Parables
The teachings of Jesus Christ, and in particular his parables, are stories which have been both treasured and wrestled with for centuries. They are not serene examinations of purely transcendent truths, but arise within the rough and tumble debates of first-century Israel under Roman occupation, often consisting in concrete calls to action, transformation, and reformation. Stanley Hauerwas states: "Just as Christ’s flesh and his willingness to go to the cross, at once hides and reveals God, so the parables are meant to reveal the kind of transformation necessary for those who would follow Jesus to participate in the kingdom of heaven.” These enigmatic stories read us--exposing our hearts and calling us to transformation--as much as read we them.