Social Justice in the Stories of Jesus E-Book

Matthew E. Gordley

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Serie: Lived Religions
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 715

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

Invites a new generation of readers to apply ethical reasoning to social justice challenges, accessible to people of faith from a broad range of backgrounds Social Justice in the Stories of Jesus introduces readers to the parables of the New Testament while exploring how they relate to social justice, ethics, and key issues of modern society. Centering on themes of mercy, justice, and human dignity, this unique volume invites readers to reflect on the meaning of Jesus's parables both in their original setting and in the context of present-day moral and ethical challenges. The author discusses social justice concepts from various traditions to enable readers to engage with the ethical implications of the parables in a range of different contexts. Each chapter focuses on one parable or set of parables, such as the parable of the Good Samaritan and the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, and includes historical background information and an analysis and interpretation of the parable. Throughout the text, the author highlights the connections between Jesus's parables and racism, violence, poverty, the environment, our obligations to one another, and other timely social justice issues. * Blends an accessible overview of the parables of Jesus with an introduction to social justice and ethics * Explores New Testament parables as viewed through the lens of contemporary writers, ethicists, and activists * Emphasizes the Jewish roots of the parables and the need to guard against anti-Jewish readings of the parables * Highlights the ways that Jesus's parables challenged his first-century listeners to see their world in new ways and recognize the dignity of every person * Engages with seminal thinkers in contemporary social justice, such as James Cone, Howard Thurman, Emilie Townes, Bishop Michael Curry, and Pope Francis * Includes study and discussion questions for personal and group use Requiring no prior knowledge of the subject, Social Justice in the Stories of Jesus: The Ethical Challenge of the Parables is an ideal textbook for introductory courses on the Bible and New Testament, faith-based courses on ethics, and general Christian readers looking for an excellent resource for personal or congregational study.

Leseprobe

Social Justice in the Stories of Jesus

The Ethical Challenge of the Parables

Matthew E. Gordley

Pittsburgh, PAUnited States

This edition first published 2024

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Gordley, Matthew E., 1972- author.

Title: Social justice in the stories of Jesus : the ethical challenge of the parables / Matthew E. Gordley.

Description: Hoboken, NJ : John Wiley & Sons Ltd., 2024. | Includes bibliographical references.

Identifiers: LCCN 2023026391 (print) | LCCN 2023026392 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119884026 (paperback) | ISBN 9781119884033 (pdf) | ISBN 9781119884040 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Jesus Christ--Parables. | Bible--Parables. | Social justice--Religious aspects--Christianity. | Christian sociology.

Classification: LCC BT375.3 .G67 2024 (print) | LCC BT375.3 (ebook) | DDC 226.8/06--dc23/eng/20230817

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2023026391

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2023026392

Cover Image: © juanljones/Getty Images

Cover Design: Wiley

Set in 10/13pt PalatinoLTStd by Integra Software Services Pvt. Ltd, Pondicherry, India

In memory ofJack ConroyMichael PalmerRae Ann Hirsh

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Preface

Acknowledgment

1 Reading the Parables through the Lens of Social Justice

1. Introduction

2. What Are Parables?

3. Why Parables?

4. The Parables as They Were Originally Heard

5. Parables and Mercy: An Entry Point into Social Justice

6. Exploring the Ethical Implications of the Parables through a Social Justice Lens

7. Reading the Parables through the Lens of Social Justice: A Proposal

2 Encountering the World and Words of Jesus

1. Introduction

2. Exploring Other Worlds: Some Key Concepts

3. The World of Jesus

Religious Context: Early Judaism

Sociopolitical Context: An Advanced Agrarian Society within the Roman Empire

4. The Words of Jesus

5. Words about Jesus

The Actions and Example of Jesus

Death and Resurrection

6. Postscript: Jesus and Crucified Peoples Today

3 The Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37)

1. Introduction

2. The Text: Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37)

3. Our First Step: Grasp the Story

4. Our Second Step: Going Deeper through Asking Questions

What Can We Know about the Characters?

Good Samaritan … and Bad Jews?

5. Our Third Step: Spot the Twist

6. Our Fourth Step: Consider the Metaphor

7. Our Fifth Step: Articulate the Challenge

8. Our Final Step: Consider Implications

Physical Care for Those in Need: The Corporal Works of Mercy

The Natural World

The Humanity of Our Enemies

4 Lost Sheep, Lost Coin (Luke 15:4–10)

1. Introduction

2. The Text: Lost Sheep, Lost Coin (Luke 15:4–10)

3. Our First Step: Grasp the Stories

4. Our Second Step: Ask Questions to Gain Understanding

What Glimpse Does Each Parable Give Us into Economic Realities in the First Century?

