The Parables Of Jesus

Description

Allegory might have been chosen as the vehicle for the teaching of Jesus for an allegory like a parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning But in a well constructed allegory each detail of the story has its counterpart in the meaning whereas in a parable story and meaning meet not at every point but at one central vantage ground of abiding truth. Jesus spoke certain allegories, such as the Story of the Soils, but the measure of detail in them, far from being pedantic, is so small that they live on the border line of parable. An allegory is constructed like a house but a parable lives like a night blooming cereus. An allegory is constrained, a parable is spontaneous. An allegory tends to deteriorate into a pattern, a parable is a flash of light. Need we ask why Jesus chose parable rather than allegory? His mind was not mechanical, it was as fluid, as colorful as spontaneous and real as life itself. Therefore speak, I to them, in parables.