1. Mchoro wa Kwanza wa Msanii1. The Artist’s First Painting

Miaka mingi iliyopita mmishonari mzoefu nchini China alifanya urafiki na msanii kijana Mchina mwenye kipaji. Kupitia urafiki wao, msanii yule kijana akawa Mkristo. Akamwambia mmishonari, “Mimi hujifunza kweli kwa undani zaidi kwa kuichora. Niambie jinsi ya kuuchora mchoro wa imani ya Kikristo.” Mmishonari akafungua Biblia yake kwenye Luka 15 akasema, “Chora Mfano wa Mwana Mpotevu. Ukiweza kuuchora huu, utakuwa umepata kiini cha imani ya Kikristo.”Years ago a seasoned missionary in China befriended a talented young Chinese artist. Through their friendship the young artist became a Christian. He said to the missionary, “I best internalize truth by painting it. Tell me how to paint the Christian faith.” The missionary opened his Bible to Luke 15 and said, “Paint the Parable of the Prodigal Son. If you can paint this, you will have the essence of the Christian faith.”

Msanii akaanza kazi. Mchoro wake wa kwanza ulimwonyesha Mwana Mpotevu akijikokota barabarani, kichwa kimeinama, nguo zimechanika, mabega yamelegea — picha kamili ya majuto. Mpaka hapo, vizuri. Lakini kisha akamchora Baba. Baba alikuwa amesimama kwenye lango la mbele. Mikono yake ilikuwa imekunjwa kifuani. Uso wake ulikuwa mkali. Alimtazama mwana anayerudi barabarani kwa sura iliyosema, Nilikuambia.The artist went to work. His first painting showed the Prodigal trudging down the road, head bowed, clothes ragged, shoulders slumped — the picture of remorse. So far, so good. But then he painted the Father. The Father was standing at the front gate. His arms were folded across his chest. His face was stern. He looked down the road at the returning son with an expression that said, I told you so.

Mmishonari akauchunguza mchoro ule akasema kwa upole, “Kwa ufundi, huu ni mzuri sana. Lakini umekosa ujumbe mkuu wa mfano huu.” Msanii akauliza, “Kwa namna gani?” Mmishonari akajibu, “Baba hapaswi kusimama langoni akiwa amekunja mikono. Baba anapaswa kuwa anakimbia. Mfano wote unageuka juu ya jambo moja — Mungu yukoje. Ana shauku ya kupenda, ni mwepesi wa kusamehe, ana hamu ya kupatanisha. Yeye hukimbia.”The missionary studied the painting and said gently, “Technically, this is beautiful. But you have missed the main message of the parable.” The artist asked, “How so?” The missionary answered, “The Father should not be standing at the gate with folded arms. The Father should be running. The whole parable turns on one thing — what God is like. He is anxious to love, quick to forgive, eager to reconcile. He runs.”

Mazungumzo hayo ndiyo sehemu yetu yote kwa ufupi. Mfano una hoja moja kuu. Ukikosa hoja kuu, kila kipengele utakachokichora kitakaa vibaya kidogo kwenye turubai. Ukiipata hoja kuu sawasawa, hata kipengele kidogo kabisa kitahubiri.That conversation is our entire unit in miniature. A parable has one main point. Miss the main point and every detail you paint will sit slightly wrong on the canvas. Get the main point right and even the smallest detail will preach.

2. Mfano Ni Nini2. What a Parable Is

Neno la Kigiriki parabolé kwa maana yake halisi ni kutupa kando ya. Yesu alichukua tukio la kawaida la duniani — mkulima akipanda mbegu, mwanamke akifagia, mfalme akifanya karamu ya arusi — na kulitupa kando ya kweli ya kiroho ili kweli hiyo ionekane kwa mwanga unaojulikana. Mfano ni hadithi fupi iliyotolewa katika maisha ya kawaida inayobeba funzo moja kuu la kiroho.The Greek word parabolé literally means to throw alongside. Jesus would take a familiar earthly scene — a farmer sowing, a woman sweeping, a king holding a wedding feast — and throw it alongside a spiritual truth so the truth could be seen by familiar light. A parable is a short story drawn from ordinary life that carries one central spiritual lesson.