5. Our Third Step: Spot the Twist

6. Our Fourth Step: Consider the Metaphor

Lost and Found

Communal Rejoicing

7. Our Fifth Step: Articulate the Challenge

8. Our Sixth Step: Consider Implications

5 The Lost Sons (Luke 15:11–32)

1. Introduction

2. The Text: The Lost Sons (Luke 15:11–32)

3. Our First Step: Grasp the Story

4. Our Second Step: Ask Questions to Gain Understanding

5. Our Third Step: Spot the Twist

6. Our Fourth Step: Consider the Metaphor

7. Our Fifth Step: Articulate the Challenge

8. Our Sixth Step: Consider implications

6 The Parable of the Mustard Seed (Mark 4:30–32)

1. Introduction

2. The Text: The Parable of the Mustard Seed (Mark 4:30–32)

3. Our First Step: Grasp the Story

4. Our Second Step: Ask Good Questions

5. Our Third Step: Spot the Twist

6. Our Fourth Step: Consider the Metaphor

7. Our Fifth Step: Articulate the Challenge

8. Our Sixth Step: Consider Implications

7 The Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Luke 18:9–14)

1. Introduction

2. The Text: The Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Luke 18:9–14)

3. Our First Step: Grasp the Story

4. Our Second Step: Ask Questions to Gain Understanding

5. Our Third Step: Spot the Twist

6. Our Fourth Step: Consider the Metaphor

7. Our Fifth Step: Articulate the Challenge

8. Our Sixth Step: Consider Implications

8 The Laborers in the Vineyard (Matthew 20:1–16)

1. Introduction

2. The Text: The Laborers in the Vineyard (Matthew 20:1–16)

3. Our First Step: Grasp the Story

4. Our Second Step: Ask Questions to Gain Understanding

5. Our Third Step: Spot the Twist

6. Our Fourth Step: Consider the Metaphor

7. Our Fifth Step: Articulate the Challenge

Jon Sobrino and Ignacio Ellacuría

8. Our Sixth Step: Consider Implications

9 The Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19–31)

1. Introduction

2. The Text: The Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19–31)

3. Our First Step: Grasp the Story

4. Our Second Step: Going Deeper through Asking Questions

5. Our Third Step: Spot the Twist

6. Our Fourth Step: Consider the Metaphor

7. Our Fifth Step: Articulate the Challenge

8. Our Final Step: Consider Implications

Conclusion: Living into Our Humanity and Cultivating an Ethic of Love, Mercy, and Justice

1. Introduction

2. Summary of the Parables

3. Shared Themes throughout the Parables of Jesus

4. Conversation Partners

5. An Ethic of Love, Mercy, and Justice

Appendix 1: Sisters of Mercy Reflections on the Parables

Appendix 2: Questions for Individual Study and Group Discussion

Bibliography

Index

End User License Agreement

Guide

Cover

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Table of Contents

Preface

Acknowledgment

Begin Reading

Conclusion: Living into Our Humanity and Cultivating an Ethic of Love, Mercy, and Justice

Appendix 1: Sisters of Mercy Reflections on the Parables

Appendix 2: Questions for Individual Study and Group Discussion

Bibliography

Index

End User License Agreement

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Preface

This is a very different book for me. Although like my previous books this is a work of academic scholarship, in this volume I engage not only the words of the New Testament but also the world we all share today. In seeking to make explicit connections between the teaching of Jesus and our current context, I have had to move significantly out of my scholarly comfort zone. But this is a book I had to write. First, for the obvious reason that I believe that the teaching of Jesus in the parables has something to say to us today with regard to matters of social justice. Second, because I am increasingly convinced that many of the people claiming to be followers of Jesus today have, perhaps unknowingly, embraced some very bad ways of reading and understanding the Bible. These bad ways of interpreting the Bible have been used to lend support to ways of living out their “Christian” faith and ways of being in the world that appear to me to be very much at odds with the kinds of compassionate, merciful, and loving ways that Jesus promoted. In my experience, it has often been Christians seeking to live “according to the Bible” who have inflicted serious harm on others whether through explicit messages of exclusion and hatred, implicit messages devaluing the humanity of others who do not measure up to certain standards, or complicity with oppressive systems of exploitation and abuse. In my experience growing up as a Christian, I have witnessed firsthand the ways in which “biblical” messages and institutions inflict a uniquely painful kind of damage on individuals, pushing them off a path of authentic spiritual growth and well-being, and severely limiting their ability to thrive or live into their full humanity. The purpose of this book is to share an informed, contextual way of reading the parables that I hope can serve as a corrective to some common mis-readings of the Bible and their corresponding mis-applications in real life. My experiences in Christian churches and Christian academic institutions from a variety of traditions, as well as my training and research as a scholar of Christianity and Judaism in antiquity, have given me a perspective that I think can be helpful in our current times.

Acknowledgments

I have many people to thank who contributed to this book. First, I extend my heartfelt gratitude to the Sisters of Mercy whose collective efforts of embodying the mercy of Jesus in this world have resulted in hospitals, schools, colleges, universities, and other service organizations that today serve hundreds of thousands of people and represent millions of lives impacted for good. I am particularly grateful to the eight Sisters who contributed parable reflections that are now included in this volume: Mary-Paula Cancienne, Anne Curtis, Mary Kay Dobrovolny, Diane Guerin, Marilyn Lacey, Cynthia Serjak, Judy Schubert, and Sheila Carney. I felt it was critical for individuals who live out this teaching on a daily basis to be able to give voice to the spirit that animates their work. To Sister Sheila Carney, I owe an exceptional debt of gratitude not only for recruiting the other Sisters in support of this volume but also for her incredible work at Carlow University of welcoming newcomers like me into the wider community of mercy higher education. I am comforted to know that wherever I may go in life, I will now always be part of the “Circle of Mercy.” In this regard, I also acknowledge Maureen Crossen and Jack Alverson who generously shared with me their understanding of teaching theology in the spirit of mercy, and who helped me consider the parables as an important instructional tool in the teaching of Jesus about mercy.

