From the parking lot the old man gently carried the dog inside. Well,' the veterinarian replied, 'I love God first. And, of course a second command is to love the neighbour as oneself. But I do know that it has a kind of seductive way of involving me as a listener. It draws me into more thoughtful reflection and invites from me some kind of response.
Parables do that.
They have this curious way of shifting responsibility from the one who is telling the story, to me as the listener. In order to find some clues to interpreting the passage we need to engage in some N.T. detective work. The first step is the need to place this parable in a larger context. And the crisis, is, in fact, Christ. That's the unifying theme.