Understand The Paradox - The Parable to unlock God's Word

Matthew 13:35

“That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.”

King James Version (KJV)

Mark 4:11

“And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables:”

King James Version (KJV)

Paradoxon  

 par- para  word-forming element, originally in Greek-derived words, meaning "alongside, beyond; altered; contrary; irregular, abnormal," from Greek para- from para (prep.) "beside, near; issuing from; against, contrary to,"

3861. paradoxos  Strong's Concordance paradoxos: contrary to opinion or expectation Original Word: παράδοξος, ον Part of Speech: Adjective Transliteration: paradoxos Phonetic Spelling: (par-ad'-ox-os) Definition: contrary to opinion or expectation Usage: unexpected, strange, wonderful, astonishing. Word Origin from para and doxa Definition contrary to opinion or expectation Thayer's Greek Lexicon STRONGS NT 3861: παράδοξος παράδοξος, παράδοξον (παρά contrary to (see παρά, IV. 2), and δόξα opinion; hence, equivalent to ὁ παρά τήν δόξαν ὤν), unexpected, uncommon, incredible, wonderful: neuter plural Luke 5:26 (A. V. strange things,  Luke 5:26 “And they were all amazed, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, We have seen strange things to day.” King James Version (KJV) Strong's Concordance doxa: opinion (always good in N.T.), hence praise, honor, glory Original Word: δόξα, ης, ἡ Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine Transliteration: doxa Phonetic Spelling: (dox'-ah) Definition: opinion (always good in NT), praise, honor, glory Usage: honor, renown; glory, an especially divine quality, the unspoken manifestation of God, splendor. HELPS Word-studies 1391 dóksa (from dokeō, "exercising personal opinion which determines value") – glory. 1391 /dóksa ("glory") corresponds to the OT word, kabo (OT 3519, "to be heavy"). Both terms convey God's infinite, intrinsic worth (substance, essence). [1391 (dóksa) literally means "what evokes good opinion, i.e. that something has inherent, intrinsic worth" (J. Thayer).]

God's paradoxical nature conceals His secrets to the lost world and hides his children by His word. 

par·a·dox·i·cal

Adjective

seemingly absurd or self-contradictory:

1 Corinthians 2:14

King James Version


14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

1 Corinthians 1:27

King James Version

27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;

Jesus spoke in parables.  He was asked often by both his apostles and followers as well as the Jewish Leaders who hated him for the reason.  Matthew 13:35 and Mark 4:11 are the major clues as to why.

Jesus used Parables to reveal mysteries (the things of God hidden to the lost world) to his own, and to conceal the kingdom mysteries to the lost world. 

A Parable in the context of a figure of speech is synonymous with a Paradox.

Let's join our Lord as he looks down and laughs at the heathen. Psalm 2:4 KJB. How many times have you heard an Atheist or Agnostic or the fake Christian say, "How can I believe the Bible? It is full of contradictions."  And to tell the truth, it is in their eyes. 

However...for the saved children of the living God... we are not asleep as the world but awake and sober and we understand.  Praise God forever Amen!  Hallelujah!  Maranatha!  Even So, Come, Lord Jesus. Amen!

Let's study the meaning of the Paradox:

See my previous studies on how there are NEVER contradictions in the Bible 

Why does God use Paradox? (thethirdheaventraveler.com)

Defining Paradox

A paradox [is] a statement that seems absurd or self-contradictory but… turns out to be true.” A paradox consists of two truths that, when laid side by side, appear to contradict. However, upon further reflection, they prove to be compatible. “While real contradictions are impossible to reconcile, paradoxes are merely difficult to reconcile.”

“The Christian faith is full of paradoxes primarily because the Christian faith is rooted in divine mysteries. Paradox is the language of mystery – the best way to speak of divine mysteries.” – Richard J. Vincent

The Oxford English Compact Dictionary page 2072:

How the Saint sees the Paradox:

A statement or proposition which on the face of it seems self-contradictory, absurd, or at variance with common sense though on investigation or when explained, it may be proved to be well founded or (according to some) essentially true.

How the world sees and defines a paradox:

Applied to a proposition or statement that is actually self-contradictory or contradictory to reason or ascertained truth. And so essentially absurd or false. 