Thank you also to the Carlow University MFA in Creative Writing community for ongoing inspiration and support of me as a fellow writer in spirit—and for inviting me to share my writing. Along those lines, I also want to express my gratitude to so many of my colleagues at Carlow, and especially within the College of Arts and Sciences, who integrate their scholarly expertise with a genuine commitment to social justice and a deep love for students—and who, by their example and willingness to engage across disciplinary boundaries, have challenged me to view my own scholarship and academic work in exciting new ways. For candid conversations both challenging my views and expanding my perspective, I am so grateful. I must also thank my executive assistant, Ada Lovo-Martinez, whose exceptional attention to the details of our work and to matters of academic administration are matched only by her kindness and embodiment of Carlow’s spirit of mercy. Without the support of all of the above, this book could never have been written.

Thanks are due also to the editorial and production teams at Wiley Blackwell and to the anonymous reviewers who provided such essential feedback and recommendations on earlier versions. I am deeply grateful for all of their support and wisdom. Special thanks to David Aune who provided invaluable feedback in early stages that helped shape this project in a fruitful direction and who has been a mentor, teacher, and friend since the beginning of my scholarly career. Many thanks to Néstor Medina and his colleagues at Emmanuel College of the University of Victoria for arranging time for me to work on the final stages of this project in their beautiful and welcoming setting within the University of Toronto.

I want to express my most profound and highest thanks to my family, Janine, Jack, Aidan, and Noah, as the people in this world closest to my heart. Thank you for your support and encouragement throughout the many years of working on this project, and for the many lively discussions around social justice, faith, religion, and life that have helped reshape the way I think about all of these issues. You all continue to be my inspiration in so many ways. And to Janine: thank you especially for your unfailing support of this book during very challenging years of your own. There is still no one else I would have rather gone off the deep end with.

This book is dedicated to the memory of three remarkable individuals, each of whom influenced my life in significant ways as colleagues, collaborators, mentors, and friends:

Jack Conroy who I remember for his laughter, intellect, love for learning, generosity of spirit, and unfailing belief in me.

Michael Palmer who I remember for his wisdom, wit, calming leadership in times of crisis, and mentoring role in my life.

Rae Ann Hirsh who I remember for her unquenchable positive spirit, ability to make those around her feel uniquely treasured, and (case in point!) naming a butterfly after me.

With their passing in 2022, I continue to reflect on the extent to which each of these individuals improved countless lives through their quiet and intentional work of teaching, scholarship, and service, and, even more importantly, their friendship and love. I aspire in my daily life and work to carry forward so much of what they each shared with me. My hope is that through this book you will encounter a little bit of their spirit even as I now carry them in my heart.

Matthew E. GordleyAscension Day, 2023Pittsburgh

1 Reading the Parables through the Lens of Social Justice

“He sighed and whistled, bending his old head. He said, ‘You can’t conceive, my child, nor can I or anyone the … appalling … strangeness of the mercy of God.’”1

1. Introduction

The longer I study and teach about the parables, the more uneasy I become. Scared may even be a better word for it, if I am being honest. I know this may seem an odd way to begin but bear with me. Two things unsettle me.

First, recognizing that parables are notoriously difficult to interpret and that they are “stories with intent” as one writer calls them, I am afraid that I may be missing the point. As a person of faith who has spent many years studying the Bible, teaching it as a professor, and working at an educational institution with deep roots in the Christian tradition, it is troubling to think that I might actually miss the point of the parables. Looking at their complex history of interpretation it is clear that others have done so. And it is a real possibility that I might too.

Second, and still more unsettling, recognizing that in the parables Jesus calls his listeners to live a radical new kind of life marked by mercy, justice, valuing of community, and forgiveness (the values associated with what Jesus called the “kingdom of God”), I am afraid that I may not be missing the point. The kind of human existence to which Jesus calls his followers is one that sounds appealing—who wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of divine mercy?—but also carries with it significant obligations to others. If we take seriously the message of Jesus in the parables, then we are called to recognize that there are harmful prejudices within us that need to be challenged and there are demanding, new actions that we need to take. These attitudes and actions relate not only to ourselves but to the world around us. Moving toward a life marked by mercy, justice, community, and forgiveness means embracing a commitment to the flourishing of all people. And in a world where only some are flourishing and many are suffering, and where complex societal forces dehumanize and degrade, and where ideologies and beliefs divide, the parables challenge us to think differently and live differently. Mercy, justice, community, and forgiveness—the themes of many of the parables—call us to care for our neighbors, whoever they may be. Their call is a call to restoring those who are broken and making whole those whose dignity has been lost. If I am not missing the point, then the call of Jesus in the parables is an appeal to recognize that it is only in living a life of concern for others’ wellbeing that one is able to live fully into one’s own humanity, and thus live in the way of “the kingdom.” Scary.

