The Forty Parables of Jesus

2022 Catholic Media Association first place award in scripture: academic studies

In this book, which covers all of Jesus’ parables, award-winning author Gerhard Lohfink takes a closer look at the origins of each one—its shape, its realistic details, but most of all its original message and the situation into which it was once spoken. Jesus’ parables speak in bold images of the kingdom of God, making it present to us as they reveal something of the mystery of his own person.

Lohfink also offers a review of some of the scholarship in this area—as this topic has sustained research on Jesus since the first telling of these stories—but not for the purposes of debate. His reflections interpret the forty parables and show how they speak of the coming of the reign of God, lead us to Jesus, and reveal the mystery of Jesus himself.

Gerhard Lohfink (1934-2024), was professor of New Testament exegesis at the University of Tübingen. His many books include No Irrelevant Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth, Is This All There Is?, The Our Father, and Prayer Takes Us Home, all from Liturgical Press.