15. Chapter 15: His Use Of Contrast
Chapter 15 His Use Of Contrast What do you anticipate can be made of this topic?
Run down the following list of words with your eye and think the corresponding opposite in each case.
Light.
True.
Old.
Summer.
Positive.
Beautiful.
Health.
God. Did it require much time to do so?
Write the opposites in a parallel column. Of course this is one form of association of ideas— that by contrast. You notice how natural and easy it is to have associations of this kind. Make a list of other pairs of opposites.
What are some of the effects of the use of contrast? Think of its use in art, in handling forms and colors.
Placing opposites over against each other reveals differences between members of a single group, exhibits the dissimilar qualities in the things compared, emphasizes their antagonism, has a pictorial quality and so appeals to the imagination, and is likewise an aid to attention and memory. For all these reasons the use of contrast is a great aid in the art of expository teaching. Did Jesus make use of the principle of contrast in his teaching? Make a list of illustrations involving contrast. Usually these illustrations are most obvious where the contrast is between just two persons, but often the contrast appears also in a more complex situation. As used by Jesus the contrast is not introduced primarily for artistic purposes, but for didactic purposes. Still, its use so heightens the effect that artists readily spread such scenes on canvas, as, say, the two men in the temple, or the Last Judgment.
Let us study the following illustrations of contrast:
1. Lesson: The Fulfilling of the Law.
Formula of contrast: “Ye have heard that it hath been said unto you . . . but I say unto you.”
These contrasts appear, of course, in the Sermon on the Mount.
How many times is the formula repeated? (See Matthew 5:21-22; Matthew 5:27-28; Matthew 5:33-34; Matthew 5:38-39; Matthew 5:43-44.) 2.Lesson: Sincerity in Religion.
Contrast: The hypocrites and Jesus’ disciples.
These contrasts likewise appear in the Sermon on the Mount.
How many times is this contrast made? (See Matthew 6:2-18.)
Study the use of the adversative “but” in the following passages: Matthew 5:22; Matthew 5:28; Matthew 5:34; Matthew 5:39; Matthew 5:44; Matthew 6:3; Matthew 6:6; Matthew 6:17. What is its effect?
3. Lesson:Godtie CommonFatherof All.
Contrasts: The one lost sheep and the ninety and nine. The one lost coin and the nine. The one lost son and the elder brother. (See Luke 15.) What social classes are typified by each side of the contrast?
4.Lesson:True Obedience.
Contrast: The two sons commanded to work in the vineyard. Matthew 21:23-32. Who are these two sons?
5. Lesson: True Treasure.
Contrast: Treasure on earth and in heaven. Matthew 6:19-21.
What two classes are here intended?
6. Lesson: Watchfulness.
Contrast: Wise and foolish virgins. Matthew 25:1-13. What new feature of contrast appears in this illustration?
7. Lesson: The Final Separation of Good and Bad.
Contrast: The sheep and the goats. Matthew 25:30-40.
How large are the contrasted groups in the illustration?
8. Lesson: The Real Neighbor.
Contrast: The Priest, the Levite, and the Good Samaritan. Luke 10:25-37.
What variation in the use of contrast appears here? In the same way find the lesson taught and the contrast used in each of the following passages: Matthew 5:17-20; Matthew 7:24-27; John 4:3; John 4:14; John 4:21-22; Matthew 18:21-25; Luke 12:4-5; Luke 12:8-9; Luke 12:10; Luke 18:9-14.
How is the principle of contrast as used in the parable of the Talents and the Founds like, and also unlike, that in the parable of the Good Samaritan?
How does contrast appear in the parable of the Sower? In the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus? In the directions concerning whom to invite to a supper?
Note that in the parable of the Prodigal Son the contrast is, as usual, between one and one; in the parable of the Good Samaritan between one and two; in the parables of the Talents and Pounds between two and one; in the parable of the Sower between one and three kinds of soil; in the parable of the Lost Coin between, one and nine; in the parable of the Lost Sheep between one and ninety and nine; In the parable of the Virgins between five and five; and in the portrayal of the Last Judgment between two great groups embracing all. Have you still other variations to note?
Perhaps there is no phase of the method used by Jesus as a teacher that more clearly shows its esthetic quality than this of contrast. It reveals his feeling for the form of spoken discourse, as a part of one’s effectiveness in presenting ideas.
If you were teaching the lesson of honesty to a group of boys and wanted to use the principle of contrast, how would you do it?
What is the danger in telling boys about dishonest boys?