Of course, not everyone who reads the parables takes away such a message of other-concern and solidarity with our fellow humans in the here and now. As metaphorical stories there is an almost limitless plurality of interpretations that are possible for the parables and what they convey about the kingdom of God. But the “religious” element of the parables (I mean, they are found in the Bible and on the lips of Jesus who is a religious teacher, right?) has led many readers to find in them a spiritual message rather than an ethical one. In this line of thinking the parables teach primarily about spiritual realities like salvation, getting into heaven, and gaining eternal life. One quick example is the parable of the laborers in the vineyard who receive their wages at the end of the day in Matthew 20:1–16.2 A common “spiritual” interpretation understands this parable as really being a message about salvation, becoming a Christian, and receiving eternal life. Overlooked entirely are the this-worldly dynamics of the complex relationship of the landowner, the laborers, and the societal obligations the characters had toward one another within the harsh realities of the agrarian economy of Jesus’s day. By ignoring the concrete details of the parable and spiritualizing the message, many interpreters throughout history have unintentionally “domesticated” the parables—ignoring their ethical implications and making them easier to live with.3 Yet if one takes seriously the explicit teachings of Jesus about social concerns together with his actions on behalf of the poor, the oppressed, and the marginalized, one can see that the parables themselves also deal with these same concerns about the human experience in this world. As Michael Cook explains, “Parables … raise in an acute and striking way the question of how concrete and specific was Jesus’ own concern for justice.”4 In this way, and importantly for anyone who wishes to understand the historical Jesus and his concerns in their context, “Parables bring us to the very heart of Jesus’ ministry.”5

While spiritual interpretations of the parables abound, throughout history there have also been those who have taken seriously the ethical challenge of the parables and come to this point of recognition of their social implications. Whether theologians, philosophers, writers, ministers, or activists, they have read the parables, heard the call to live fully into their own humanity, and were moved to devote their energies and activities for others. At my university—a school founded by the Sisters of Mercy and that continues to be animated by their spirit—I have encountered some of these heroic people, some in person, and some through their legacies of writing and action. Teaching the parables in such a context I have made an important discovery: it is not just whether we read the parables or even how we read the parables that impact our understanding of their message. It is also who we read them with that matters. And reading the parables with the reflective and action-oriented Sisters of Mercy led me to some startling moments of fresh insight about the mercy of God as both a spiritual reality and a practical one.

Engaging with the parables in my current setting also challenged me to wrestle with the kind of mercy that the parables invite us to show to ourselves and to others. In this way I have come to see that the message of the parables is both personal and communal, with implications for my own personal faith but also for matters of societal importance and social justice. So this book has grown out of my own context and experiences. I have written it as an invitation to you not only to read the parables, but to read the parables in conversation with some of these individuals who have grappled with the message of Jesus and brought it to life in their generation in their own way. By doing so we will consider together the claims of mercy on us and on our world; claims that seem more urgent with each day that passes.

The context in which this book is being written in the United States in the 2020s calls attention to ways that mercy is needed more now than ever. An important aspect of mercy, as we will see, involves the simple act of seeing the need of human beings around us. In a global pandemic and its aftermath, inequities in our society have been brought into sharp focus. Before vaccines were available all of us could see human dignity being compromised in essential workers, often people of color, who contracted the coronavirus and died from it at rates disproportional to the rest of society. Police brutality, use of excessive force, and killing of black people are continuing to occur at alarming rates. The murder of George Floyd by a white police officer in 2020 seems to have been a tipping point for many white Americans who were forced to come to grips with the reality that racism impacts the lives of black and brown Americans on a daily basis throughout their lives. Americans of all backgrounds have had no choice but to see these realities. Yet each person’s response, and our collective response, are still being enacted and written.

Beyond what is happening in the United States, the world itself is facing unprecedented challenges which call for responses of mercy. The growing gap between the poor and the wealthy, the disproportional impact of climate change on the poorest, violence against women and children, and ongoing military conflicts are impacting literally billions of our fellow humans. These global crises call for our attention and call for us to respond. Can we respond with mercy? How? And what would it look like if mercy were animating our responses to what we see around us and experience ourselves? With these questions we can see that we are facing not only religious questions, but ethical ones. What is the right thing to do in our time?

Author and activist Jim Wallis refers to the present moment in US history with its multiple crises of racism, gun violence, white nationalism, intolerance, and political and social discord as a “Bonhoeffer moment”—referring to the German theologian and pastor who served, preached, and wrote during the rise of Hitler in Nazi Germany.6 Dietrich Bonhoeffer explored what faith in Jesus meant in response to the rising authoritarianism and evils perpetrated by the Nazis. In an era in which large sectors of Christian churches failed to offer any meaningful critique or resistance to the Nazi agenda, Bonhoeffer was ultimately imprisoned for his resistance efforts and killed in a German prison just weeks before the end of World War II. Wallis suggests that individuals who consider themselves followers of Jesus should ask Bonhoeffer’s question, “Who is Jesus Christ for us today?” This question requires those who identify as Christian to ask what the teaching and message of Jesus means in the current context and current historical situation. In particular it invites consideration of whether following God may require Christians to resist in some way the direction our society is moving or even to actively disobey unjust laws. Wallis writes, “We need to understand Jesus and his teachings to shape how we respond to this historical and moral crisis if those of us who call ourselves ‘followers of Jesus’ want to keep calling ourselves that with any credibility.”7

In the parables we come face to face with the central message of Jesus. Through them we will see that Jesus invites his followers to act in ways that promote the dignity of every human. The short stories of Jesus invite all readers to see the needs around us, and to respond with compassion. They invite us to question our assumptions and our sense of who is deserving of God’s favor and who is undeserving, who is right and who is wrong, and see the world and its people in new ways. The parables challenge readers to see and feel the suffering of others, and to act to alleviate it. They invite us to envision a world in which people act in ways that promote human connection and foster communities where everyone thrives.

