“the secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that, ‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’ ” Understandably, these words have also widely been held to be inauthentic.20 Jesus’ parables, according to the generally held principles of interpretation, are intended to reveal and not to conceal. Moreover, the rules of parable interpretation