Angalia mambo matatu katika maana hiyo. Hadithi fupi: mfano ni simulizi, si aya ya mafundisho. Maisha ya kawaida: wahusika ni wakulima na wachungaji na wafanyabiashara na watoto, si malaika na majoka. Funzo moja kuu: mfano umejengwa juu ya hoja kuu, si msimbo ambamo kila kipengele huficha fundisho lake tofauti. Kama sehemu hii itakavyoonyesha, muktadha na maelezo ya Yesu Mwenyewe wakati mwingine humaanisha kwamba zaidi ya kipengele kimoja kina uzito halisi — lakini uzito huo daima hutumikia msukumo mkuu wa mfano; kamwe si ruhusa ya kuchimba kila kipengele kutafuta maana yake iliyofichika.Notice three things in that definition. Short story: the parable is a narrative, not a paragraph of doctrine. Ordinary life: the characters are farmers and shepherds and merchants and children, not angels and dragons. One central lesson: the parable is built around a principal point, not a code where every detail hides a separate doctrine. As this unit will show, context and Jesus's own explanations sometimes mean more than one detail carries real weight — but that weight always serves the parable's main thrust; it is never a license to mine each detail for a hidden meaning of its own.

3. Tofauti Kati ya Mfano na Fumbo la Kiishara (Alegoria)3. The Difference Between Parable and Allegory

Mfano hufanya ulinganisho mmoja. Alegoria hufanya ulinganisho mingi. Katika alegoria, kila kipengele kinasimama badala ya kitu kingine: mhusika huyu ni wema, yule ni uovu, barabara ni maisha, mto ni ubatizo, miti ni mataifa. Pilgrim’s Progress (Safari ya Msafiri) ni alegoria; Bunyan mwenyewe anatuambia hivyo. Mifano ya Kristo si alegoria.A parable makes one comparison. An allegory makes many. In an allegory, every detail stands for something else: this character is virtue, that character is vice, the road is life, the river is baptism, the trees are nations. Pilgrim’s Progress is an allegory; Bunyan tells us so. Christ’s parables are not.

Kwa zaidi ya miaka elfu moja, walimu Wakristo waaminifu waliichukulia mifano ya Yesu kama alegoria, na matokeo yalikuwa mabaya sana. Usomaji wa Augustino wa Msamaria Mwema ndio mfano wa wazi kabisa. Alichukua kila kipengele akakipa ishara. Msafiri alikuwa Adamu. Yerusalemu ilikuwa paradiso. Yeriko ilikuwa mwezi — ikisimama badala ya hali ya kufa. Wanyang’anyi walikuwa Shetani na malaika zake. Majeraha yalikuwa dhambi. Kuhani alikuwa sheria ya Musa. Mlawi alikuwa manabii wa Agano la Kale. Msamaria alikuwa Kristo Mwenyewe. Punda alikuwa mwili wa Kristo. Nyumba ya wageni ilikuwa kanisa. Mwenye nyumba ya wageni alikuwa mtume Paulo. Dinari mbili zilikuwa maagano mawili. Ahadi ya Msamaria ya kurudi ilikuwa Kuja kwa Pili kwa Kristo.For more than a thousand years, faithful Christian teachers treated Jesus’ parables as allegories, with disastrous results. Augustine’s reading of the Good Samaritan is the classic case. He took every detail and assigned it a symbol. The traveler was Adam. Jerusalem was paradise. Jericho was the moon — standing for mortality. The robbers were Satan and his angels. The wounds were sin. The priest was the Mosaic law. The Levite was the Old Testament prophets. The Samaritan was Christ Himself. The donkey was Christ’s body. The inn was the church. The innkeeper was the apostle Paul. The two coins were the two testaments. The Samaritan’s promise to return was the Second Coming.

