The Parables of Christ

“With what shall we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use to explain it?” (Mark 4:30)

The gospels are full of short stories and sayings, called ‘parables’, that Christ used to teach people about God. Some of them, such as the Parable of the Good Samaritan and the Parable of the Prodigal Son, are among the most famous stories found in the Bible.

Preaching on the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard, Pope St John Paul II explained: “Our Lord often taught through parables like this one. By using images from daily life, he led his hearers to insights about the Kingdom or Reign of God.”

He went on: “Using parables, he was able to raise their minds and hearts from what is seen to what is unseen. When we remember that the things of this world already bear the imprint of God’s Kingdom, it is not surprising that the imagery of the parables is so well suited to the Gospel message.”

The imagery Jesus used was drawn from the world in which he lived. Examples include a farmer who found weeds in his field, a woman who was making bread, a manager facing the sack and a servant who was in lots of debt. This helped people to relate to his teachings.

Having said that, Christ’s listeners did have to listen carefully to fully understand his parables. People also reacted to them differently. The crowds were generally able to understand the simpler stories (Mark 4:33). The Pharisees understood his parables, but resented their meaning (Matthew 21:45,46). Even St Peter had to ask about what some of them meant (Matthew 15:15; Luke 12:41).

Roughly speaking, there are between 30-40 parables in the three ‘Synoptic’ Gospels (i.e. Matthew, Mark and Luke). This is because scholars disagree on the exact number. Most of the parables are obviously parables – often because Christ described them as such. However, some sayings could be classed as either parables or proverbs, depending on your point of view.

The Gospel of St John doesn’t include parables in quite the same way. Rather, it records other kinds of picture language, such as Christ’s ‘I am’ sayings and a symbolic theme presenting Jesus as the ‘Lamb of God’.

Some of the parables, such as the Parable of the Pearl, are very short – a mere sentence or two. Others are long and detailed, such as the Parable of the Prodigal Son, which is a tale with several twists and turns. Some of the parables have deeper symbolic meanings. When he was alone with his disciples, Christ explained several of them in more detail (Mark 4:34).

This neo-iconic painting by Peter Koenig, which hangs in the church hall of St Edward’s in Kettering, pictures eight of the parables from the Gospel of St Luke. His is the gospel that includes the most parables. Starting from the top left corner and moving clockwise, look out for the:

1. Parable of the Good Father (Luke 11:11-13)
2. Parable of the Eye of the Needle (Luke 18:24-27)
3. Parable of the Persistent Widow (Luke 18:1-8)
4. Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32)
5. Parable of the Log and the Splinter (Luke 6:41-42)
6. Parable of the Blind leading the Blind (Luke 6:39-40)
7. Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders (Luke 6:46-49)
8. Parable of the Rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31)

In the centre, Christ is pictured as ‘the Alpha and the Omega’, a symbolic statement from the Book of Revelation (22:13). These are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet and in this context, it means that Christ is both the beginning and end of all things.

See the full image:

Here are some more examples of Christ’s parables:

Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins	Matthew 25:1-13
Parable of the Sower	Mark 4:1-9
Parable of the Good Samaritan	Luke 10:29-37
Parable of the Lost Sheep	Luke 15:1-7
Parable of the Prodigal Son	Luke 15:11-32