where I reside, also with the one crushed and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly ones and to revive the heart of the ones being crushed.” Observe that in every case the heart must be involved; there must be a going much deeper than a mere mental recognition of one’s need. Certainly it can be said of those sincerely seeking Jehovah and desiring to return to him, that he, on his part, will return to them. Recovery is still possible for such.—Acts 17:26, 27; Jer. 29:12-14; Isa. 57:15.

²⁵ There are other interesting and important aspects to consider on this subject, and there is much we can learn for our guidance and encouragement from the Bible. We will therefore look into one of Jesus’ parables. It is particularly appropriate to our theme and has its own distinctive appeal. We refer to the well-known parable, or illustration, of the prodigal son.

A Young Man Goes Astray

 1. (a) Why did Jesus frequently use illustrations? (b) How did Jesus disclose the real cause of the difficulty?

JESUS gave many illustrations, causing us to wonder why he so frequently used that method of teaching. Usually the purpose of an illustration is to make a thing easily understood in an impressive way. But there can be exceptions to this general rule, as is evident in this case. The disciples asked Jesus: “Why is it you speak to them by the use of illustrations?” When we read his answer, we are at once struck by his reference to the very things we have been stressing, regarding the need to come to one’s senses and the all-important heart attitude. He told his disciples: “To you it is granted to understand the sacred secrets of the kingdom of the heavens, but to those people it is not granted.” This might seem an arbitrary decision on Jesus’ part, but he went on to show that the real cause of the difficulty lay with the people themselves. Quoting from Isaiah’s prophecy as having fulfillment in his day, he said: “For the heart of this people has grown thick, and with their ears they have heard with annoyance, and they have shut their eyes; that they might never see with their eyes and hear with their ears and get the sense of it with their hearts and turn back, and I heal them.”—Matt. 13:10, 11,15, 34.

 2. How did Jesus’ method of teaching serve as a test, with what result?

² Ah, yes! The majority of the people in