According to Archibald Hunter, author of The Parables Then and Now, the word
‘parable’ comes from the Greek word ‘parabole,’ (para-bow-LAY) which means a
comparison (Hunter 10).
Nearly one third of the recorded teachings of Jesus Christ are given to us in parables. We must understand the parables to understand the teaching of Christ. His parables are found in the first three Gospel records: the Gospel according to Matthew, the Gospel according to Mark, and the Gospel according to Luke. Parables are not fables, for parables come from real situations (Sexton, 101).
The parables that appear in Luke make very good points that would be lost if the gentile physician did not record them. ... The parable involves a lawyer asking Jesus gaining eternal life. When Jesus catches the lawyer at his own game by asking him his knowledge of the law, the lawyer attempts to corner him by asking the definition of neighbor. Jesus then tells the story of a man who falls into thieves and is ignored by a priest and a Levite. ... Jesus’ example of the Samaritan insurgent made a hero out of a race that others would have liked to ignore (Lightfoot 65). ... Jesus provided a contrast of one in need with one who blessed. ... The parable is told when a man demands for Jesus to tell his brother to split their inheritance with him. Jesus answers by telling the story of a man who keeps his riches to himself and then dies before he can ever make use of them. ... The man that asked Jesus about his inheritance interrupts him as He is speaking about Divine Providence. ...
Jesus responded to the young man as he always helped other, by working inward to outward. ... Jesus warned against becoming rich in Mark chapter ten verses twenty-four and twenty-five, as well, when he said, “How hardly shall they that have riches will enter the kingdom of God! ...
The trilogy of parables’ purpose was directed at the scribes and the Pharisees as well as the publican and sinners to illustrate the importance of every soul to the kingdom. The scribes and Pharisees could not understand why Jesus saw every person no matter how great a sinner as an essential soul to the kingdom. The number of the group of people and objects diminished with each parable Jesus told from one hundred to ten and finally to two. Jesus slowly brought each story closer to home for his audiences making the last parable truly strike a nerve (Hunter 336).
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