“I suspect that Jesus spoke many of his parables as a kind of sad and holy joke and that that may be part of why he seemed reluctant to explain them because if you have to explain a joke, you might as well save your breath.” IfsWellsKindMayMightJesusHolyJokesBreathsSpokesSuspectsReluctantParables Author:Frederick Buechner
“What I notice, as a historian reading stories about so-called nature miracles, the walking on the water, or the miraculous catch of fishes, they're done especially for the insiders, for the disciples. Usually healings and exorcisms are done for people along the road, as it were. Jesus doesn't come on the water to save the fishing fleet from Capernaum, he comes on the water to save the disciples. It's a parable, dummy, it's a parable, don't you get it? If the leadership of the church takes off in a boat without Jesus, it will sink, it will get nowhere.” PeopleIfsDoneStoriesReadingJesusWaterChurchHealingWalkingMiracleFishesBoatFishingHistorianDiscipleMiraculousParablesInsidersDummyExorcismReading Stories Author:John Dominic Crossan
“Jesus told parables. When he wanted to say something really profound about God, he went into parable. I don't find it surprising then that when earliest Christianity wanted to say something profound about Jesus, they went into parable too. That doesn't mean everything is a parable. When it says Jesus was in Nazareth I don't think that's a parable, I think Jesus was in Nazareth. When it talks about Jesus walking on the water, I don't think that's the point at all, I think the point is that the church without Jesus sinks.” ThinkingMeanWantedJesusWaterChurchChristianityWalkingProfoundSurprisingParablesNazareth Author:John Dominic Crossan
“Jesus did not give the parables to teach us how to live. He gave them, I believe, to correct our notions about who God is and who God loves.” GivingBelieveJesusI BelieveTeachNotionGod LoveParablesWho God Is Book:What's So Amazing about Grace? Source: What's So Amazing about Grace?
“I believe that Jesus was both priest and poet. Imagine those powerful parables! My experience as a priest tells me it's not possible to reach the hearts of the congregants without a bit of poetry and storytelling.” BelieveHeartJesusI BelieveBitsPowerfulImaginePoetStorytellingPriestsParables Author:Uwem Akpan
“Some of the parables that Matthew records and that Jesus delivered as part of his Olivet Discourse-such as the ten virgins and their lamps or the servants and the talents they were given-are some of the best known of Jesus' teachings. Reading them in the context of his prophecies about the end of the world, however, makes them clearly parables of preparation. To be on his right hand with his "sheep" rather than at his left hand with the "goats" at his return, we must prepare ourselves now.” WorldEndsHandsReadingJesusLeftGivenKnownRecordsTeachingTalentReturnTenPreparationServantSheepProphecyDiscourseVirginsLampsEnd Of The WorldGoatsMatthewParablesLeft Hand Author:Eric D. Huntsman
“The teachings of Jesus begin in story and end in symbol - they begin in parable and end in us. These are not Bible stories that we learn; these are our stories.” EndsStoriesJesusTeachingSymbolsParablesBible Stories Book:Soultsunami: Sink or Swim in New Millennium Culture Source: Soultsunami: Sink or Swim in New Millennium Culture