Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev - Jesus Christ: His Life and Teaching, Vol. 4 The Parables of Jesus

T his book continues a series of studies dedicated to the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The series is divided into the following thematic sections, each occupying its own volume: 1) the birth and childhood of Jesus, as well as the beginning of his ministry, 2) his Sermon on the Mount, 3) his miracles, 4) his parables, 5) Jesus in the Gospel of John, 6) the passion and the resurrection. This volume is dedicated to the parables of Jesus Christ, which are found in the three synoptic Gospels: Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

Christ Pantocrator, Icon, 13th century

In the history of mankind, there has never been another teacher who used the genre of parables so extensively and consistently as did Jesus Christ. He inherited this genre from the tradition of the Old Testament, but he widened its potential and honed its artistry to such a degree of perfection that none of his successorsneither in the first generation nor in any otherhas ever returned to the genre. We do not find a single parable in the book of Acts, nor in any of the apostolic letters or epistles of Paul, nor in the writings of the Apostolic Fathers, nor even in the writings of the Fathers of the Church (except for rare cases that are more like similes or metaphors than true parables).

In his own public ministry, Jesus often used images and comparisons taken from everyday life or from the natural world. But, strictly speaking, not all of these similes are parables. For example, he calls the apostles the salt of the earth in his Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5.1316). This is a metaphor, not a parable. Later in the same sermon, Jesus suggests that his disciples look at the birds who sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and at the lilies of the field, who toil not, neither do they spin (Mt 6.26, 28). These images indicate Gods care for man and illustrate the main point of the Sermon on the Mount: Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? Or, What shall we drink? Or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?... Take therefore no thought for the morrow (Mt 6.31.34). But these are not parables. Only the words that conclude the Sermon on the Mount constitute a parablethe story of the wise man who built his house on the rock, and the foolish man who built his house on sand (Mt 7.2427).

In this book we will examine neither the images in the Sermon on the Mount, But as a rule, they are not generally included in examinations of the parables. We will examine them in greater detail in the fifth book of this series, which is dedicated entirely to the Gospel of John.

Furthermore, this book will not deal with various short pronouncements of Jesus that have some similarity to parables, such as They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick (Mt 9.12; Mk 2.17; Luke 5.31).

The instruction concerning the dread judgment in the Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 25.3146) is sometimes included in the list of parables because it begins with a simile comparing the righteous to sheep and all the others to goats. But this comparison does not continue in the rest of the account. From our point of view, this teaching is not a parable. It should be examined separately, as part of the series of Jesus teachings in the Gospel of Matthew.

Christ Pantocrator, Mosaic, 12th century

In this volume, therefore, we will examine only those stories that are, strictly defined, parables. These are fables with a storyline and characters. We will discuss them in the order that they were spoken, as much as such a chronology can be reconstructed from the three synoptic Gospels. Consequently, these parables will be divided into three sections: 1) parables spoken during the Galilean ministry of Jesus, 2) parables spoken on the way from Galilee to Jerusalem, and 3) parables spoken in Jerusalem during the final days of Jesus earthly life.

Christ Pantocrator, Mosaic, 20th century

W. F. Albright and C. S. Mann, Matthew: Introduction, Translation and Notes (London: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1971), 132.

We have already examined these, in Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev,Jesus Christ: His Life and Teaching, vol. 2, The Sermon on the Mount: (Yonkers, NY: St Vladimirs Seminary Press, 2019).

Concerning the metaphorical or parabolic character of Jesuss teachings in the Gospel of John, cf. C. H. Dodd, Historical Tradition in the Fourth Gospel (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1976), 36687.

This will be examined in the sixth book of this series.