© Kerry M. Pierce
Much of Jesus’ teaching recorded in the Gospels is in the form of parables. Luke and Matthew are especially saturated with parables.
The Parables of Jesus are brief, engaging stories spoken by our Lord. They are excellent. For me, they are riddles to be dug into. They require a bit of effort and reflection, but there is treasure to be found.
One of the most helpful suggestions for deciphering parables is to understand the context of the parable. Why did the Gospel writer put that parable into his narrative in the particular place he did? What was the setting in which Jesus used the parable and what was its meaning to his first century audience? For example, the travelers and terrain of the road between Jerusalem and Jericho would have been familiar to the first century Palestinian audience hearing the Good Samaritan Parable.
I try to deal with each parable as a unique story with its own particular intent. I start by looking for one main point, there may be more, but I start by looking for just one.
My biggest weakness when studying parables is to bring my personal 21st Century agenda to the text. I don’t recommend that approach.
When my spiritual growth is stagnant, I find reading and reflecting on Jesus’ parables is a good way to initiate a Spiritual growth spurt.
In part 2, I will begin to unpack the accompanying image.