The tax collector and Pharisee

Luke
I find the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector (see Luke 18:9-14) almost similar to the parable of the lost son.  The Pharisee is sort of close to God, in that he is always trying to do his duty and pray and all that, but he really doesn't understand God at all.  The tax collector has little regard for the law, has previously abandoned God, but realizes his need for God and repents from the depths of his heart.  He desires to get back to God.  The Pharisee is like the older brother in the parable of the lost son, and the tax collector is like the son who ran away from home.
The tax collector, as Jesus points out, is the one who God really listens to.  That doesn't mean that if you haven't committed terrible sins, God won't listen to you.  The point here is that we have to approach God with sincerity of heart and in humility.  That was the prayer of the tax collector, and that should be our prayer too.

New wine in new wineskins

Key verses

2 Kings 13:20-21 - "Elisha died and was buried.  Now Moabite raiders used to enter the country every spring.  Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man’s body into Elisha’s tomb. When the body touched Elisha’s bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet."

Luke
I was just enlightened as to the meaning behind the new wine in new wineskins and old wine in old wineskins parable that Jesus told as recounted in Luke 5:36-39.  Before now I didn't catch the connection between what he was saying and what he meant.  In Gill's Exposition on the Bible, I found out that the old wine was likened to the Old Testament and the old wineskins were the Pharisees and Sadducees type of people.  It's easy to see this connection when you read this paragraph of Luke with the paragraphs beforehand, but my bible has them all separated with headings.
Anyway, the new wine certainly burst the old wineskins when the Pharisees listened to Jesus but rarely accepted what he was saying.  However, the disciples, who weren't as learned in the law, as well as the tax collectors who didn't pay much attention to the Old Testament, were new wineskins who readily accepted Jesus' new message of life and hope for all people.
Perhaps you already knew the meaning to this parable, but for me, today's reading was yet another lesson in reading contextually, and reading commentaries.

Follow this link to find additional commentary on Luke 5:36-39 at bible.cc.

Speaking in parables

Mark
Mark 4:33-34 is curious:
33With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. 34He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.
Why would Jesus specifically use parables?
Gill suggests that Jesus spoke in parables because the crowd would have up and killed him directly if he hadn't cloaked his message.  William Barclay, another theologian, suggests that Jesus spoke in parables to ensure that only the devoted followers would stick around to truly find out what he was all about.  My take is somewhat along the lines of Barclay's, that they wouldn't have accepted his message if he had just outright said it.  So, parables make some sense!  They require that the listener actually think about what was being said and work out the message that is hidden within, rather than taking the message at face value and probably forgetting about it soon after

Here is a link to sermon on Mark 4:33-34 by Charles Spurgeon (click here).