Includes bibliographical references (p. 258-271) and indexes.

Pt. I. Learning to see. The Pharisee and the toll collector (Luke 18:9-14) -- The vinegrowers and violence (Mark 12:1-12) -- The closed door (Matt 25:1-13) -- Politics with carrot and stick (Matt 22:1-14) -- The snubbed host (Luke 14:12-24) -- The barren fig tree (Luke 13:1-9) -- Hearing and doing the Torah (Mark 4:1-20) -- Pt. II. In search of a non-dualistic parable theory. Social-historical interpretation of the Bible in the framework of contextual theologies -- Dualism in parable theories -- Metaphor or not metaphor? That is the question -- What is a parable? -- The historical Jesus and Jesus in the Gospels -- The genre of parables discourse -- 7. Toward a synthesis of methods -- The literary context: the Gospels -- Pt. III. Jesus the parable-teller: the parables in the literary context of the Gospels. Political prophecy (Mark 4:26-32) -- Springtime and the night watchers (Mark 13:28-37) -- God is near: Jesus the parable teller in the Gospel of Mark (summary) -- Loving God: the merciful Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) -- The great messianic feast of rejoicing, or The partying neighbor women (Luke 15:1-32) -- "Once there was a rich man": money and the Torah (Luke 16) -- "He lived the life of a slave": slave parables in the Gospel of Luke (Luke 12:35-48; 17:3-10; 19:11-27) -- Crying to God: the insistent friend and the stubborn widow (Luke 11:5-13 and 18:1-8) -- Parables in the Gospel of Luke (summary) -- God's forgiveness and the world of finance (Matt 18:21-35) -- Bread and hope (Matthew 13) -- "Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?" (Matt 20:1-16) -- The end of violence: Jesus's discourse in the temple (Matt 21:23-22:14) 14. The parable of the talents and God's judgment on the nations (Matt 25:14-46).