Kila kipengele kiliashiria kitu fulani. Usomaji huo una werevu mwingi. Pia si sahihi. Yesu aliusema mfano huo kujibu swali moja kutoka kwa mwanasheria: Naye jirani yangu ni nani? Mfano wote unajibu swali moja: jirani yako ni yeyote anayehitaji rehema yako, bila kujali kabila lake wala dini yake. Augustino, kwa kufanya alegoria, aliifunika hoja kuu ya Yesu chini ya rundo la ishara. Aliacha kusikia kile ambacho Yesu alisema kwa kweli.Every detail symbolized something. The reading is ingenious. It is also wrong. Jesus told the parable in answer to a single question from a lawyer: And who is my neighbor? The whole parable answers one question: your neighbor is anyone who needs your mercy, no matter their race or religion. Augustine, by allegorizing, smothered Jesus’ central point under a pile of symbols. He stopped hearing what Jesus actually said.

4. Kutafuta Hoja Kuu4. Finding the Principal Point

Hii ndiyo kanuni kwa kila mfano utakaoubiri maishani mwako. Tafuta hoja moja kuu ambayo Yesu anaitoa. Jenga hubiri lako juu ya hoja hiyo. Chukulia kila kipengele kingine katika hadithi kama mandhari — samani za chumba, si ujumbe wa chumba. Mandhari ni halisi. Haikuwekwa ovyo. Lakini si ishara, na mfano hautegemei mandhari hiyo kubeba maana nyingine za pembeni.Here is the rule for every parable you ever preach. Find the one central point Jesus is making. Build your sermon on that point. Treat every other detail in the story as scenery — the furniture of the room, not the message of the room. The scenery is real. It is not random. But it is not symbolic, and the parable does not depend on it carrying secondary meanings.

Unaipataje hoja kuu? Kwa kawaida ishara tatu huimaliza. Kwanza, Yesu anajibu swali gani? Msamaria Mwema unajibu, Jirani yangu ni nani? Kondoo Aliyepotea unajibu, Kwa nini Yesu anakula pamoja na wenye dhambi? Wafanyakazi wa Shamba la Mizabibu unajibu, Je, wafanyakazi waliokuja mwishoni kweli ni sawa na sisi? Pili, wasikilizaji ni akina nani? Mwana Mpotevu ulisimuliwa kwa Mafarisayo waliokuwa wakinung’unika, waliochukizwa na watu ambao Yesu alikaa nao — kwa hiyo yule kaka mkubwa katika hadithi ni wasikilizaji wenyewe wakijiona katika kioo. Tatu, kilele cha mfano ni nini? Mstari ambao hadithi yote inaelekea kwake kwa kawaida hubeba hoja kuu. Katika Mwana Mpotevu, kilele ni Baba akikimbia. Mfano wote unahusu mbio hizo.How do you find the central point? Three signals usually settle it. First, what question is Jesus answering? The Good Samaritan answers, Who is my neighbor? The Lost Sheep answers, Why is Jesus eating with sinners? The Vineyard Workers answers, Are the late-coming workers really equal to us? Second, who is in the audience? The Prodigal Son was told to grumbling Pharisees who resented the company Jesus kept — so the elder brother in the story is the audience caught in the mirror. Third, what is the climax of the parable? The line that the whole story is building toward usually carries the main point. In the Prodigal Son, the climax is the Father running. The whole parable is about that running.

5. Mchoro wa Pili wa Msanii5. The Artist’s Second Painting

Msanii Mchina alipokea marekebisho ya mmishonari akarudi kwenye kibao chake cha kuchorea. Akauchora mfano ule tena. Mwana Mpotevu alionekana vilevile — ameinama, amevunjika, akitembea kurudi nyumbani kwa aibu. Lakini safari hii Baba alikuwa tofauti. Baba alikuwa akikimbia. Mavazi yake yalipepea upepo. Uso wake ulijaa furaha na faraja. Kisha mmishonari akaona jambo la ajabu. Viatu vya Baba havikulingana. Kiatu kimoja kilikuwa chekundu. Kingine kilikuwa cha buluu.The Chinese artist took the missionary’s correction and went back to his easel. He painted the parable again. The Prodigal looked the same — stooped, broken, walking home in shame. But this time the Father was different. The Father was running. His robes flapped in the wind. His face was full of joy and relief. And then the missionary noticed something strange. The Father’s shoes did not match. One shoe was red. The other was blue.

