Parables of Jesus

The Parables of Jesus are a collection of parables told by Jesus that embody much of his teaching and are recorded in the four Gospels. They are the best known examples of stories referred to as parables, and so form the prototype for the term parable.

Occurrence

Each of the four canonical Gospels contains parables of Jesus unique to that Gospel, with two of the best known, the Prodigal Son and the Good Samaritan, both being among those that occur only in the Gospel of Luke.

Only two parables occur in the Gospel of John, and both are unique to that Gospel.

A few parables appear in more than one of the synoptic Gospels, with three of them occurring in all three of these gospels (The Parable of the Lamp), and another two (some say three, on the grounds that the parables of the Talents and the Pounds are essentially the same story) in both Matthew and Luke. But no parable is common to the Gospel of Mark and either Matthew or Luke but not both; That is, if a parable occurs in Mark and also somewhere else, then it appears in all three. This observation is one of those used to try to identify and analyse the sources used by the gospel writers, see Q document.

Parables also exist in the Old Testament and in many other writings, see parable.

Themes and examples

Jesus' parables centre on three overlapping themes:
* The coming of the Kingdom.
* The character of God.
* Morality and justice.

Some of the parables focus exclusively on one of these, others on several.

The titles in the lists below link to Wikipedia articles, if they exist; The bible references are external links to the full texts.

The coming of the Kingdom

* The Wise and the Foolish Builders, also known as The house built on the rock or The house built on the sand and variations of those, .
* The Sower, .
* The Tares,
* Mustard Seed, .
* The Leaven, unusual in the leaven is used here as a positive symbol, where everywhere else in the Bible it is a symbol of evil. , .
* The Hidden Treasure or The treasure in the field, .
* The Pearl of Great Price, .
* Drawing in the Net, .
* The Laborers in the Vineyard, .
* The Wicked Husbandmen, , , .
* The Marriage of the King's Son, , also known as the Wedding feast.
* The Leafing Fig Tree, .
* The Ten Virgins, or The wise and foolish virgins, .
* The Ten Talents, .
* The Sheep and the Goats, .
* The Seed Growing Secretly or The Growing Seed, .
* Man Going On a Far Journey, .
* The Servants Waiting for Their Lord, .
* The Great Supper, .
* The Vine, .

The character of God

* The Laborers in the Vineyard, .
* The Wicked Husbandmen, , , .
* The Ten Virgins, .
* The two Talent parables, differing only in the numbers of talents given and the position in the Gospel narrative:
** The Ten Talents or The Talents, .
** The Parable of the Pounds, .
* The Sheep and the Goats, .
* The Man Going On a Far Journey, .
* The Friend at Night, .
* The Barren Fig Tree, .
* The lost trilogy:
** The Lost Sheep, , .
** Lost Money or The Lost Coin, .
** The Prodigal Son or The Lost Son, .
* The Unjust Steward, .
* The Importunate Widow, or The Persistent Widow or The Unjust Judge, .
* The Good Shepherd .
* The Vine'', .

Morality and justice

* The Wise and the Foolish Builders, .
* The Tares, .
* The Unmerciful Servant, .
* The Two Sons .
* The Wicked Husbandmen, , , .
* The two Talent parables, see above, , .
* The Sheep and the Goats, .
* Man Going On a Far Journey, .
* The Two Debtors, .
* The Good Samaritan, .
* The Rich Fool, .
* The Rich Man and the Beggar Lazarus, .
* The Pharisee and the Publican, .

See also

* Parable
* List of New Testament stories#Parables told by Jesus for a complete list more clearly showing corresponding passages in the different Gospels, and with links to the full texts.

External links

* List of biblical parables
* Another list, slightly different and only of the synoptic Gospels
* Analysis of biblical parables
* Jewish Encyclopedia: Parable
* Catholic Encyclopedia: Parable
* LDS Bible Dictionary: Parables