In short, the parables invite us to live in mercy—to live with compassion and love in light of the reality of what Jesus called the “kingdom of God.” The parables remind us that in every moment of life we either need to show mercy to others or we need mercy shown to us. Oftentimes both. And at different times one more than the other. And it is through living out mercy and living in mercy that we can live into our full humanity. If we close ourselves off from this kind of genuine concern—whether showing it or receiving it—we close ourselves off to a part of what it means to be human. So in a very real way, the parables of Jesus offer a challenging invitation to embrace our full humanity. And in so doing, to change the world for the better through what might be called an ethic of love.

So this book is an invitation and you are the one who is invited. You are invited to enter into a conversation—one that literally goes back two thousand years. This conversation is a two-way dialogue between Jesus and his listeners. Jesus taught in parables and through them offered the world a challenging message about what it means to be human—human in the fullest sense of the word. For Jesus, this was a message about a radical kind of life: a life marked by mercy as a defining characteristic. His listeners responded in different ways, of course. Some dismissed his teaching, missing the point or being unwilling to struggle with its meaning. Some sought to understand his teaching and to wrestle with its implications for their lives. They asked questions and engaged in dialogue and discussion about what it all meant. That dialogue has continued through the centuries as readers in each generation have encountered the parables in new contexts and in new circumstances. You are now part of this ongoing dialogue. Each chapter of this book is an invitation to explore a parable and consider its significance at the time of its original telling and also its significance today in our time. Through engaging with these stories we all are invited to consider how mercy might be a part of our world, our communities, our relationships, and our individual lives today. We all are invited to consider what it means to be more humane and more fully human.

In this introductory chapter we will lay a foundation for entering into the conversation. First, we will need to understand a little bit about what parables are and why Jesus used them as a primary vehicle for his message. Second, we will need to consider why it is important to think about the original meaning of the parables as they were understood by the first-century listeners. We will see that if we want to understand what they may mean for us in the “here and now,” it will be helpful first to grapple with what they meant “then and there.” Third, we will introduce a major theme that runs through the parables—mercy—and meet Jon Sobrino, a figure who has understood this message in a striking way as a matter of life and death. His insight into the social implications of the teaching of Jesus in the parables will prepare us for our fourth task: exploring the idea of reading the parables through the lens of social justice. With all of the above perspectives in mind, we will wrap up this introduction by outlining a process of reading the parables that will enable us to appreciate the original message of the parables and to consider their ethical implications for our contemporary contexts. We will use this process in the remainder of the book to look together at eight parables of Jesus in conversation with influential thinkers in social justice.

When it comes to interpreting the parables, author Barbara Green uses two images of a butterfly that I find very apt as we begin this study.8 The first image is that of a butterfly preserved in a display case complete with arrows and pins pointing to various aspects of the butterfly’s physical characteristics. Quite analytical. The second is an image of a live butterfly gracefully fluttering through the air: awe inspiring and uplifting to behold. Both types of beholding a butterfly have their place, though we probably have our preference for one or the other. For the truly curious, the analytical view can enhance our appreciation of the butterfly in motion, and vice versa. In the same way, we can look at parables in two very different ways. In this book, my goal is for us to be able to look at them in both ways in order to gain the benefit that each way of perceiving offers. In each chapter I will provide some analytical pointers to the features of each parable that we will examine: the parable in a display case. But each chapter will also engage with key thinkers, writers, and activists who have sought to put the message of the parables into action in their own way. Whether in their writings or in their communities, these are individuals who draw our attention to issues of social justice and the ethical implications inherent in the parables. As we engage the parables and these individuals, we will be challenged ourselves to consider enacting the kind of mercy the parables call us to. Through this process in each chapter I hope that we will not only understand the parables better, but capture a glimpse of the beauty of each parable in flight.

2. What Are Parables?

According to the Gospels—the books of the New Testament that tell us about the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus—parables are a type of teaching method that Jesus used extensively. Here we will take a look at what a parable is and how parables convey their teaching in some very unique ways.

As a starting point we can begin with New Testament scholar Amy Jill Levine’s clever reference to the parables as “short stories by Jesus.”9 This is a fitting description in many ways. Most of the parables are given in story form. They have memorable characters (a good Samaritan, a prodigal son, a farmer sowing seed, a king hosting a wedding banquet). They have plots that develop, some in quite dramatic ways. And like good stories, they are interesting to listen to. However, if we approach the parables expecting to encounter a short story such as we might read today, we will be surprised by a couple of things. First, some of these “short stories” are very, very short—as short as one or two sentences. Second, though these “short stories” have memorable characters, in all but one parable the characters are not named. This creates an interesting dynamic as well, reading about anonymous characters who are often more like general types rather than specific individuals. On these bases alone, our concept of “story” does not quite capture what we are reading when we read a parable. Further complicating matters, some of the teachings that are called parables by the gospel writers are not stories at all but really just clever comparisons.

