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The Southern Cross, Page 8
Thursday, March 30, 2000
life
Parables for
By Father J.P. Earls, OSB
Cathoiic News Service
TT\s Jesus begins to instruct his
isciples on the meaning of the par
able of the sower and the seed, he
explains why he uses this method of
teaching large crowds:
“The reason I speak to them in
parables is that ‘seeing they do not
perceive, and hearing they do not lis
ten, nor do they un
derstand’” (Matthew
13:13).
No matter how often
I hear these words,
they still strike me as
cold, as somehow hav
ing gotten misplaced as
they made their way
from oral tradition into
the written Gospel. Yet,
almost identical passages
appear in Mark and
Luke.
Why would Jesus teach
in a way designed not to
communicate his message?
One possible — and
amusing — explanation that
comes to mind is that Jesus
is poking fun at his disciples.
He explains the parables to
them because they have been
slower than many in the
crowd to pick up their mean
ing. This is not a question of
“you of little faith” but “you of
little understanding.”
As a literature teacher, I
can easily imagine Jesus in
this situation!
But a more sober possibility
presents itself: that Jesus was
using parables to protect him
self and his group of followers
from unfriendly surveillance. A
wandering preacher who at
tracted large crowds was bound
to draw suspicion from both civil
and religious authorities.
Matthew reports that two people
testified at Jesus’ trial that he had
said he was going to tear the temple
down (Matthew 26:21), while John
pictures the Roman-appointed Jew
ish authorities as eager to convince
Pilate that Jesus was opposing Rome
by claiming to be king of the Jews (see
John 18 and 19, particularly 19:12).
Neither of these charges was liter
ally true, but they point out that Jesus
had to watch what he said in public.
By telling entertaining stories with
a hidden point, he could explain that
point to his disciples in private, who
would then pass the explanation on to
trusted friends, relatives and associ
ates.
It was the informants, then, who
“hearing, were not able to under
stand” the message Jesus was deliv
ering in parables. We can imagine
the puzzlement of his enemies re
ceiving word froip the informants
that Jesus was teaching about how
to plant a field, or bake bread, or
conduct a wedding feast!
■ ■ ■
We have our own problems today
understanding the parables. The key
to the hidden meaning of these stories
has been delivered to us by centuries
of Christian preaching and writing.
esus had to watch what he said in
public. By telling entertaining stories
with a hidden point, he could explain
that point to his disciples in private,
who would then pass the explanation
on to trusted friends, relatives and
associates."
ing. We are puzzled because some
elements seem unchristian or im
moral to us, and Jesus doesn’t take
time out from telling his story to con
demn them.
For instance, the “unjust steward”
actually steals from his employer to
feather his nest after he loses his job.
Far from condemning his actions,
tute in spiritual matters, we still are
bothered by Jesus seeming to approve
of an embezzler.
To the extent that we can concen
trate on the central point of the par
able, we can approach the heart of
Christ’s message.
m n a
Today we find ourselves sur
rounded by many stories — not just in
books, but in movies and on television,
in the private and public lives of
people we know. The parable-telling of
Christ challenges us to look for the
kernel of truth in these stories — the
love, compassion and quiet heroism
that can be found in many of them —
and to share it with people of good will
around us.
Some stories lend themselves
readily to this: lives such as Mother
Teresa’s and movies such as “A Man
for All Seasons” or “The Mission”
come readily to mind. Others don’t
seem at all Christian, but, once
again, Christ may be hiding his mes
sage in them, like the man in the
parable who buries the “pearl of
great price” in the field (Matthew
13:46).
Christ has shared with us the key
to all human stories: the person who
gives his or her life for others. Isn’t
this the buried treasure we should be
looking for in all the stories we come
across?
(Benedictine Father Earls teaches
English at St. John’s University,
Collegeville, Minn.)
Yet we are held back from easily get
ting their meaning by the same
“folksy” people and situations Jesus
used to make his stories appealing.
With every passing year, Christian
congregations understand less and less
about how fields were planted in Jesus’
day, or bread was baked, or what proto
col was used then for conducting a wed
ding feast.
Our population contin
ues to concentrate in cities, leaving
fewer and fewer Christians familiar
with farming life. Our daily tasks,
whether at work or in the home, are
increasingly done by machine rather
than by hand. The governmental
setup of Jesus’ day bears little resem
blance to ours; I still don’t know why
people were sent to jail to pay their
debts.
Another problem for us in under
standing the parables is our tendency
to want to see every word of these
stories as part of Jesus’ moral teach-
All contents copyright©2000 by CNS
Jesus says we should learn from his
behavior! (Luke 16:1-8)
While we know on one level that
this parable is not about honesty in
business dealings but about being as-
FOODFORTHOUGHT
“Far more affirmation is needed in the church today. ” Those “words of wisdom” appeared in a pastoral letter
this year by Bishop Frank Rodimer of Paterson, N.J.
But is affirmation “needed” * 1 ? Hasn’t the word “affirmation” come under suspicion in recent times, as if whatever it
means is something fairly trite — sort of like saying “I’m OK, you’re OK”?
The bishop seemed aware of such questions. He wrote, “Affirming each other is not simply a matter of making
people feel good about themselves.”
As I read him, the bishop thinks there is more to people than they themselves may realize; we could help them
know this. i
Bishop Rodimer explained it this way:
“Affirmation is a recognition of the grace and life of God that exists within every single person, regardless of their
social class, gender, orientation or viewpoint. People who affirm each other can then appreciate the value of being
interdependent — of being connected with all that is good and right and filled with dignity.”
Are these important words for our times? Bishop Rodimer concluded, “This is clearly the message of Jesus Christ
that we need to hear.”
13 David Gibson, Editor, Faith Alive!