How to Study Parables Effectively?

Have you ever read a parable that was just hard to understand? Wouldn’t it be nice if they were simple allegories like C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia? How does one go about studying parables of Jesus effectively?

Parables are earthly stories with heavenly meaning. Jesus used parables to teach about the Kingdom of God. Parables are best understood and interpreted when we find the main points for each character or group of characters in the parable. Applying parables to our lives can be challenging and we should not seek to build entire doctrines around a single parable.

What is A Parable?

First, we need to discover what a parable is. A parable is often said to be an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. A parable is a teaching and storytelling technique that Jesus used to share spiritual truths about the Kingdom of God to people in terms they can understand.

Parables have two levels of meaning: an earthly level and a spiritual level. As such, Jesus’ hearers often understood the earthly meaning, but missed the heavenly meaning all together. It is possible for us to do that today as well. Why? Because in parables certain details represent something else.

Examples of Parables in the Bible

Here are some examples of parables found throughout the gospels.

Parable	Matthew	Luke
The Sower	13:1-9,18-23	8:4-8, 11-15
The Weeds	13:24-30, 36-43
The Mustard Seed	13:31-32	13:18-19
The Leaven	13:33	13:20-21
The Hidden Treasure	13:44
The Pearl of Great Cost	13:45-46
The Net	13:47-50
The Lost Sheep	18:10-14	15:3-7
The Unforgiving Servant	18:23-35
The Two Sons	21:28-32
The Two Tenants	21:33-44	20:9-18
The Wedding Feast	22:1-14	14:16-24
The Ten Virgins	25:1-13
The Talents	25:14-30	19:11-27
The Good Samaratian		10:29-37
The Rich Fool		12:16-21
The Barren Fig Tree		13:6-9
The Wedding Feast		14:7-11
The Lost Coin		15:8-10
The Prodigal Son		15:11-32
The Dishonest Manager		16:1-9
The Rich Man and Lazarus		16:19-31
The Persistent Widow		18:1-8
The Pharisee and the Tax Collector		18:9-14

Tips for Reading Parables Effectively

Parables are vital in Jesus’ teachings. They were designed to be thought provoking and an aide to set our minds on things above. So, here are some tips to help us read parables effectively.

1. Read slowly: It’s easy to read fast over parables, because so many are already familiar. But it is necessary that we slow down if we are going to interpret them correctly.
2. Read multiple times: Any time we are studying something it is important to read it multiple times.
3. Read with humility: If we are going to learn from a parable, then we must read with humility. We might not understand things as correctly as we think we do. And it could be what we “know” that keeps us from seeing the obvious.
4. Recognize repeated and/or important words and phrases: These repeated words often provide windows into the story and offer key clues to help us better understand and interpret parables.

So, how do we go about understanding and interpreting parables?

How to Understand and Interpret Parables

Parables are deceptively difficult to understand and interpret.

The question that we are faced is: How many details in the story should stand for something else?

This question has been answered in many different ways throughout the centuries. Some would say that every single detail, no matter how small had to represent something else.

This approach could be problematic, because interpretations could differ on the exact details, leading to vastly different understandings that may even be contradictory. Often times trying to find what every single detail represents we miss out on the big picture that Jesus is trying to teach.

Another approach to interpreting parables is to say that they only have one point. But this is the other extreme.

For example, take the story of the good Samaritan. Jesus told this parable in answer to the question: Who is my neighbor? The conclusion was that we are to show mercy to everyone. But there are other points that we can take from the parable such as:

• religious duty is not an excuse for the failure to love others
• even our enemies, bullies, and people we dislike can show love

These are just two examples of other lessons that we can learn from the story of the good Samaritan.

We can see that this one-point approach to understanding and interpreting parables also causes us to miss out on what Jesus may be trying to teach.

So, what is the best way to understand and interpret parables? Well, look at the characters or group of characters. Then try to determine one main point for each character.

Take the story of the prodigal son. There are three main characters: the father, the prodigal son, the brother who stayed home.

Now, let’s look for some main points for these three characters:

• The Father: God is always ready to forgive us even though we don’t deserve it.
• The Prodigal Son: We can return to God and repent.
• The Brother who stayed Home: We should not resent God for forgiving others.

So, with this approach parables can have multiple meanings and be interpreted in different ways. That is what makes studying parables so challenging. But we can do it effectively when our main points are ones that Jesus’ original audience would understand as well.

How to Apply Parables for Today

Now that we’ve come to correctly understand and interpret a parable, it’s time to apply it.

That’s the easy part, right?

Well, even if we have a correct interpretation of a parable, it is still hard to apply it.

Take the story of the good Samaritan. Does the application of the story mean that we must help every homeless person we come across? No. If we did, we would get absolutely nothing else done. Does that mean that we should not show mercy and be generous. No.

So, how we might apply the story of the good Samaritan: First, by simply acknowledging the homeless person’s presence. Then ask them about their day and how you could help them, specifically.

Because parables can have different meanings to different people at different stages in life, we should not seek to build entire doctrines around parables.

For instance, if we take the father in the story of the prodigal son and build our doctrine of God around it. Then God is good, and merciful, and forgiving, and kind (All true). But God is not just (that’s false). But we don’t see God’s justice in the parable of the prodigal son.

So, our application of parables should be specific and actionable in our lives.

For more BIble study tips, or to find a method of Bible study that works best for you, at the stage of,life you are in, check out these great methods of Bible study.