Conclusion
Conclusion
In this chapter I have argued that Jesus’ parable-telling practice is authentic, and that we should also accept most parables attributed to him in the Gospels as authentic, barring strong evidence to the contrary. I have not explored the message of Jesus’ parables, some of which I will subsume under some general themes regarding Jesus’ teaching, to be treated especially in ch. 14.
But it bears mention here that such themes include the kingdom (Mk 4:11). In parables, Jesus’ articulation of this theme probably included how it was already at work in Jesus’ ministry but yet to be fully consummated. This point appears in Mark’s parables of the gradual growth of seed for harvest, and of the mustard seed (Mk 4:26-32). It is probably also the point of Q’s parable of the woman’s leaven (Matt 13:33//Lk 13:20-21).111 Parables also proclaimed both that the end (or at least, some sort of judgment) was imminent (Mk 13:28-29; perhaps Matt 5:25-26//Lk 12:58-59), although that the precise time was unknown (Mk 13:33-37). As we shall see later, a surely authentic parable also includes the conviction that Jesus as God’s agent, more special than earlier prophets, would meet a prophet’s fate in confronting the guardians of Israel, i.e., the Jerusalem elite (Mk 12:1-12). This seems to suggest a connection between Jesus’ beliefs about his identity and the inauguration of God’s kingdom.