The parables of Jesus are the most well-known and beloved stories of the Bible. There is an endless flood of parable studies. Their theological implications have been probed thoroughly for almost two millennia. The parables are preached on time and again. As a result, we easily think we master the parables: we know what they say, we know how they surprise us, we know how to apply them. The parables are hidden by “the veil of familiarity”. We need to “clean our windows” so that the parables may be freed from the “drab blur of triteness”. Fresh perspectives combined with common-sense guidelines challenging pre-conceived conceptions opens our minds to perceive and understand anew how striking Jesus’ parables really are.

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Vesa Ollilainen is the Head of the Theological Study Programme at the Finnish Lutheran Mission College. In that role he is involved with lecturing, training, strategic planning, course development and their implementation. He was educated at the Åbo Akademi University, where he received his ThD. He has a Specialist Qualification in Management and a Post Graduate Degree in Teacher Education (both received at HAMK University of Applied Sciences). He is an ordained pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. The main focus of his ministry is to train and equip young adults, rooting them firmly in their faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, a faith which they can present and defend in a post-Christian culture. He is particularly interested in historical Jesus research, Biblical theology and in apologetics. He has written popular and academic articles and books on these topics. Vesa lives near Helsinki, Finland, with his wife Maiju and their three children.

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