Mmishonari akauliza juu ya viatu. Msanii akaeleza, “Baba amejawa na furaha kubwa kumwona mwanawe akirudi nyumbani, ana hamu kubwa ya kumkaribisha, hata anashika viatu viwili vilivyo karibu zaidi na kukimbia nje ya mlango. Haijalishi kwamba havilingani. Kinachojalisha tu ni kwamba mwanawe alikuwa amepotea na sasa amepatikana.” Hivyo ndivyo mfano uliosomwa sawasawa unavyoonekana. Hoja moja kuu. Vipengele hutumikia hoja hiyo.The missionary asked about the shoes. The artist explained, “The Father is so overjoyed to see his son coming home, so anxious to welcome him, that he grabs the two nearest shoes and runs out the door. It does not matter that they do not match. All that matters is that his son was lost and now is found.” That is what a parable rightly read looks like. One central point. The details serve the point.

6. Mwana Mpotevu wa Kibudha — Kisa Kilekile, Hoja Iliyo Kinyume6. The Buddhist Prodigal — Same Plot, Opposite Point

Ubudha una mfano unaosikika karibu sawa kabisa na ule wa Yesu. Katika Lotus of Perfect Law (Sutra ya Lotasi), mwana anaondoka nyumbani kwa baba yake. Anapoteza miaka mingi katika taabu. Anarudi akiwa amevaa matambara. Lakini hapa hadithi inageuka kwa namna tofauti sana. Baba anamtambua mwana; mwana hamtambui baba. Baba anawaambia watumishi wake wamsafishe mwana — lakini hajifunui yeye ni nani. Anampa mwana kazi duni za kufanya. Anasubiri kuona kama mwana atastahili. Ni pale tu mwana anapokuwa amejipatia tabia bora zaidi ya kibinadamu, amevunja mazoea yake ya zamani, na amejithibitisha, ndipo baba hatimaye anajifunua yeye ni nani na kumkaribisha mwana kama mrithi.Buddhism has a parable that sounds almost the same as Jesus’. In the Lotus of Perfect Law, a son leaves his father’s house. He wastes years in misery. He returns in rags. But here the story takes a very different turn. The father recognizes the son; the son does not recognize the father. The father tells his servants to clean the son up — but does not reveal his identity. He gives the son humble work to do. He waits to see whether the son will become worthy. Only when the son has earned a better human nature, broken his old habits, and proven himself does the father finally reveal who he is and welcome the son as heir.

Kisa kilekile. Hoja kuu iliyo kinyume. Mfano wa Kibudha unafundisha kwamba mwana mpotevu lazima ajipatie njia ya kurudi nyumbani, hatua kwa hatua, kabla neema haijatolewa. Mfano wa Yesu unafundisha kinyume kabisa. Baba anakimbia wakati mwana bado yuko mbali. Joho, pete, na viatu vinakuja kabla mwana hajapata nafasi ya kumaliza ungamo lake. Neema hutangulia kustahili. Hadithi yote inageuka juu ya jambo hilo.Same plot. Opposite central point. The Buddhist parable teaches that the prodigal must earn his way back home, step by step, before grace can be offered. Jesus’ parable teaches the exact opposite. The Father runs while the son is still a great way off. The robe, the ring, and the shoes come before any confession the son has time to finish. Grace precedes earning. The whole story turns on it.

Sasa hili ndilo onyo. Mchungaji anayeufanya mfano wa Yesu kuwa alegoria — anayegeuza kila kipengele kuwa funzo la kimaadili ambalo mwana lazima alitende — ataishia kuhubiri toleo la Kibudha huku akinukuu lile la Kikristo. Kisa kinaonekana kilekile. Hoja inakuwa kinyume chake. Dawa ya hilo ni kuifunga kwanza hoja moja kuu, na kuacha kila kipengele kiitumikie.Now here is the warning. A pastor who allegorizes Jesus’ parable — who turns every detail into a moral lesson the son must perform — will end up preaching the Buddhist version while quoting the Christian one. The plot looks the same. The point becomes the opposite. The cure for that is to lock down the one central point first, and let every detail serve it.

