The Parables of Jesus
Week 1 Lesson
Questions to Get You Started
1. What do you think a “parable” is? How have you encountered and experienced
parables before?
2. In the readings for this week, Wenham and Anderson will each affirm that Jesus had a “clear and powerful message” (Wenham, 11), and that the parables are a tool for shedding light on that message. In your own words, what do you think that message is?
2. In the readings for this week, Wenham and Anderson will each affirm that Jesus had a “clear and powerful message” (Wenham, 11), and that the parables are a tool for shedding light on that message. In your own words, what do you think that message is?
Questions for further discussion
1. What do you think makes a teacher “effective”? What made Jesus an effective
teacher? What made it distinctive? How have you been affected or even surprised by Jesus’s teaching and ministry?
2. What do we need to keep in mind for interpreting, understanding, and preaching Jesus’s parables? What contexts (historical, literary) should we tune into for hearing the parables better?
3. What did Jesus mean when he proclaimed the “kingdom of God/heaven”? Why is this an important context to understand for hearing Jesus’s teaching, and specifically his parables?
2. What do we need to keep in mind for interpreting, understanding, and preaching Jesus’s parables? What contexts (historical, literary) should we tune into for hearing the parables better?
3. What did Jesus mean when he proclaimed the “kingdom of God/heaven”? Why is this an important context to understand for hearing Jesus’s teaching, and specifically his parables?