The original Greek term from which we get the English word parable carries with it the connotation of a comparison: putting two different things alongside of each other. This is useful to know as we read the parables. They are not simply stories with a point. Instead, they are comparisons of two unlike things to bring out some truth about one or the other. Understanding what that truth is is the hard part. Mary Ann Getty-Sullivan puts it this way: “The parables describe what is unknown in terms of what is known. Parables use the language of analogy and comparison.”10 Through a simple story about what is known and familiar, the point of parables is to tell us about something external to the story; something that is unknown, perhaps unfamiliar, but is the important point of the parable—more important than the story itself. As literature professor Leland Ryken writes, “The parable is a story that means what it says and something besides.”11

When Jesus introduces his teaching with a phrase like “Listen to another parable…” (Matthew 21:33) he is, in effect, saying, “Listen to this comparison, and see what you make of it.” In another place, Jesus starts out even more explicitly about the comparative nature of what he is saying: “The kingdom of God may be compared to…” (Matt. 22:2). What follows next is a parable. And just as parables invite the reader to do the work of comparison in different ways, so too do they end in a range of ways. Sometimes parables end with a question. At other times they end abruptly, inviting the listener to imagine where the story goes from there (e.g., Matt. 21:40).

In this vein we can see that for a formal definition of parables, Arland Hultgren’s is a good one: “A parable is a figure of speech in which a comparison is made between God’s kingdom, actions, or expectations and something in this world, real or imagined.”12 In this book we will focus mostly on parables that are of the narrative or story type. Another type of parable is called a similitude, in which a simple comparison is made without all the features of narrative. Using this definition of parable there are about thirty-eight parables of Jesus recorded in the New Testament.

As a kind of folk discourse common in the ancient world, parables are a creative medium that is uniquely suited to convey a provocative message in a simple and even disarming way. One intriguing point about parables is that they require the reader or hearer to really think about what might appear at first glance to be a relatively simple interaction. Of course, if the reader or hearer is not interested in really understanding, he or she can leave it at face value. But the point of a parable is to use a comparison to help the listener gain some insight, and then to do the hard work of considering how that insight may be true in the listener’s own life. Through this act of comparison parables “metaphorically redescribe our world” and invite us to a fresh awareness of how things are or how they might be.13 And then, in view of that insight, the listener is invited to consider what action, attitude, or thought might need to change in order to live in line with the mercy of God and the reality of God’s love for all of humanity.

In these acts of narrative comparison it is important to recognize that there is a range of ways in which the comparison works. Some parables can be understood as allegories where each element of the story has a specific corresponding meaning in another sphere. The parable of the sower is most often understood in this way since an allegorical interpretation is provided by Jesus himself in Matthew’s Gospel (see Matt. 13:1–9 and 18–23). Most parables, however, are not allegories (though as we will see many have been interpreted that way throughout history). Rather, parables are more often metaphorical in the sense that it is the story as a whole that conveys the meaning, not the individual parts. Many of the overarching images Jesus uses did have familiar allegorical meanings that would have been readily understood by his audiences. These just would not be the kind of complex and detailed allegories sometimes seen in the interpretation of the parables by early theologians in the Patristic period. New Testament scholar Raymond Brown explains, “Simple allegory and metaphor, and allegories already familiar to his hearer from the Old Testament—these lay within his [Jesus’s] illustrative range.”14 For example, for listeners familiar with the Jewish Scriptures where writers compare the people of Israel to a vineyard (see, for example, Ps 80:8–10 or Isaiah 5:1–7), a story about a landowner and his vineyard would carry obvious connotations as being potentially a story about God and God’s people. Similarly, with the biblical emphasis on God as king or God as a father, one might expect a parable about a king or a father to represent God. Those images sometimes do and sometimes do not seem to carry those meanings in the parables of Jesus. Often the parables challenge readers’ presuppositions about those generic characters, inviting readers to wrestle with the differences. Thus, instead of asking whether a parable is an allegory or not, it will be more beneficial to note the range of degrees to which the narrative details may be understood to be allegorical, and to recognize the ways this varies from one parable to another.15

In this process of comparison, it is important to note also that parables show both what God is like and unlike. The comparisons can work two ways. And readers must be careful not to identify every act or deed or word of characters in a parable as expressing what God is like. The point may be that God is like one particular aspect of the story, but not others. Understanding this subtle dynamic is important, and it is where the process of interpretation, and interpretation in conversation with others, comes into play.

To take one quick example, in the parable of the great banquet in Luke 14:15–24, Jesus tells a parable about the kingdom of God, after someone dining with him proclaims, “Blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” The parable concerns a master who gives a great banquet and invites many people. We might expect that the banquet represents the kingdom of God and that the master represents God. Thus, we may expect to learn something about God from the actions of the master. However, the parable goes on to show the master getting increasingly angry as individuals make excuses to avoid the banquet and do not willingly come to it. Finally, the master tells his servant to force people to come to the banquet, and also that those who would not accept the invitation will never dine with him again. These descriptions of anger, forcing people against their will, and holding a grudge clearly do not align with the explicit teaching about God from the rest of Scripture as a compassionate parent, or even from other parables comparing God to someone who goes out himself and actively seeks what has been lost. This jarring parable should cause us to remember that parables both reveal what God is like and unlike. In this case, the parable gives us pause, and we can be grateful that God is not like that angry and spiteful dinner host. At the same time, what does this reveal about the kingdom of God? It may indeed be like a banquet which people choose not to attend, even though there is plenty of room and everyone, from the least to the greatest, is welcome. As a listener to such a parable I might then ask where I see myself in the parable: have I accepted the invitation, or am I like those who make excuses and prioritize other things over the kingdom? Or in a different vein, is there some area of life in which I myself am an angry, spiteful host toward people around me? The challenge of the parable is often found in our response, not in linking every character in the story to what God is like.

