Introduction

In the parables of Jesus, we find a timeless spiritual teaching that can make all things new in the heart, mind, and soul of each person.  They can cause people to move from the darkness of self-absorption to the light of active unconditional love.  This metanoia, this renewal and transformation is the hope for humanity.

The religion that grew out of the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth has had an often schizophrenic relationship to its origins.  As a result, in this twenty-first century, many in our day have left the institutional Church and the dogmas of Christianity.  They have also put aside the words of the Christ.  Great numbers of these individuals have gone on to seek meaning, truth, spiritual awakening through other teachings.  But in rejecting the teachings of Jesus along with the religion, it might be said that “the baby was thrown out with the bath water”. 

Many of these words have seeped into our culture over the centuries and become associated with ideas and ways of living that have nothing to do with their original meaning.  These teachings of holy wisdom are associated with judgmentalism, rejection, intolerance, abuse, narrow-mindedness, even superstition.  Yet, despite their misuse across these two millennia, individuals in every generation have encountered the divine light within these words and have been transformed psychologically and spiritually. 

The reader will find in the presentation of these parables interpretive keys which transcend rigid theologies and assumed meanings that often bury their true content.   The very nature of parabolic teaching is through the use of metaphor and therefore can never be boxed into a literalistic interpretation which has been the death-knell of so much biblical teaching.  As the apostle said, “The letter kills but the spirit gives life.”  The teachings of Jesus have been hijacked far too long by those who do not live them out and do not follow their map to authentic enlightenment and awakening to the Presence of God.  This book is offered to the reader in an effort to bring to light some of the transforming wisdom revealed to humanity so long ago and so desperately needed again today.  May you, the reader, find for yourself that which will fill your life with new understanding and lift you into a higher place within, guiding you into becoming the person you were always called to be.