STORIES WITH INTENT

A Comprehensive Guide to the Parables of Jesus

Klyne Snodgrass

William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company

Grand Rapids, Michigan / Cambridge, U.K.

© 2008 Klyne Snodgrass

All rights reserved

Published 2008 by

Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

2140 Oak Industrial Drive N.E., Grand Rapids, Michigan 49505 / P.O. Box 163, Cambridge CB3 9PU U.K.

www.eerdmans.com

ISBN 978-0-8028-4241-1

Quotations from The Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition, by Florentino García Martínez and Eibert Tigchelaar are copyright 1997–98 by Koninklijke Brill nv, Leiden, the Netherlands, and used by permission.

Quotations from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible are copyright 1946, 1952, ©1971, 1973 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America and used by permission.

Quotations from the New Revised Standard Version Bible are copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America and are used by permission.

Quotations from the Holy Bible, New International Version, are copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society and used by permission of Zondervan.

To my students

at North Park Theological Seminary—

Past, Present, and Future

and

To Gabriel and Caeden

who are wonders to behold

Contents

preface

abbreviations

Introduction to the Parables of Jesus

Necessary History

What Is a Parable?

How Should Parables Be Classified?

What about Allegory?

Characteristics of Jesus’ Parables

Distribution of the Parables

How Should Parables Be Interpreted?

NT Criticism—Assumptions and Hesitations, Method and Procedure

Parables in the Ancient World

The Old Testament

Early Jewish Writings

Greco-Roman Writings

The Early Church

Later Jewish Writings

Grace and Responsibility

The Unforgiving Servant (Matt 18:23–35)

The Two Debtors (Luke 7:41–43)

Parables of Lostness

The Arrangement of Luke 15

The Lost Sheep (Matt 18:12–14/Luke 15:4–7)

The Lost Coin (Luke 15:8–10)

The Compassionate Father and His Two Lost Sons (Luke 15:11–32)

The Parable of the Sower and the Purpose of Parables (Matt 13:3–23; Mark 4:3–20; Luke 8:5–15)

Parables of the Present Kingdom in Matthew 13, Mark 4, and Luke 13

The Growing Seed (Mark 4:26–29)

The Wheat and the Weeds (Matt 13:24–30, 36–43)

The Mustard Seed (Matt 13:31–32; Mark 4:30–32; Luke 13:18–19)

The Leaven (Matt 13:33; Luke 13:20–21)

The Treasure (Matt 13:44)

The Pearl (Matt 13:45–46)

Parables Specifically about Israel

The Barren Fig Tree (Luke 13:6–9)

The Two Sons (Matt 21:28–32)

The Wicked Tenants (Matt 21:33–46; Mark 12:1–12; Luke 20:9–19; Gos. Thom. 65–66)

The Wedding Banquet and the Feast (Matt 22:1–14; Luke 14:15–24; Gos. Thom. 64)

Parables about Discipleship

The Two Builders (Matt 7:24–27/Luke 6:47–49)

The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37)

The Workers in the Vineyard (Matt 20:1–16)

The Tower Builder and the Warring King (Luke 14:28–32)

Parables about Money

The Rich Fool (Luke 12:16–21)

The Unjust ...