Short Stories by Jesus Leader Guide: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi

by Amy-Jill Levine

Jesus was a skilled storyteller and perceptive teacher who used parables from everyday life to effectively convey his message and meaning. Life in first-century Palestine was very different from our world today, and many traditional interpretations of Jesus' stories ignore this disparity and have often allowed anti-Semitism and misogyny to color their perspectives.


In this Bible study based on her book Short Stories by Jesus , Amy-Jill Levine analyzes these "problems with parables" taking readers back in time to understand how their original Jewish audience understood them. With this revitalized understanding, she interprets these moving stories for the contemporary reader, showing how the parables are not just about Jesus, but are also about us—and when read rightly, still challenge and provoke us two thousand years later.


The Leader Guide contains everything needed to guide a group through the six-week study including session plans, activities, and discussion questions, as well as multiple format options.

64 pages, Paperback

Published May 15, 2018

About the author

Amy-Jill Levine is University Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies and Mary Jane Werthan Professor of Jewish Studies at Vanderbilt Divinity School and Department of Jewish Studies. Her books include The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus; Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi; four children's books (with Sandy Sasso); The Gospel of Luke (with Ben Witherington III); and The Jewish Annotated New Testament (co-edited with Marc Z. Brettler). Her most recent books are The Bible With and Without Jesus: How Jews and Christians Read the Same Stories Differently (co-authored with Marc Z. Brettler), Sermon on the Mount: A Beginner's Guide to the Kingdom of Heaven; and The Kingdom of Heaven: 40 Devotionals. In 2019 she became the first Jew to teach New Testament at Rome's Pontifical Biblical Institute. Professor Levine, who has done over 300 programs for churches, clergy groups, and seminaries, has been awarded grants from the Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the American Council of Learned Societies. Institutions granting her honorary degrees include Christian Theological Seminary and the Episcopal Seminary of the Southwest.

Reviews

[Pamela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Just wow!

[Jonathan Bacon · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent guide to a different interpretation of the parables. For anyone interested in understanding how the parables have been interpreted and misinterpreted over the centuries, this is an excellent guide.

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very helpful book for teaching "Short Stories by Jesus" with a small group. There are a lot of questions and suggestions for each session. We easily fill an hour and a half each time using this book to guide us.