7. Mifano Mitatu Zaidi, Hoja Moja Kuu kwa Kila Mmoja7. Three More Parables, One Central Point Each

Ijaribu kanuni hii kwa mifano mingine mitatu utakayoihubiri mara nyingi.Try the rule on three other parables you will preach often.

Mpanzi (Marko 4). Aina nne za udongo. Matokeo manne. Hoja moja kuu: hali ya moyo ndiyo huamua kinachotokea Neno linapohubiriwa. Usihubiri mahubiri manne tofauti juu ya aina nne za udongo. Hubiri hubiri moja juu ya kama msikilizaji ataipokea mbegu. Aina nne za udongo ni mandhari inayotumikia hoja hiyo.The Sower (Mark 4). Four soils. Four results. One central point: the condition of the heart determines what happens when the Word is preached. Do not preach four separate sermons on four kinds of soil. Preach one sermon on whether the listener will receive the seed. The four soils are scenery serving that point.

Wafanyakazi wa Shamba la Mizabibu (Mathayo 20). Wafanyakazi walioajiriwa saa tofauti wote walilipwa ujira uleule mwisho wa siku. Usiuhubiri kama funzo la uchumi wa kazi. Hauhusu mishahara ya haki. Hoja kuu ni ukarimu wa Mungu haubanwi na hesabu za wanadamu. Mfano huu unawafariji wale waliomjia Kristo wakiwa wamechelewa na unawakemea wale wanaodhani kwamba kufika mapema kunawapa haki kubwa zaidi.The Vineyard Workers (Matthew 20). Workers hired at different hours all paid the same wage at the end of the day. Do not preach this as a lesson in labor economics. It is not about fair wages. The central point is God’s generosity is not constrained by human bookkeeping. The parable comforts those who came to Christ late and rebukes those who think early arrival gives them a higher claim.

Mjane Asiyechoka (Luka 18). Mjane mmoja anaendelea kumrudia kadhi dhalimu mpaka anampa haja yake. Usiufanye kuwa alegoria kwa kumfanya mjane kuwa kanisa na kadhi kuwa Mungu. Hoja si kwamba Mungu anafanana na kadhi dhalimu. Hoja ni kinyume chake: ikiwa hata kadhi dhalimu atakubali kwa sababu ya kusihiwa bila kuchoka, je, si zaidi sana Mungu mwenye haki atasikia maombi yasiyokoma ya watu wake mwenyewe? Kadhi ni mandhari; kudumu katika maombi ndio kiini cha mfano.The Persistent Widow (Luke 18). A widow keeps coming back to an unjust judge until he grants her request. Do not allegorize the widow as the church and the judge as God. The point is not that God resembles an unjust judge. The point is the opposite: if even an unjust judge will yield to persistent pleading, how much more will a righteous God hear the persistent prayers of His own? The judge is scenery; persistence in prayer is the heart of the parable.

8. Wakati Vipengele Vina Uzito8. When Details Do Matter

Kuna jambo moja la pekee lisilofuata kanuni hii, nalo ni muhimu. Yesu Mwenyewe anapoeleza kipengele cha mfano, kipengele hicho si mandhari tena — ni ishara iliyoidhinishwa na Bwana. Katika Marko 4 Yesu anawafasiria wanafunzi wake mfano wa Mpanzi. Anawaambia kwamba mbegu ni Neno la Mungu, njia ni msikilizaji mwenye moyo mgumu, mahali penye miamba ni msikilizaji asiye na kina, miiba ni masumbufu ya dunia, na udongo mzuri ni moyo unaopokea. Tafsiri hizo si ubunifu wa mtu anayefanya alegoria; ni maelezo yaliyoidhinishwa na Mwandishi Mwenyewe. Yatumie.There is one exception to the rule, and it is an important one. When Jesus Himself explains a detail of a parable, that detail is no longer scenery — it is the Lord’s authorized symbol. In Mark 4 Jesus interprets the Sower for His disciples. He tells them the seed is the Word of God, the path is the hardened hearer, the rocky ground is the shallow hearer, the thorns are worldly cares, and the good soil is the receiving heart. Those interpretations are not the allegorizer’s invention; they are the Author’s authorized commentary. Use them.

