The Parables of Jesus SALT Assignment
Sarah Galade
NBST 515: New Testament Orientation I
November 16, 2025
, 1
Summary
Luke’s gospel is synoptic, and scholars debate over whether it is the only gospel written
by a gentile. Despite this, Luke’s portrait of Jesus is “decidedly Jewish”1. He emphasizes Jesus’
birth into a Jewish family, his regular worship at the synagogue, and places Jesus at the end in a
long line of Israel’s prophets. Luke’s gospel is the only one which records God’s grace to gentiles
in the Old Testament, emphasizing that God’s plan is ultimately universal. 2 Moreover, Luke
points out Jesus and his Church as a continuation of God’s work with Israel, not as a heresy of it.
In Luke, Jesus is emphasized as savior and prophet.
John’s gospel stands apart from the synoptics. It is arranged into two parts: the Word of
God revealed and rejected, and the Word of God glorified. John’s portrait of Jesus is one of high
Christology, focusing on his God aspects much more than his human aspects. John paints Jesus
as the Word of God, the Lamb of God, and the Son of God. The gospel of John contains no
parables, instead Jesus speaks in long sermonic discourses.
The video presentation on the Parables of Jesus describes parables as more than an
earthly story with a heavenly meaning. Parables are stories that contain a hook, a gotcha
moment. “A story that only appears normal, but on second look is shocking, disturbing,
unsettling; causing you to learn all over again what you didn’t know you didn’t know”3.The
parables of Jesus are always analogies to the Kingdom of God, according to Dr. Stacy. The
Kingdom of God is so upside down and backward from what is considered normal that Jesus
1
Robert Wayne Stacy, “The Four Gospels – Luke and John” (Video Lecture in NBST 515 at Liberty
University Online, Lynchburg, VA, accessed November 12, 2025).
2
Walter A. Elwell and Robert W. Yarbrough, Encountering the New Testament: A Historical and
Theological Survey (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2022), 86.
3
Robert Wayne Stacy, “The Parables of Jesus” (Video Lecture in NBST 515 at Liberty University Online,
Lynchburg, VA, accessed November 12, 2025).
Sarah Galade
NBST 515: New Testament Orientation I
November 16, 2025
, 1
Summary
Luke’s gospel is synoptic, and scholars debate over whether it is the only gospel written
by a gentile. Despite this, Luke’s portrait of Jesus is “decidedly Jewish”1. He emphasizes Jesus’
birth into a Jewish family, his regular worship at the synagogue, and places Jesus at the end in a
long line of Israel’s prophets. Luke’s gospel is the only one which records God’s grace to gentiles
in the Old Testament, emphasizing that God’s plan is ultimately universal. 2 Moreover, Luke
points out Jesus and his Church as a continuation of God’s work with Israel, not as a heresy of it.
In Luke, Jesus is emphasized as savior and prophet.
John’s gospel stands apart from the synoptics. It is arranged into two parts: the Word of
God revealed and rejected, and the Word of God glorified. John’s portrait of Jesus is one of high
Christology, focusing on his God aspects much more than his human aspects. John paints Jesus
as the Word of God, the Lamb of God, and the Son of God. The gospel of John contains no
parables, instead Jesus speaks in long sermonic discourses.
The video presentation on the Parables of Jesus describes parables as more than an
earthly story with a heavenly meaning. Parables are stories that contain a hook, a gotcha
moment. “A story that only appears normal, but on second look is shocking, disturbing,
unsettling; causing you to learn all over again what you didn’t know you didn’t know”3.The
parables of Jesus are always analogies to the Kingdom of God, according to Dr. Stacy. The
Kingdom of God is so upside down and backward from what is considered normal that Jesus
1
Robert Wayne Stacy, “The Four Gospels – Luke and John” (Video Lecture in NBST 515 at Liberty
University Online, Lynchburg, VA, accessed November 12, 2025).
2
Walter A. Elwell and Robert W. Yarbrough, Encountering the New Testament: A Historical and
Theological Survey (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2022), 86.
3
Robert Wayne Stacy, “The Parables of Jesus” (Video Lecture in NBST 515 at Liberty University Online,
Lynchburg, VA, accessed November 12, 2025).
