We have examined twenty seven of our Lord Jesus Christ's parables. As we have seen, the Lord frequently made use of parables in order figuratively to expound and explain the truths of his teaching. The Lord began to make use of parables only after the final selection of the apostles, and He made such a wide use of this form of instruction that even His disciples themselves were amazed and would ask an explanation from Him. The Gospel parables comprise approximately a third of the total volume of the Saviour's recorded words.

We find an inexhaustible moral wealth in all of the Saviour's parables; some of them are remarkable likewise from the external, literary point of view (for example, the Parable of the Prodigal Son). Not one day passes that we do not recall one or another story or image from the Gospel parables. Not infrequently we call a compassionate man "a good Samaritan". In conversations, we often cite such concepts as a "a far country" and "prodigal son"; we acknowledge the importance of not hiding a "lamp under a bushel", and we understand the necessity of developing and multiplying the "talents" given by God and of not putting off the accomplishment of our affairs until the "eleventh hour". However, this frequent recollection of the parables does not mean that we have fully assimilated their lessons. We must again and again turn to the Gospel parables in the matter of arranging our own spiritual life.

Despite the fact that Christ's parables were given to mankind almost 2000 years ago, each of them remains topical even till now, because it comprises an inalienable part of the Good Tidings, the Gospel, which gives the answers to all of life's questions. The parables are filled with the mysteries "of the Kingdom of God" (Mark 4:11), and they remind us that the Kingdom of God has drawn nigh, that the Sole Physician of men's souls and bodies has come, Who heals the lepers, Who takes from us the burden of the ancient curse, Who finds the lost sheep, Who opens the entry to the heavenly fatherland, Who invites the outcast and homeless to His Divine wedding banquet, Who generously recompenses those who have not earned full wages, and Who fills the hearts of the earthborn with great joy. The "acceptable year of the Lord" (Luke 4:19) has begun. He, Whose glory and magnificence are manifested in each of His priceless words, has come to us. To God be glory!

©V. Potapov