There are many ways

I say there are many ways; let me clarify. All Jesus’ stories have one central meaning. Underlying that central meaning are many branches from which one might apply a symbolic meaning. These branches are not to be cut off in favor of the main trunk of the parable. Rather, they may be useful in getting to the central point of the parable. It helps to look at parables as being a comparison of two things set side by side that connect only at one point.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how and for what purpose you read Scripture, Jesus does not usually give us the central meaning. He leaves that for us to ponder, dig deeper and discover . And, while many of Jesus’ parables are simple and straight -forward, they still require much thought to come to the right understanding that Jesus intends for the hearer. We are blessed, then that in our text for today we are not only presented with a well-known, often-preached upon parable BUT with the key to understanding it!