<p>7:40 <i>And Jesus answering said to him: Simon, I have something to say to you. And he said: Teacher, speak</i>- Like David, the Lord Jesus saw through peoples&rsquo; actions to the self-talk behind it. He observed the body language of the Pharisee, despising the repentant woman; Lk. 7:39 records that the man &ldquo;said within himself... &lsquo;She is a sinner&rsquo;&rdquo;, but &ldquo;Jesus <i>answering</i> said to him...&rdquo; (Lk. 7:40). The Lord perceived the man&rsquo;s self-talk, and responded to it. For Him, the Pharisee&rsquo;s unspoken words were loud and clear, and Jesus acted as if He was in a conversation with the man. He correctly read the man&rsquo;s silent disapproval as actually saying something, and responded to it as if in conversation. Of course we could argue that the Lord was empowered by a flash of Holy Spirit illumination to be able to read the Pharisee&rsquo;s mind; but it seems to me altogether more likely that it was His own sensitivity, His own perception of the other&rsquo;s self-talk, that enabled Him to know what was being silently said within the man&rsquo;s mind.</p><p>The parables of Lk. 7 and 14 were told during a meal- perhaps many of the others were, too. The Lord would have been a brilliant conversationalist, drawing out unexpected challenges and lessons from what appeared to be everyday facts. The implications of the parables are not pleasant- they would have soured some of His table conversations if they were properly perceived. And likewise with us as we read them in this age; these stories are indeed profoundly disturbing if understood properly and allowed to take their effect upon us. Yet for all their challenge, the parables of Jesus reveal how deeply familiar He was with human life in all its daily issues and complexities. He artlessly revealed how He had meditated deeply upon the issues involved in farming, the problem of weeds, how much poor men were paid for a day&rsquo;s work, the desperation of the beggar Lazarus, problems faced by builders when laying foundations&hellip; He was and is truly sensitive and understanding of the everyday issues of our lives, and yet draws out of them something deeply challenging and radical. In this was and is His surpassing, magnetic brilliance. But the unanswered questions in the parables aren't all there is to them.</p>