Contrary to received opinion or expectation. A statement or tenet contrary to received opinion or belief.  Often with the implication that it is marvelous or incredible. Sometimes with unfavorable connotation as being discordant with what is held to be established truth, and hence absurd or fantastic with sometimes the connotation as a correction of vulgar error.  1581 Marbeck Notes 791 Paradox is a strange sentence contrary to the opinion of the most part. 1656: Hobbes Liberty Necessity, chance. The Bishop often speaks of Paradoxes with such scorn or detestation that a simple reader would take a paradox either for felony or some other heinous crime, whereas perhaps a more judicious reader knows that a paradox is an opinion not yet generally received.  1697 Burgersdiclus Logic: A Paradox is said to be a problem true against the common opinion such as that viz the earth moves which though it be true, yet may it be so against the common opinion and therefore a Paradox. A conceit contrary to opinion but not to reason. A paralogism is contrary to reason. Hypomone.  A conclusion contrary to what the audience has been led up to expect. 

The Word of God is Jesus Christ and beyond the Word we see ALL CREATION in the quandary of the Paradox.

The creator of all things comes as a Servant who was rejected by His own?  Born in a manger during the most repressive IRON ruled Kingdom on earth to die the most humiliating, painful death and dumped outside the camp.

THE FIRSTLING OF AN ASS - we who were wretched sinners redeemed by the sacrifice of the LAMB.  Exodus 34:20 KJB.

QUANTUM PHYSICS best understood by the Paradox. 

 INFORMATION

The battle for reality... The more science learns, the more they realize they know NOTHING...  

A new quantum paradox throws the foundations of observed reality into question (phys.org)

Quantum mechanics works extremely well to describe the behavior of tiny objects, such as atoms or particles of light (photons). But that behavior is … very odd.

In many cases, quantum theory doesn't give definite answers to questions such as "where is this particle right now?" Instead, it only provides probabilities for where the particle might be found when it is observed.

For Niels Bohr, one of the founders of the theory a century ago, that's not because we lack information, but because physical properties like "position" don't actually exist until they are measured.

And what's more, because some properties of a particle can't be perfectly observed simultaneously—such as position and velocity—they can't be real simultaneously.

No less a figure than Albert Einstein found this idea untenable. In a 1935 article with fellow theorists Boris Podolsky and Nathan Rosen, he argued there must be more to reality than what quantum mechanics could describe.

The Key to major paradoxical scripture.

We are Dead.  We are Alive. 

We are DEAD and HID with Christ Part 2 (thethirdheaventraveler.com)

We must understand that to live we must die. We must know we are dead and hid. 

Colossians 3:3 KJV

For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

John 12:24

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.”

King James Version (KJV)

John 10:10

King James Version

10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

Romans 6:11

Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Galatians 2:20


“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

parable (n.)

from Latin parabola "comparison," from Greek parabolē "a comparison, parable," literally "a throwing beside," hence "a juxtaposition," from para- "alongside"

jux·ta·po·si·tion


the fact of two things being seen or placed close together with contrasting effect:

Literary device that implies comparison or contrast

Juxtaposition is a literary device that implies comparison or contrast.  juxtaposition by placing two entities side by side to create dramatic or ironic contrast. Juxtaposition is a form of implied comparison in that there is no overt comparison or inference on the part of the writer.

*gwele-

*gwelə-, also *gwel-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to throw, reach," with extended sense "to pierce."

hyperbola; hyperbole
literally "a throwing beyond,"para- (1)


fabrications
fairy stories
fairy tales
falsehoods
fantasies
fibs
fictions
figments
fish stories
hogwash
inventions
legends
lies
myths
old chestnuts
old saws
one for the birds
parables
romances
tales
tall stories
untruths
white lies
whoppers
yarns


figure of speech non-literal communication

allegory
allusion
analogue
analogy
anticlimax
antistrophe
antithesis
aposiopesis
apostrophe
asyndeton
bathos
comparison

device
echoism
ellipsis
euphemism
euphuism
exaggeration
expression
flourish
flower
hyperbole
image
imagery
irony

manner of speaking
metaphor

ornament
oxymoron
parable
paradox
parallel
personification
proteron
rhetoric
sarcasm

• satire
• simile

noun contradiction, puzzle

SYNONYMS FOR  paradox

absurdity
ambiguity
anomaly
enigma
inconsistency
mystery
oddity
catch
error
mistake
nonsense
opposite
reverse
Catch-22

An oxymoron is a figure of speech, usually one or two words, in which seemingly contradictory terms appear side by side. 

Examples:  Bittersweet, Old News, A Lead Balloon, etc. 

This contradiction is also known as a paradox. Writers and poets have used it for centuries as a literary device to describe life's inherent conflicts and incongruities. In speech, oxymorons can lend a sense of humor, irony, or sarcasm.