Everyone loves a good story--one with interesting characters, an intriguing plot, lots of twists and turns, and a surprise ending. Jesus was a master storyteller, teaching primarily through a technique we call parables. In fact, over one third of the gospel material in the New Testament is parabolic in nature. Examining the parables of Jesus, Living Water views parables as a wisdom genre belonging to mashal, the Jewish tradition of sacred poetry, stories, proverbs, riddles, and dialogues through which wisdom is conveyed. In the Hebrew Bible the Old Testament, mashal is often associated with perplexing sayings, for its meaning is deliberately obscured in order to force the reader or listener to deeper thought and higher consciousness. While examining the parables of Jesus, Living Water focuses not so much on traditional explanations and interpretations but on their paradoxical and perplexing nature. In addition, this book encourages us to take a parabolic approach to all Scripture, view