As one of only three quadruply attested parables in the Gospel Tradition, the Mustard Seed describes the transformational growth of what Jesus calls the smallest of all the seeds. Season one’s final episode begins with a lighthearted quiz before moving on to examine the various differences between the story’s four extant versions. In the process of doing so Mark and Lee discover it is possible to understand the Mustard Seed both as a similitude and a parable proper with distinct meanings. Though reading the story as a parable proper presents readers with difficult existential challenges, Dr. Proctor prefers this approach on the grounds it enhances the story’s aesthetic and yields a more timely meaning for our contemporary situation. 

In "Parabolic Polyvalency Part 2," Mark and Lee offer a second reading of Luke's story about the supposedly "barren" fig tree. The episode begins with an examination of the Third Gospel's largely negative presentation of money and the wealthy, and uses it to suggest a novel approach to the parable's content. Of critical importance is the following question: "What if the fig tree really isn't barren?"

The ninth episode of "Stories for the Waiting Room" introduces a new way of categorizing Jesus' parables. While interpretive comments accompany many of these stories, others Jesus presents in a less direct fashion as illustrations of the Kingdom of God. In the parable of the Barren Fig Tree, however, one encounters what Dr. Proctor describes as an uninterpreted parable. Such stories (all of which are in Luke) appear in the text without commentary, without clear ties to their surrounding context, and without comparison to the kingdom. As a consequence, Luke leaves his readers free to assess the stories' meanings in any way that might align with his broader purposes as a writer. The uninterpreted parables are thus capable of carrying multiple meanings; i.e., they are "potentially polyvalent." Having made this critical distinction, Mark and Lee use the opening scene of Luke 13 along with ancient horticultural texts to offer an initial interpretation the Barren Fig Tree that sees it as an illustration of loyalty's irrational demands. In the same way Jesus demonstrates loyalty to the Galileans in Luke 13:1-5 by countering their biased Judean critics, so the vintner shows fidelity to an out-of-place and barren fig tree in the parable that follows.

In the eighth episode of "Stories for the Waiting Room" Mark and Lee investigate Luke's parable of the Lost Coin. This unique story follows closely on the heels of the Lost Sheep (see episode seven), and so forms one of Luke's many gendered pairs. It concerns a woman's delight in finding a coin she misplaced in her home, and aims to illustrate the "joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." Whereas the Jesus Seminar regarded the story's claim to authenticity as substantial, good reasons also exist for thinking the Lost Coin just might be the literary product of what Oscar Wilde once referred to as flattery's sincerest form.

In the seventh episode of "Stories for the Waiting Room," Mark and Lee take a look at the three versions of Jesus' parable of the Lost Sheep in the Gospel of  Thomas 107, Matthew 18:10-14, and Luke 15:1-7.  In each instance, the gospel writers use Jesus' story to address their respective theological concerns. In Thomas the parable affirms the good shepherd's love for wise disciples. Matthew instead presents the sheep not as the biggest of the bunch but as a vulnerable and immature member of the flock in need of the shepherd’s care and rescue. Finally, Luke uses the Lost Sheep story to cast Jesus' association with tax collectors and sinners as his attempt to encourage their repentance and bring joy to God in the process.

Did Jesus condone slavery?  In the sixth episode of "Stories for the Waiting Room," Mark and Lee discuss one of the more difficult lessons Jesus teaches his disciples. While on his way to Jerusalem to die, Jesus tells them a story about a Dutiful Servant whose day begins and ends with labor performed at a nameless owner's behest in Luke 17:7-10. At the parable's conclusion Jesus offers the following bit of instruction: "So also you, whenever you have done all the things you’ve been instructed to do, you should say 'We are useless slaves. We’ve only done what we should’ve done.'" To help form a suitable response , Dr. Proctor examines three contexts for Luke's challenging similitude: 1) slavery in the Greco-Roman world, 2) the Stoic philosophy of Epictetus, and 3) Jesus' previous instruction in Luke 12:35-38.

The fifth episode of Stories for the Waiting Room investigates Matthew's treatment of the Treasure in the Field and the Pearl of Great Price. Dr. Proctor suggests both Matthew's arrangement of the two stories and his selection of Greek verb tense within them suggests the First Evangelist aimed to present the pair as a set of conjoined fraternal twins. The two parables in Matt 13:44-46 thus make separate points about the kingdom’s “hiddenness” and “costliness” that nevertheless entail one another. Should Matthew’s audience hitch their wagon to the message of either story, they will soon find its sibling’s twin claim in tow as well; for the stories’ proximity to one another and their structural similarity do not allow for their convenient separation. While all who locate the Kingdom of God's whereabouts should consider themselves fortunate, they must all pay a stiff fee to acquire it, one requiring they break from their morally suspect past. 

If a parable’s growth is a good indicator of a writer’s editorial interest, it seems clear the author of the Gospel of Thomas was willing to emend Jesus' parables about the Treasure in the Field and the Pearl of Great Price in such a way as to make profitable use of first-century dislike for profiteering. Comparing the Kingdom of God to a moneylending capitalist would be a surefire way to gather audience attention in the ancient world, but exactly what is Thomas’ point? Is he criticizing the family who let the kingdom’s possession slip out of their possession into the hands of a moneylender (Treasure in the Field), while simultaneously allowing a prudent merchant to access it by means of a wise investment he makes for himself (Pearl of Great Price)? 

The third episode of Stories for the Waiting Room examines Jesus' parable of the Leaven, which concern's a nameless woman's domestic activity. In keeping with Jesus' normal storytelling style, this brief account presents a stereotypical housewife engaged in the task of preparing bread. Yet the proportions of her recipe are all out of whack, and Jesus' positive use of traditionally negative symbols would likely have struck his audiences as a curious way to illustrate what life in the Kingdom of God must be like.

In the second episode of "Stories for the Waiting Room," Dr. Proctor uses the text of Ecclesiastes 9:14-15 to illustrate some of the basic narrative qualities of Jesus' parables. In addition to being terse accounts of status quo people in stereotypical life situations, the parables frequently insert unexpected "twists" that encourage readers to engage in the interpretive process. Paying attention to the contexts of the parables can frequently assist readers in their efforts to unravel Jesus' meaning. Episode two closes with C. H. Dodd's famous definition of "parable" in his book, The Parables of the Kingdom.