Parables have a long history within Judaism as a way of teaching spiritual lessons, so it is not unusual for an itinerant rabbi from Nazareth to use them in his teaching. The nature of a parable is one of comparing one thing to another –often in an exaggerated or surprising way—to make a point. Parables are short stories that are intended to provoke thought and are open to interpretation.
All of us who have come up in other Christian traditions have been exposed to the parables of Jesus as well as various interpretations of them. Some of those interpretations have likely missed the mark in terms of explaining what the parable meant. This has been a problem from the earliest stages of Christianity. As a matter of fact, a few of the parables attributed to Jesus were developed by his followers decades after his death! Even the gospel writers are giving us their interpretations (or misinterpretations) from that time. Sometimes it is helpful to our understanding of these ancient stories if we set aside what we’ve been taught and look at them through the eyes of a person living in 1st-century Palestine and hearing these stories told for the first time.
Join the Topics in Liberal Christian Thought group for a look at the historical and cultural context of the parables.
If you will be attending, please RSVP to Jim Maletta so we have enough chairs ready and the materials can be sent to you in advance.