The parables of Jesus allude to the Age to Come which is a happening which forever alludes us and yet is near at hand. They unveil a future which already is making an impact upon the present. Rather than listing a set of moral precepts, the parables yield a glimpse of an age in which an entirely new stance is appropriate. Just as a natural disaster, a wedding, a funeral or a war requires distinctive behavior, so the parables set forth the context of the Reign of God which authorizes a whole new approach to life. The parables do not detail what we are to do, they suggest what is possible and fitting now that God has acted decisively in history and the powers of Satan, though still amply in evidence, are in principle undone.
In this study we shall look at the parables first to discover as nearly as we can what Jesus actually said and meant when He spoke to His first hearers. We shall also look at what these parables reveal to us. In other words, we shall seek both to interpret the parables and allow them to interpret us.