As an aside here, we might also ask why the master had such a difficult time getting people to come to his banquet. As listeners to this intriguing story we can only imagine. Maybe he was a terrible host. Maybe he was a tyrant. Maybe his (very obvious) anger issues were well known. Matthew’s Gospel includes an even more extreme retelling of this parable with the host as a murderous king who sends troops to destroy those who would not attend and who had previously murdered his messengers (Matthew 22:1–14). Since the servants ultimately brought in whoever they could find off the streets, one man ended up there without a wedding robe. When the man cannot explain why he is not properly dressed the vengeful host gets even more unhinged (if that were possible!) and says to the servants: “Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (v. 13). Wait, what?! Again we are confronted with a gripping story that does not go as we expect it will. The challenge is to wrestle with what the parable says to us while recognizing that every detail is not a word picture of what God is like. The comparison of the parable invites us to consider critically what is being brought into focus.

So we see that a parable is a comparison, and often a narrative one, which draws the listener in with an interesting scenario built around experiences familiar to the audience. While the story may be interesting in and of itself, it is the comparison to another reality which is where the challenge for listeners lies. In this sense we can talk about the internal coherence of the story itself which is referred to by parables scholar Dan Otto Via as the “in meaning.” At the same time, we can consider the realities in the reader’s world to which the story is pointing as capturing the “through meaning.”16 It is this challenge to the listener’s values, this “more besides,” that is of ultimate importance. But as we will see, unless we understand the realities of the actual story itself as much as possible—the in meaning—, we will be at a loss in considering the full range of challenge that a parable may offer to us today—the through meaning.

3. Why Parables?

As we start out on this exploration of the parables we should pause for a moment to consider why it was that Jesus taught in parables. From our modern vantage point we can see a number of reasons why this method of teaching was particularly effective. First, parables are entertaining—everyone loves listening to a good story. In this way parables are an effective way of capturing peoples’ interest. Second, parables are memorable. Unlike a sermon or classroom lecture it is much easier to remember a story. One can recall a story and reflect on it. One can also retell it. And that is exactly what has happened with the parables: they have now been told and retold for centuries.

Beyond just being entertaining and memorable, a third reason for Jesus’s teaching in parables is that parables have the power to engage the mind on a deep level. On the level of the story being told, they involve the imagination of the listener in picturing the scene that is unfolding. And because they move in the realm of comparison rather than straightforward assertion, they also require the listener to think and actively question what is going on in the story and why. And here is the brilliant effect of a parable which is captured well by C. H. Dodd:

At its simplest, the parable is a metaphor or simile drawn from nature or common life, arresting the hearer by its vividness or strangeness, and leaving the mind in sufficient doubt to its precise application to tease the mind into active thought.17

This “leaving the mind in sufficient doubt” is a key aspect of what parables do in such a unique way. Because of this puzzling dimension of parables, Howard Thurman half-jokingly referred to parables as “can openers for the mind.”18 They get the listener thinking about how such an interesting concrete, this-worldly occurrence can reflect a spiritual meaning. Whether one wants to or not, when listening to parables one almost automatically begins to ask questions such as: What is the comparison that Jesus is making here? What does this story have to do with understanding God, other people, or myself in relation to them? Where do I see myself in the parable? Metaphor has the capability to engage the mind in deeper and more powerful ways than other more direct forms of communication.

Fourth, parables have the power to engage the heart. Though they feature common occurrences and scenes, they often contain a twist that brings an element of surprise and which may cause an emotional response in the reader. The twist is often what makes the parable interesting or even disturbing. In addition to engaging the imagination of the listener, this element of a parable is one that holds the potential to engage the emotions. Greg Carey refers to this feature as a “hook” and what he describes as “a point at which the story jumps off the rails of normalcy.”19 The banquet parables noted above are great examples of parables where a fairly standard scene becomes anything but. And such a departure from audience expectations invites further consideration of both the story itself and one’s own emotional response to it. It is also commonly in that twist or surprise element that the significance of the parable is to be found. Carey puts it this way: “A parable’s hook challenges us to open our imaginations to the possibility that the things of God are not as we’d expect. Parables with hooks refuse to wrap spiritual lessons in fancy paper and tie them up with a pretty bow.”20

Fifth, because of the above dynamics, the parables are a disarming way to raise difficult issues. They cause the listener to let her guard down as she thinks about the features of the story. And suddenly, when she realizes the significance of the parable, she is faced with a challenge of accepting it or not. Green notes how parables “sidle up” to us innocently and then “blindside us, suddenly disclosing to us something we might have screened out had we seen it coming.”21 This is much different than starting with a difficult truth and trying to explain it directly. In this way, parables are an indirect and less threatening way of inviting listeners to consider challenging realities. Crossan cleverly notes: “Parables are traps for thought and lures for participation.”22 He uses the phrase “participatory pedagogy” to describe the ways parables invite the listener to engage with their significance. Megan McKenna suggests that parables are the “arrows of God” that have the capacity to pierce the hearts of listeners.23 What each of these writers is getting at is the unique way in which parables draw readers into a consideration of their own values, often without their realizing it until it is too late.

