In the case of a text of Scripture, meaning advances in the form of memory and is further advanced by the listener or the reader in the fire of imagination and the formation of new meanings and new images. It follows, then, that when given permission, the teachings and parables of Jesus are potentially and universally surprising to us, and always so. Ironically (and surprisingly), one of the primary reasons we return to these writings time and again is that they intend to surprise us; they exist for that purpose.
