I think Jesus was practising for "Jeopardy". I heard he was very good during his time. And Alex Trebek was just starting as host. He won a lot of vacation trips to Palentine and Persia. And a few camels.

Makes folks think, no? ;-)

I think because He wants only those who actually seek Him face to face really to understand.

He said it Himself: Matthew 13:10 The disciples came to him and asked, "Why do you speak to the people in parables?" He replied, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. This is why I speak to them in parables: "Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand." In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: "You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them." But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

If you are enlightened and are trying to help others grasp some new concepts, symbolism (parables) is an excellent tool.

he did this so only those who were in tune with him could understand him. the pharisees were so wise they were blind.

Hello, he was a Jew. It's practically genetic for them.

I think Jesus is just a literary device and doesn't exist outside of the mind of his creators - his domain is only on the printed page and in the minds of the "faithful". That said, his character in his fictional accounts used parables to advance "his" opinions and further the plot line.

Because our mind thinks best in pictures. And, by drawing on familiar things, illustrations can make spiritual things easier to grasp. Thus, Jesus compared God, the Hearer of prayer, to a father who gives good things to his children. The difficult path to life was described as a narrow gate opening onto a cramped road. False prophets were likened to wolves that disguise themselves as sheep or to trees that produce rotten fruit. (Matthew 7:7-11, 13-21) These true-to-life illustrations breathed life into Jesus’ words. His lessons became memorable, unforgettable.

Because most of them in Jerusalem were so spiritually blind and hard-hearted that he could not teach them in plain doctrine.

To exercise our thought process. The more we analyse things the more we remember them.

Because if he had directly stated all his ideas people would have laughed him off and never joined his cult. However wrap it in a parables, and you get people so busy listening to the story they forget to question the authenticity of your statements.

It was the practice of his day. The contemporary rabbis also did so.

Would you think it is easier to memorize a story then cold dead lists?

Because it was a tried and true teaching method, already ancient by the time Jesus was even born. It was an accepted Jewish practice at the time of Jesus. And the Buddha taught using parables centuries before Jesus.

"To confound the wise."

That's exactly how Jesus and all the great Masters of that time dealt with teaching. The crowds were varied and communication was not universal then anymore than it is today. Parables allow a message to be understood by a variety instead of just the lower class or the scholars, for instance.

Its not wise to trust everything you read in the bible. There is no way to prove that Jesus actually said anything that the bible claims he did. Here is an interesting article that will show you what I mean.http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/biblianazar/esp_biblianazar_24.htm