The features above combine together to suggest the power of parables to engage a listener at multiple levels of their consciousness, including the mind, the heart, and the imagination. For teaching religious ethical concepts that his listeners would not only remember but enact, Jesus chose a very powerful instructional tool. Ethicist and theologian Lisa Sowle-Cahill explains, “To be practically effective, theological and ethical ideals must grip people and communities at more than an intellectual or theoretical level. They must have an imaginative and affective appeal.”24 The power of parables is found in that they possess this very quality.

The gospel writers tell us that Jesus had other reasons for speaking in parables. Matthew, Mark, and Luke each recount that Jesus explained his use of parables to the disciples (see Mark 4:10–12; Luke 8:9–10; Matt. 13:10–17, 34–35). Notably, Matthew, Mark, and Luke’s explanations each connect the use of parables with fulfillment of prophetic expectations as Jesus quotes from Isa 6:9–10 and Ps 78:2. The passage in Isaiah speaks of listeners whose hearts are hard and who refuse to hear the message of healing and forgiveness—a passage that was likely very important to the gospel writers themselves as they wrestled with issues in their own day of who would or would not accept the message about Jesus. The verse from Ps 78 suggests that Jesus’s use of parables was a fulfillment of prophecy:

Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables; without a parable he told them nothing. This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet: “I will open my mouth to speak in parables; I will proclaim what has been hidden from the foundation of the world.”

(Matt. 13:34–35 citing Ps 78:2)

Matthew clearly understood that Jesus’s choice to use parables was a visible demonstration of the arrival of the new age, the kingdom of heaven, and that it was what the prophets had foretold. Seen in these ways, teaching in parables takes on some added depth of significance. We will consider this dimension of the significance of parables more fully in the next chapter.

Finally, we can add one additional reason for parables. Concepts like the “kingdom of God” and the “kingdom of heaven” are ultimately divine mysteries that exceed human understanding. “God” is ultimately beyond human understanding in any direct sense. The divine exceeds the capacity of human language, so analogy and comparison are needed. These are spiritual realities that cannot be seen and observed around us with just our five senses. They are mysteries that cannot be directly described. As Carey puts it: “The parables call us to look through them to other realities.”25 Parables, through the language of comparison, give insight into unknown things by comparison with things that are known. Hultgren explains, “The verbal images and the behavior of the metaphorical figures described are more powerful than propositional language about God could convey.”26 Norman Perrin puts it even more directly: “The parables of Jesus mediated to the hearer an experience of the Kingdom of God.”27 Through parables readers come into contact with deep truths in ways that are less amenable to direct assertion, but nonetheless very real.

4. The Parables as They Were Originally Heard

Reading the parables of Jesus in the twenty-first century requires us to be aware of several things that we may not immediately recognize. First, it is important to keep in mind that the daily life experiences and worldview assumptions of Jesus’s first-century Jewish audience were very likely quite different from the daily experiences and worldview assumptions of any of us reading the parables today. That means that if we are to try to understand what Jesus intended his first audiences to “get” out of his parables, what the challenge was that he intended to convey, we will need to make a concerted effort to understand the perspectives and experiences of first-century people. Since the parables involve stories which include things like farms, vineyards, slaves, kings, and sheep, those of us with no day-to-day experience of these things need to do a little bit of work to understand them and their significance to first-century life. That is not easy, but it is possible thanks to the research of historians, archaeologists, anthropologists, and others who have studied life in the ancient world. We will get to some of those details of ancient life later, but for now it is important simply to recognize that “our” world and “our” assumptions about life may be quite different from those of Jesus’s listeners. At the very least, we should not assume that our own views or experiences are normative. If we can recognize that and keep it in mind, we can avoid the trap of assuming we know the meaning of a parable just by taking it at face value.

Second, if it is hard to get back into a first-century mindset, there is another complication. When we read the parables in the Gospels, we are not hearing the stories directly from the lips of Jesus. Instead, we are reading the parables given to us in ways based on the purposes and understanding of each gospel writer whether Matthew, Mark, or Luke. The Gospels were written in the generations after Jesus, only after the disciples had been telling and retelling the parables for many years. Since parables are open to a variety of interpretations (that is part of the challenge of parables—they get us to think and consider how the parable applies to us), we need to keep in mind that the particular interpretation that one of the gospel writers gives to the parable may not be the only possible one. When Jesus originally spoke the parable, what did he mean? What range of possibilities did he have in mind for his listeners?

In some instances the gospel writers will give us the interpretation of a parable. We may have cause to wonder, though, whether that interpretation was Jesus’s intention or was an explanatory comment by the gospel writer. The gospel writers were communicating about Jesus with a message that was suited for their day, decades after Jesus first taught the crowds in parables. By this time communities of Jesus-followers had been formed and new sets of issues had arisen within these communities. The gospel writers conveyed their understanding about the reality of Jesus and his teaching, but certainly did so in ways that were designed to speak to the needs of their audiences. We might keep this in mind as we consider the significance of any particular parable: it may have had different significance at different points in its being told and retold.