The Waiting Father: Sermons on the Parables of Jesus (Thielicke Library)

The Waiting Father is a collection of sermons by Helmut Thielicke, the great German preacher and theologian, which offer deep insights into the spiritual message of Jesus’s fifteen major parables. They were originally preached in Michaelskirche, Hamburg, in the mid-1950s. Thielicke approaches the parables in novel ways. In treating the prodigal son, for instance, he concentrates more on the loving father than the rebellious son, emphasising the centrality of forgiveness. Similarly, when discussing the pharisee and the publican he shows that the publican is guilty of spiritual pride and arrogance, drawing attention to the dangers for the faithful. Both among expositions of the parables and among books for preachers, The Waiting Father stands in a class of its own. Great scholars are usually poor preachers, and great scholars are rarely good preachers, but Thielicke manages to combine distinguished scholarship with fine preaching.

Table of Contents

Translator's Introduction
To the Reader
I The Parable of the Prodigal Son: Part One
II The Parable of the Prodigal Son: Part Two
III The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus
IV The Parable of the Seeds and the Soils
V The Parable of the Mustard Seed
VI The Parable of the Tares among the Wheat
VII The Parable of the Seed Growing Secretly
VIII The Parable of the Dishonest Steward
IX The Parable of the Wicked Vinedressers
X The Parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard
XI The Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican
XII The Parable of the Pounds
XIII The Parable of the Cost of Building a Tower
XIV The Parable of the Good Samaritan
XV The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Maidens
XVI The Parable of the Marriage Feast