The parables, if we take them seriously not as answers but as invitations, can continue to inform our lives, even as our lives continue to open up the parables to new readings.
Having been raised in a Christian context, parables were often taught to me as one-dimensional allegories about the Kingdom, believers, God, or the Church. This didn’t leave a bad taste in my mouth at the time, but it was boring. Many of the parables were flattened into a single message. In this book, Levine does a great service by pulling these stories out of the mold they've been unduly forced into. This opens up readings that force us to engage with open questions—questions not yet answered two thousand years later—about how we should live, treat others, and prioritize. These questions are not broad but rather specific: questions about labor, justice systems, poverty, siblings, and more. The parables help provoke, instruct, convict, and comfort us on these tangible issues.
If the interpretation of a story told by a Jew to other Jews is based on or yields a negative stereotype of Judaism then the interpretation has gotten more lost than the sheep, coin, or sons, and should not be recovered.
It's impossible to overstate the impact the Christian church has had on anti-Semitism, something I was completely unaware of as a child. One of Levine's great goals is to reconcile interfaith relations and help Christians find meaning in their faith without denigrating Judaism. It is shocking how many interpretations of parables (and many other parts of the Bible) amounted to "Judaism bad, Christianity good." I despair at the thought of so many in pews hearing this same message, and I am grateful for this book, which helps broaden my understanding of Judaism outside of a supersessionist Christian perspective.
Those who pray, "Your kingdom come[, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven]," might want to take some responsibility in the process and so work in partnership with God.
Many parables start with, "The kingdom of heaven is like...," and believers often read this while longing for the time they'll reside in heaven and experience whatever that "dot dot dot" is. They miss the significance of "on earth as it is in heaven." It is all of our responsibility to build the world around us. Jesus offers a model of justice, kindness, love, and mercy that reflects his vision of an ideal world. For followers of Jesus, this offers a blueprint for living out the Lord's Prayer. For non-followers, it may do just the same.
In this book, Levine offers a perspective I had yet to encounter. She is a practicing Jew and a New Testament scholar who provides a framework for removing anti-Jewish interpretations and replacing them with layers of meaning that can inform our lives. This book does assume a reader familiar with traditional Christian interpretations; one unfamiliar may feel lost at many points. However, it does not assume belief or religiosity. Christians can come to this book ready to have their assumptions challenged, while apostates may find new life breathed into texts once thought dead.