Understanding Jesus' Parables

Most people agree that Jesus' parables are about the kingdom of God. But what is that? They seem to have a lot about hell and judgment, but how is that consistent with the Parable of the Prodigal Son and Jesus' search for "lost sheep"? They speak of the "Son of Man," but who or what is that?

Some have thought they predict the end of the world, but could that be a failure to understand biblical language? In a new survey of Jesus' parables, Keith Ward proposes that they imply a theology of the universal and unlimited love of God, a moral demand to care for the well-being of all living things, a compassion for the poor and rejected of the earth, an open door of repentance that even death cannot close, the offer of new life in the Spirit, and an ultimate goal of universal creative sharing in the life of the cosmic Christ.