A parable recasts a problem into a new relational light.  We become stuck with one interpretation of life, thinking that perhaps God is unjust.  When we see the situation from afar with finger puppets instead of ourselves, however, the relational principles become clear.  David clearly understood the crime commited in Nathan’s story.  Having the ears to hear the parable involves the next and much more difficult step: realizing where the relational principle of the parable touches our own guilt.  We are the people who beat the kings servants, hide our single mina and refuse the invitation to the wedding.  The pharisees were the pharisees precisely because they knew for certain that the point of the parable was leveled at everyone but them.