The Parables

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Jesus taught in parables, earthly stories with heavenly meanings. "All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them" (Matthew 13:34). The stories drew on farming, fishing, weddings, money, and family life, and they reveal as much as they conceal: those who wanted to hear understood, and those who did not turned away [7].

Parables of the Kingdom

• The Sower (Matthew 13:3-23). Seed falls on four soils: the path, rocks, thorns, and good ground, picturing four responses to the word of God.
• The Mustard Seed and the Leaven (Matthew 13:31-33). The kingdom starts small and grows until it fills the world.
• The Hidden Treasure and the Pearl (Matthew 13:44-46). The kingdom is worth everything a person has.

Parables of Grace

• The Lost Sheep, Coin, and Son (Luke 15). A shepherd leaves ninety-nine to find one; a woman searches for a lost coin; a father welcomes home a wayward son, running to meet him (15:20). Together they show God's joy over one sinner who repents.
• The Pharisee and the Publican (Luke 18:9-14). The humble man who prayed "God be merciful to me a sinner" went home justified.
• The Workers in the Vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16). God's generosity does not follow human reckoning.

Parables of Love and Duty

• The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). When a lawyer asked who his neighbor was, Jesus told of a despised Samaritan who helped a wounded stranger, and ended: "Go, and do thou likewise" (Luke 10:37).
• The Sheep and the Goats (Matthew 25:31-46). The King says to the righteous: "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me" (25:40).

Parables of Readiness and Stewardship

• The Rich Fool (Luke 12:16-21), who stored up goods but was not "rich toward God."
• The Talents (Matthew 25:14-30), where servants are judged by faithfulness with what they were given.
• The Ten Virgins (Matthew 25:1-13), a call to be ready for the Bridegroom's return.

Why Parables?

Parables made truth memorable, drew listeners into the story, and let them judge themselves. A story like the Good Samaritan lodges in the mind in a way an argument would not. Many have noted that these stories, simple in form, have shaped the moral imagination of the world [8].

CHAPTER 8