The meaning of the Gospel parables.
The Lord Jesus Christ often taught the Gospel in the form of
short allegoric stories, taking examples from nature or contemporary social
life. Such short stories are called parables. Parables were already known in
the Old Testament times; however, they acquired their specific perfection and
beauty through the lips of the God-Man.
There were several reasons for the Savior to put
His teaching into parables. First, the deep spiritual truths He spoke about
were hard for His listeners to understand. But a specific, colorful story based
on the details of everyday life could impress the memory for many years, and a
man who tried to articulate the sense of that story would contemplate it, get
into the depth of its contents, and thus approach the underlying wisdom.
Second, people who did not fully understand the Savior's teachings could
interpret them in their own ways and disseminate the misinterpretation. But the
parables saved the integrity of Christís teaching by shaping its contents into
a specific tale. Third, parables may prevail over direct instructions because
they not only contain the universal Divine Law, but also demonstrate its
applicability to oneís private and social life. Christís parables are also
remarkable because, in spite of the centuries that have passed, they have lost
none of their visual clarity and marvellous beauty. Parables are the living
witnesses of the close unity that exists between the spiritual and physical
worlds, between the internal cause and its manifestation in life.
In the Gospels, we find over thirty parables. They
can be classified according to the three periods of the Savior's public
ministry. The Savior told the first group of parables soon after the Sermon on
the Mount, in the time between the second and the third Passovers of His public
ministry. These initial parables told about the conditions for dissemination
and strengthening of the Kingdom
of God, or the Church amongst men. This first group includes the
parables about the sower, the tares, the seed growing in the ground, the
mustard seed, the goodly pearl and others. These will be discussed in chapter
The second group of parables was told by the Lord
by the end of the third year of His public ministry. In these parables the Lord
told about Godís infinite mercy to those who repent, and worded various ethical
rules. In this group we find the parables about the lost sheep, the lost son,
the wicked servant, the good Samaritan, the rich fool, the wise builder, the
unjust judge, etc. These parables will be discussed in Chapters 2 and 3.
In the third and last group of parables, which
were told shortly before His sufferings on the Cross, the Lord spoke about
Godís grace and manís responsibility before God; he also foretold the punishment
for the Jews who did not believe in Him, His Second Coming, the Last Judgement,
the reward of the righteous, and eternal life. This last group includes the
parables about the barren fig tree, the wicked husbandmen, the men called to
the wedding, the talents, the ten virgins, the laborers who received equal pay
and others. These parables are in Chapter 4.
Go to the home page