Some of Jesus' parables have a very specific message, highlighting a particular aspect of the Gospel of the Kingdom. Others have a broader, illuminating view of an ongoing process in the functioning of the kingdom in our world. The parables I have chosen are of the second type: they highlight an ongoing process in the world with the kingdom operating with us today. EP Sanders (Jesus and Judaism 1985, London, SCM Press) speaks of the kingdom in terms of “time”. present” and “future time”. He tells us that Jesus used a deliberately ambiguous expression to make his listeners think. It also suggests that the Gospel writers emphasized different features of the kingdom on different occasions. As we read the gospels, we see that the kingdom is present with Jesus and his disciples in their words and actions. We can sense this growing enthusiasm in the opening chapters of the Synoptic Gospels. News of Jesus spreads quickly; large crowds come to see him and people are amazed. The time has come; there is a feeling of the kingdom as a present reality. Jesus exhorts his disciples to seek the kingdom in righteousness and all things will work out in their lives (Matt 6:31-33). But at the same time, the kingdom is not yet fully realized. It is also a “temporal future” and in progress. People must choose to believe, follow, act, live according to God's laws, even if they are slow to understand – Luke 12:54-56. When they accept God's ways and act in accordance with them, then the kingdom will be realized – Luke 12:35-36. Jesus told his disciples that not everyone would understand his parables. “It has been given to you to know the secrets of the kingdom of God; but for others they are in parables, so see...... middle of paper ...... listen with faith and humility then we will each understand what Jesus wishes to say to each of our hearts about the Kingdom of God. Works Cited Barclay W, The Gospel of Matthew: Chapters 11-28, (Scotland, St Andrews Press, 2001) Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Eldon Ladd G, Gospel of the Kingdom: Scriptural Studies in the Kingdom of God (Michigan, WMB Eerdmans Publishing, 1990)Sanders EP Jesus and Judaism (London, SCM Press, 1985,)Spurgeon CH Sown Among Thorns,The Spurgeon Archive, A Sermon (No. 2040) (Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington, 1888) available in online at http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/2040.htm (last accessed 03/15/14) The Gift of Scripture, Catholic Bishops' Conferences of England and Wales, and Scotland, The Catholic Truth Society. 2005Parables and the teaching of the Kingdom (Moodle course materials) 4)