One of Jesus’ most distinctive traits as a teacher was his extensive use of parables, short stories using everyday images to deliver messages on spiritual themes. While most teachers use analogies from time to time, this was a particular hallmark of Jesus’s teaching. Depending on how you define the term, the Gospels count from between thirty to over eighty parables. Moreover, parables make up a significant proportion of Jesus’ most famous teachings. While these are familiar texts and I’ve reflected on them often over the years, I’m always aware that our reading of them can suffer from our familiarity with them. Like a knock-knock joke we’ve heard too many times, our minds jump immediately to our expected understanding of them without actually hearing what the story is saying. And so, they’re ripe for the more intentional kind of thought and hearing my Integral Hermeneutic method can provide.
Over the Summer of 2025 I did just this:
Introduction and Context
The Parables Discourse of Matthew 13
- The Parable the Sower (Story)
- The Parable of the Sower (Jesus’ Interpretation)
- The Parable of the Weeds and the Wheat (Story)
- The Parable of the Weeds and the Wheat (Jesus’ Interpretation)
- The Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Leaven
- The Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl
- The Parable of the Net
- Scribes for the Kingdom (with section summary)
The Parables of Grace in Luke
- The Parables of the Lost Sheep and Lost Coin
- The Parable of the Merciful Father and His Wasteful Son
- The Parable of the Merciful Father and His Dutiful Son
- The Parable of the Unjust Steward
- The Parable of the Good Samaritan
- Excursus: Who Were the Pharisees?
- The Parable of the Tax-Collector and the Pharisee
- The Parable of the Great Banquet in Luke
Matthew Root 