for me, let us argue the matter together; state the case for your innocence. Your first father sinned; those I sent to teach you rebelled against me” (Isaiah 43:26-27). Here, God instructs those who rejected him to remember the history of humanity and what that rejection had caused. 

This principle of urging those who were not following God to remember the past is repeated several times in Isaiah. We read, for example: “Remember this, keep it in mind, take it to heart, you rebels. Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me” (Isaiah 46:8-9).  Here, God clearly reminds those who rebel against him of his actions –  both of correction and blessing.

There are other biblical verses, of course, that urge us to remember the things that God has done for us in the past. For example, Deuteronomy 6:12 states clearly: “be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.”   In exactly the same way, the apostle Paul reminds us of our past and tells us to “remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world” ( Ephesians 2:12).

But in the context of Isaiah 43, we see God differentiating between those who rebel against him and those who do not.  Isaiah, like many other biblical writers, shows that God works with us according to our attitude.  His message to those who turn to him and want to walk in his ways is very different from the message he addresses to those who refuse and rebel.

So there is no contradiction between verses 18 and 26 in Isaiah 43. In actuality, the two verses simply provide examples of two different situations.  The first shows God urging the repentant to refuse to be afflicted by their past mistakes  –  as one of the benefits of his forgiveness. The second shows God urging the unrepentant to consider the past –  as a reminder of both his blessings and his judgments.

​A few years ago the suicide-prevention group Samaritans of Singapore (SOS) ran a highly successful advertising campaign in which they published a series of ambigrams – words or messages that say one thing, but have an entirely different meaning if they are read upside down. 

The ad reproduced here – "I'm fine" –  becomes "Save me," when inverted, and the other ads in the series –  "Life is great" and "I feel fantastic" – inverted read "I hate myself" and "I'm falling apart." Each ad was run with the statement "The signs are there if you read them. Help us save a life before it's too late." These unusual advertisements drew attention to a widespread social problem and uniquely showed how we can be oblivious to the subtle and often hidden symptoms of depression and related disorders if we are not focusing on the people with whom we interact.

Effective though they were, the SOS ads are now remembered mainly as an example of an innovative and  highly successful advertising campaign,  though hopefully the message will be remembered by those who saw the ads.  The messages also reflect an aspect of life that every Christian should keep in mind: that what we hear people say can often cover a deeper reality that calls for our help. 

Sometimes the additional reality comes out if we simply take the time to engage the individual facing problems in sincere rather than surface conversation.   In that way, the situation can be similar to the poignant New Testament story of the father who asked Christ to heal his son. The fact that he did this suggests, on the surface, belief, but when Jesus challenged that assumption, the father replied “I believe, help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24).   This is primarily about faith, but it is also a classic example of how a troubled person often opens up to someone who spends the time and energy to focus on them – perhaps only later in a conversation opening up to show desperation or depression.

Naturally, this doesn’t mean we should attempt to verbally probe and question every person with whom we interact, presuming they have problems; but as the SOS campaign so clearly demonstrated, if the signs are there we can often see them hidden in plain view.  It is then that we should be sure to take the time to try to discern the problem and how we can help.

That’s one of the things that Christians are supposed to do: to look beneath the surface of the world in which we live and to see the real needs around us and then seek to help as we can. Serious disorders and psychological problems may need professional help, but a great many people live with lesser problems, depression, discouragement and emotional pain.  Those people often say “I’m fine” – and while it may not be a cry of “save me!” – it may be an invitation, if we can see it, to help them.

Have you ever noticed that one of the four Gospels mentions faith far more than the others? That Gospel is the Gospel of John.  Actually, as we will see, John does not use the noun “faith” at all – it occurs nowhere in his Gospel. Instead, John always uses the verb “believe” (Greek pisteuo), and he uses that word about 100 times (perhaps surprisingly, given most people’s perception of John, that is over twice as many times as he uses forms of the word agape or “love”!) 

To put John’s use of “believe” in perspective, we should realize that this is more than the use of the word in all the other Gospels combined. In fact, John’s Gospel contains well over half of all the instances of pisteuo or “believe” in the whole New Testament.

Clearly, then, “believe” is a key word in understanding John’s Gospel, and we can learn a great deal about the nature of belief and believing by focusing on what John tells us in his account.  Three points stand out – John repeatedly shows our faith must be based upon these three aspects of believing.   

Based on the Person of Christ

It is not coincidental that the great summary of God’s purpose set out in John 3:16 revolves around belief: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16, emphases added here and below).  What we miss, reading this so-often-quoted verse out of context, as is so often done, is John’s continued stress on believing: “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” (John 3:18).  Four times in the space of these two verses John hammers home the point that it is only as we believe on the person of Jesus Christ as the Son of God that faith will be rewarded with eternal life.  

Throughout his Gospel, John gives many examples of what and why we must believe (2:11; 4:41; 8:24; 10:38; 16:30; etc.), but they are all based upon the person of Jesus Christ, his nature, character, and the work that he accomplished. There is no room in John’s Gospel for any abstract “all you need is love” message.  His Gospel is deeply rooted in the necessity of active believing faith in Christ as much as it is in showing the importance of love.

Indeed, the very purpose for the Gospel of John, as the apostle himself tells us near its conclusion,  is so that we “ … may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:30-31). 

Based on the Work of Belief

Although as Paul affirms, “…  the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23), John’s Gospel paints a complementary picture stressing that although God does give eternal life freely, the gift comes with responsibilities.  While Matthew’s Gospel shows Jesus asserting: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21), John’s Gospel records Jesus instructing his disciples in the work that relates to faith. When they asked him, ‘What must we do to do the works God requires?’  Jesus answered, ‘The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent” (John 6:27-29).

We should not presume that in this statement Jesus is talking only about passively accepting or holding a belief. John’s Gospel stresses that believing is something active that we do, rather than just accept, and that believing is always associated with doing. It is probably not coincidental that like the word “believing,” John also uses the word “doing”(poieō) about one hundred times.  This is the larger picture that helps us to correlate what John's Gospel tells us about the work of believing with what the apostle writes about faithful obedience in his epistles (1 John 2:6; 5:3; etc.).

For John, this active believing work is something we do on an ongoing basis – as we see in the way he repeatedly tells us the disciples “believed” as they witnessed Christ’s miracles and teachings (John 2:11; 16:27; etc.), and this leads us to John’s final stress regarding the nature of true believing. 

Based on Perseverance

Precisely because true believing is a repeated action on our part, John also stresses that believing must be coupled with perseverance.   John gives clear instances of individuals who had believed, but who stopped believing. In John 8, for example, we read: “As he was saying these things, many believed in him. So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him,'If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples’” (John 8:30-31).

The importance of ongoing and continuing faith was already stressed by John two chapters earlier when he tells us that previously believing individuals “… turned back and no longer followed him” (John 6:66).  This scripture alone shows that believing faith is not something entered into on a one-time basis, but an ongoing action that must be maintained through perseverance.

When John tells us, near the close of his Gospel, that “ … these [things] are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31), the word “believe” in the Greek is literally “be believing” – ongoing persistent believing.  

The Three Aspects of Believing

John’s Gospel clearly shows us that true believing is based on the person of Christ, involves active expression on our part, and must be maintained through perseverance.  The apostle makes it clear that lack of these three factors led to many not believing or losing the belief they once had.  It is in these three ways, however, that John shows we can truly believe, and that through believing we can have life.