Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi

Such Christological readings that see Jesus as the protagonist of all of his stories are not “wrong”; they are legitimate interpretations in light of church doctrine, and they are often profound.

What does a parent do to show a love that the child never felt? The parable shows us that indulgence does not buy love, but withholding can stifle it. And so we search, desperately, because our family is not whole. Sheep and coins are easy; children less so. What

Once we come to associate the parables with children’s stories, it becomes difficult to see them as anything but.

Lack of education is not the same thing as hatred; misinformation is not the same thing as slander.

To be in his presence is not only to be challenged and comforted; it is to celebrate at table.

For the women, the parable offered a mirror of family dynamics, not an allegory about God, Christians, and Jews.

If we get the context wrong, we’ll get Jesus wrong as well.

Recognize that the one you have lost may be right in your own household. Do whatever it takes to find the lost and then celebrate with others, both so that you can share the joy and so that the others will help prevent the recovered from ever being lost again. Don’t wait until you receive an apology; you may never get one. Don’t wait until you can

Sunday morning has become in far too many settings the occasion for a pep talk rather than provocation;