All the great commentaries are undecided about how many parables Jesus gave. Some say 30, some say 40, some say up to 100. The parables occupy about one third of his teaching. he taught by parables according to the level of understanding that we and his other hearers were/are capable of at that moment. And hopefully when we come back to it a second and third and 100th time our capacity is being expanded a little bit. The Parables themselves were only vehicles or instruments for communicating the living Word of God which is not in a dictionary. It’s not a phone. It’s not an ordinary word. The word of God is something alive and active. It grows in us. It changes us. It brings about our existence and it is constantly there nurturing us and correcting us and healing us. The living Word of God made flesh in him.
(Homily 16 June 2024 by Laurence Freeman OSB )
