Together on the Journey: A Weekly Blog from Fr. Andrew Sheldon
Every other Friday morning, I host four KCS (Kingsway College School) kindergarten classes in the Godly Play room. In these sessions, I tell them a story and we wonder about the story together. The past number of weeks I have been telling them the Godly Play parable stories. We too, of course, often hear Jesus’ parables on a Sunday, and so I thought I would share with you some parable principles that better help us to understand these stories:
Throughout the Gospels, Jesus tells stories and He uses parables as His primary narrative structure. A parable is a puzzle. It is a short, simple, story that contains rich, deeper, and instructive meaning.
There seem to be certain principles or “truisms” that consistently aid in the interpretation of Jesus’ parables.
1. The Parable is Often About the First Person Named
This truism is often neglected, and preachers and interpreters often think that the parable is about the person named in the common title of the parable. Consider as an example The Parable of the Prodigal Son. When trying to make sense of the story, many people look at the text from the perspective of the errant son who squanders his early inheritance and returns home, begging a position on his father’s estate as a hired hand. However, the parable actually begins:
“There was a man who had two sons . . .” (Luke 15:11)
Following the truism, the parable is really about the father. It is about the graciousness and forgiveness exhibited in the behaviour of the father. He not only welcomes his son back into his household, he celebrates the return of his son. This parable might be better called, The Parable of the Gracious Father.
2. The First Person Named is Usually God
The first person named in the parable is usually God the Father, but there are a few exceptions. This clearly fits with The Parable of the Gracious Father. The character of the father in the story represents God; and his gracious, generous, and forgiving nature models for us God’s nature as loving and gracious to the people of God. This holds true for many of the parables, but there are some exceptions. For instance, it does not work for The Parable of the Rich Fool (Luke 12:13-21). In this instance, the first person named is the owner of land that produces abundant harvests. While it may be tempting to think of God as this character, as we continue with the story, it is clear that the landowner is the Rich Fool. God actually speaks in this parable, another exception.
3. Jesus Makes a Cameo Appearance, Usually in the Form of a Slave, Servant or Other Menial Role
This truism is particularly consistent. In The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree, Jesus turns up as the gardener who pleads the case for keeping the barren tree and offers to tend it (Luke 13:6-9). Read this way, this highlights for us Jesus’ role as mediator and advocate for us in our relationship with God. In The Parable of the Great Dinner (Luke 14:15-24, Matthew 22:1-14), God, as the first person named, is the host of the banquet. Jesus is the slave who is sent out to invite people to come and share in the banquet, and who is turned down by would-be guests. In order to fill all the spaces at the table, the slave (Jesus) begins to invite unlikely guests – the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame (Luke 14:21).
4. There is Something Realistic About Each Parable, as well as Something Un-Realistic
Consider the three tiny parables in Matthew’s Gospel (Mt. 13:44-50). The field hand finds a buried treasure, and he sells all he has in order to purchase the field and claim the treasure as his own. However, we know that reasonably, a field hand could never own enough possessions that their sale would afford him the ability to purchase land. Similarly with The Parable of the Great Pearl. Perhaps the merchant could sell all his jewels in order to afford the Great Pearl, but it is unrealistic that he would subject himself to financial ruin. What is realistic, however, is that the behaviour described is actually God’s behaviour, rather than human behaviour.
Consider too The Parable of the Wedding Banquet (Luke 14:7-14). Jesus describes the social custom of His day; guests would be invited by the host to take specific seats at the banquet, assigned based on an elaborate calculation of personal honour. So, this aspect of the parable is realistic in its initial context. Jesus’ instruction is the unrealistic side of the parable. He urges the people to continue to host banquets, but rather than inviting friends and notable guests, they are to invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.
5. The Un-Realistic Behaviour in the Parables Reveals the Nature of God
Principle 4 leads into this final observation or truism. Too often, preachers focus on the unrealistic behaviour as outlined in the parables and suggest that we are called to emulate it as faithful Christians. How discouraging! In this light, much of what we are “called” to do is unreasonable, if not impossible, making life as a faithful Christian an impossible task. I would argue instead that the unrealistic behaviour actually reveals the nature of God. So, in keeping with the parable of the banquet, when God hosts the banquet, He invites the unlikely guests. The unlikely, the undeserving, those are the ones who are welcome at God’s table. This reveals something significant about God’s graciousness. It tells us that we, despite being undeserving, are the honoured guests at God’s table. Knowing this, feeling secure in God’s love for us should empower us and free us to love and serve our neighbour.
6. A Parable Has Many Meanings
A parable is not a fable; it does not have a single ‘moral’ of the story. It has multiple meanings, and the meaning is made by the hearer. This is why parables are timeless and relevant. And, why all of the above principles are potentially irrelevant!
Andrew+