What Is Parable?
A parable is a short story that conveys a deeper truth through a scene from everyday life, and it is Jesus' most distinctive way of teaching. The Gospels note that 'without a parable, he didn't speak to them'. The subjects are familiar: a farmer sowing seed, a woman mixing yeast into dough, a shepherd going after a lost sheep, a son leaving home. The familiarity is deceptive; parables summon the hearer to a decision and often overturn expectations: the exemplary neighbor is a Samaritan, the late-hired worker receives full pay. According to Jesus, parables both hide and reveal truth among crowds of whom he says 'hearing, they don't hear, neither do they understand': a window to the open heart, a curtain to the closed one. Most parables speak of the kingdom of God; Luke's sequence of the lost — sheep, coin, son — pictures God's joy in seeking the lost. Reading a parable is less about extracting a single 'lesson' than entering the story and hearing the question it asks of you.