Jesus, Etc.
Quotable: The messiah on storytelling.
One brief musing about storytelling per day (or, more likely, as frequently as I can muster).
April 3, 2026
ON THIS GOOD FRIDAY, which I do not particularly mark in my own spiritual life, I thought it might be interesting to pause for a quick glimpse at the Bible and storytelling — including parables, allegories and “proclaiming.”
There’s a lot to say, of course, and I’m but a dilettante in matters religious. So I’m not going to dive particularly deep today (lots of work as well), but I think it’s worth pausing to consider for a moment.
The Bible is full OF stories. But let’s take a quick glance at what it has to say ABOUT stories. Two quotes stand out. The first one is about how Jesus talked to groups of followers and potential followers — and his use of storytelling, or parables, to do so.
“Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable. So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet: 'I will open my mouth and tell stories. I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world.’”
— Matthew 13:34-35
The second is likely more familiar to the layperson, and it’s something that’s been in my brain since I was a child, though I had no religious education of any kind. It codifies the oral tradition as a crucial way of conveying stories, information — and, certainly not incidentally, faith — across the years and centuries.
"Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation.”
— Joel 1:3
Almost all modern Western storytelling points back to the Bible in some way, many biblical scholars have asserted — be it content, approach, method or technique. So any good storyteller, no matter the religion, might consider the Bible as a resource to think about how stories are told, how they spread and what they are designed to do. Writing this little post today, in fact, has caused me to recommit to something I meant to do years ago: read the Bible for what I can learn about storytelling.
Finally: Consider, going into this weekend, this renowned first line from the Gospel of John, salient to any storyteller on any platform in any era:
“In the beginning was the word.”
And now, Wilco.
To Ponder
If you grew up reading the Bible, what stories stuck with you? Why do you think that was?
Putting aside actual religion, why do you think Bible stories have been so effective and enduring across the generations? Do they have specific characteristics that make them so?
What is the relationship between storytelling and religious teaching or indoctrination? What can we learn as storytellers from that question?
If you’re interested in reading about how everyday life and unusual things shape us, check out my other Substack, Unsorted but Significant:
