The Savior's Knowledge of the World

Yesterday I wrote about how the Savior showed He lived a balanced life in the way that He interacted with society and was able to socialize with all classes of people.  Another way in which we see evidence of a balanced life was in the way that He understood the common, temporal things of life.  He was not a monk who lived outside of the world and studied only spiritual matters.  He was profoundly aware of the things that daily life involved and was able to speak to a manner in which the people understood.  His teachings and especially His parables showed that He understood life in a very practical way. 

               We see the Savior’s knowledge of daily life especially in the parables that He told.  For example, He showed that He understood the details of sowing seed and planting as he told of the “sower who went forth to sow” (Matt. 13:3).  His knowledge of planting was evident in the parable of the wheat and the tares as He talked of the practical problem of pulling out the weeds entangled in good crops (Matt. 13:24-30).  In other parables He spoke of planting mustard seeds, of the effect of leaven in bread, and of fishing—all of these things were surely well understood by the people (Matt. 13:31-33, 45-48).  Some parables showed His familiarity with marriage customs such as the parable of the marriage of the king’s son and the ten virgins.  He showed his awareness with the difficult daily labors of the common workers in the parable of the laborers in the vineyard, and He understood the importance of money and interest as evidenced in the parables of the ten pieces of money and the talents.  The Savior understood the various social classes of the time as we can see in His parables of the two debtors, the unjust judge, the prodigal son, Lazarus and the rich man, and the Pharisee and the Publican.  He clearly knew of the physical dangers that existed in their culture as shown in the parable of the good Samaritan when He spoke of violence and theives.  He was not a preacher speaking only of abstract spiritual concepts but instead used the common experiences of daily life—that He clearly understood—to teach profound truths.       

               Other teachings of the Savior also showed His familiarity with the things of the world and the normal experiences of the people.  His sermon about being the Good Shepherd showed that He understood the ins and outs of raising sheep, speaking of the difference between a shepherd and a hireling and of the dangers of thieves, robbers, and wolves to the sheep (see John 10).  His interview with the woman at the well in John 4 showed His knowledge both of wells and water in general as well the cultural differences between the Jews and the Samaritans.  In the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7 He spoke of numerous items that are a part of everyday life: candles, treasure, rust, barns, lilies, dogs, pigs, bread, fish, stones, serpents, sheep, wolves, trees, thorns, thistles, grapes, rain, wind, rock, and houses.  He spoke and taught so that the people could understand using their own familiarity with the common things of life.  Christ indeed lived a balance life and “grew in wisdom” in His youth so that He could use the world around Him to teach the people the truths of eternity.