Yesu asipotuambia kipengele fulani kinawakilisha nini, hatuna ruhusa ya kuamua badala yake. Ndama aliyenona katika Mwana Mpotevu si Meza ya Bwana, hata kama anaweza kulazimishwa kwa werevu kufaa. Dinari mbili katika Msamaria Mwema si maagano mawili. Kadhi wa mjane si Baba. Ukimya wa Mwandishi maana yake ni mandhari, si ishara.When Jesus does not tell us what a detail represents, we do not get to decide for Him. The fatted calf in the Prodigal Son is not the Lord’s Supper, however cleverly it can be made to fit. The two coins in the Good Samaritan are not the two testaments. The widow’s judge is not the Father. Silence from the Author means scenery, not symbol.

9. Njia ya Kimatendo ya Kuhubiri Mfano9. Practical Method for Preaching a Parable

Hatua tano zitalifanya hubiri lako la mfano kuwa la uaminifu. Soma mfano katika mazingira yake — swali linaloulizwa, wasikilizaji wanaozungumziwa, sura ambamo umo. Eleza hoja kuu kwa sentensi moja — ikiwa huwezi kuiandika kwa mstari mmoja, bado hujaipata. Ipime hoja kuu dhidi ya kilele cha hadithi — mstari wenye hisia kali zaidi au wa kushangaza zaidi katika mfano kwa kawaida hubeba uzito. Jenga hubiri juu ya hoja hiyo kuu — si juu ya kila kipengele kimoja baada ya kingine. Tumia vipengele kama vielelezo, si kama mafundisho tofauti.Five steps will keep your parable sermon honest. Read the parable in its setting — the question being asked, the audience being addressed, the chapter in which it sits. State the central point in one sentence — if you cannot write it on a single line, you have not yet found it. Test the central point against the climax of the story — the most emotional or surprising line in the parable usually carries the weight. Build the sermon on that central point — not on every detail in turn. Use the details as illustration, not as separate doctrines.

Mfano unaohubiriwa kwa namna hii utawaka katikati ya kusanyiko lako kama Yesu alivyokusudia. Mfano uliofanywa alegoria utawavutia kwa werevu wako kwa dakika kumi na kutowalisha chochote kwa wiki nzima. Chagua ule unaowaka.A parable preached this way will burn through your congregation the way Jesus meant it to. A parable allegorized will impress them with your cleverness for ten minutes and feed them nothing for the week. Choose the burning one.

10. Mchore Baba Akikimbia10. Paint the Father Running

Henri Nouwen aliwahi kukaa saa mbili katika jumba la makumbusho la Hermitage huko St. Petersburg akisimama mbele ya mchoro wa Rembrandt wa Mwana Mpotevu. Kadiri mwanga wa mchana ulivyobadilika nje, mchoro nao ulibadilika — vipengele tofauti vikiinuka kwenye mwanga katika pembe tofauti za jua. Nouwen aliandika, Kulikuwa na michoro mingi katika Mwana Mpotevu kama yalivyokuwa mabadiliko ya siku.Henri Nouwen once spent two hours in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg standing before Rembrandt’s painting of the Prodigal Son. As the daylight outside shifted, the painting shifted with it — different details rising into the light at different angles of the sun. Nouwen wrote, There were as many paintings in the Prodigal Son as there were changes in the day.

Mfano mkuu uko hivyo. Una pande nyingi. Vipengele vingi. Pembe nyingi za kuustaajabia. Lakini una chanzo kimoja tu cha mwanga. Kipate chanzo hicho na kila kipengele kitang’aa pale kilipo. Kipoteze chanzo hicho na mchoro wote unakuwa giza.A great parable is like that. It has many facets. Many details. Many angles from which to admire it. But it has only one central light source. Find that source and every detail glows where it sits. Lose that source and the painting goes dark.

Mchungaji, unapohubiri mfano, mchore Baba akikimbia. Chora swali linalojibiwa. Chora mwanga ule mmoja ambao Yesu aliuangaza chumbani. Viatu visivyolingana vitajishughulikia vyenyewe.Pastor, when you preach a parable, paint the Father running. Paint the question being answered. Paint the single light Jesus shone into the room. The mismatched shoes will take care of themselves.