"'Jesus' parables are like diamonds," writes Lohfink, held within settings that both preserve and protect. The Forty Parables of Jesus presents the content of Jesus' unique sayings mindful of the traditions that preserved, preached, and interpreted those parables. But Lohfink also provides the larger context in which parables, as provocative short stories with a twist, were heard, read, and understood. Lohfink has deftly written a well-exegeted and researched book that is at the same time eminently readable. The Forty Parables of Jesus witnesses to the 'unbelievable nearness of God,' and invites us to embrace the implicit Christology of Jesus' parables."Laurie Brink, OP, PhD, Professor of New Testament Studies at Catholic Theological Union