How to Read the Bible for All It’s Worth, Session VIII

The Parables

A teaching by Jack Haberer

based upon the book by the same title,

written by Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart

November 14, 2004

INTRO:

A. REVIEW of course so far

1. Interpreting task: done automiatically

…need to be self-conscious and intentional about it

2. Goal of interpretation: to get to the plain meaning of the text

3. Working definition of scripture:

“The Bible is the Word of God, expressed in human words in history.”

4. 2 essential tasks of interpretation

a. exegesis: deciphering what it meant there and then

“What was the intended meaning of the original writers to their original audiences?”

b. hermeneutics: bridging from the there and then to the here and now

“How does the original meaning apply to us?”

B. Different Kinds of genre

1. Some were written as direct teaching for believers of the time

OUR task: to reconstruct the original situation

à intent of writer

AND then, using common sense

à Distinguish between teachings that are emphatic & central, vs. teachings that are situational & peripheral.

2. Some are more narrative: stories

Realize that they may be illustrating teachings and principles

…but they do not introduce teachings directly

They may be setting a precedent that may be repeatable

…but those precedents carry over to our time only if followed consistently in biblical history and are taught as such

3. Last week: Gospels

a. Intentionality is two-fold:

Jesus’ intentionality when encountering people

each writer’s intention when writing about such encounters

b. each writer did have a particular audience in mind when writing and did have particular goals in mind when writing.

c. so we read vertically …each gospel from beginning to ending

AND we read horizontally, comparing each gospel w/ the others

to look for distinctives

C. One part left out last week due to time limitations:

the hermeneutics of the gospels

1. The imperatives of Jesus need to be brought into 21^st century as are Paul’s teachings

2. Jesus’ commands often have been avoided as throwbacks to OT legalism

Reality: they are not methods of salvation

BUT they are direction for living in the grace-filled life

3. Key theme: kingdom of God

a. the expectation: John the Baptist: “The kingdom of God is near.”

anticipation was at feverish pitch

b. messianic expectations were fueled by Jesus

…anticipation of liberation from Rome

c. crucifixion crushed hopes

d. resurrection renewed such hopes

e. expected “Now will establish the kingdom”

f. Yes, but no: Giving of Holy Spirit à kingdom

g. result

already-not yet reality

the in-breaking of the new …but not yet the end of the old

see p. 147, first pp.

D. TODAY: The Parables

Reading parables does appear to be straightforward

“Who could miss the point of the Good Samaritan?”

BUT: through the history of the Christian movement no part of scripture has found such odd and eccentric interpretations as the parables—the only part of Scripture exceeding that being the book of Revelation

My guess is that you probably do a pretty good job of exegeting and applying parables—if only because most modern Sunday School curricula do a pretty good job, and your SS teachers and preachers have modeled how to do so, but… let’s see…

I. The Parables in History

A. The problem: created in part by Jesus: Mark 4:10-12 –

¹⁰When he was alone, those who were around him along with the twelve asked him about the parables. ¹¹And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside, everything comes in parables; ¹²in order that

‘they may indeed look, but not perceive,

and may indeed listen, but not understand;

so that they may not turn again and be forgiven.’”

He seems to be suggesting that the parables contain mysteries that only the specially enlightened can decipher

He then interprets the parable of the Sower in a semi-allegorical way

à hence people have been treating parables as allegories

B. Classic example from St. Augustine: the Good Samaritan

SEE P. 150

Problem: There is NO WAY that Jesus’ audience could have understood those meanings

AND the clear message of the Good Samaritan is different than all that!

Moreover: It does appear that most parables were actually clear in their meaning to most of those hearing them

--and that their points are clearly understandable to us, too

Specifically: in the case of the Good Samaritan, the “expert in the law” to whom Jesus was speaking CLEARLY understood it!

His problem was not one of understanding BUT of letting the parable alter his behavior!

C. So what was Jesus saying in Mk 4:10-12?

Probably it was the reality that the whole meaning of Jesus’ ministry was to non-believers like a riddle that they just could not solve. It eluded them.

AND, I would add, most of Jesus’ ministry was not actually grasped, even by the apostles—until after the crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, and giving of the Spirit—which then gave them a retrospective perspective, i.e., a huge “Now I get it!”

II. The Nature of the Parables

A. The variety of kinds

1. Not all parables are of the same kind

Not all parables are parables in the literal sense of the word

2. The Good Samaritan is a true parable

It is a story, pure and simple

It has a beginning and an end

It has a plot

Other true parables:

the Lost sheep

the Prodigal Son

the Great Banquet

the Workers in the Vineyard

the Rich Man and Lazarus

the Ten Virgins

3. Some “parables” are actually similitudes

things said of something that are always true

the Yeast in the Dough

the Mustard Seed

these are more like “illustrations” drawn from everyday life used by Jesus to make a point

4. Metaphors and similes

“You are the salt of the earth”

B. How the parables function

The best clue to understanding parables is in their function

Jesus’ parables are not just illustrations that take Jesus’ theological teaching and make it visible – although they end up doing that. The parables actually CALL FORTH A RESPONSE

In a sense the parable IS the message

It captures its hearers

It brings them up short about their own actions

It calls them to respond to Jesus in particular ways.

Remember the old TV commercials, “Ya wanna Hawaiian punch?’

Well: Our interpretive process often gets so weighty and pedantic that we miss the “punch” in the original telling of it.

It is like explaining a joke. The power of the joke is in its catchy ending—which works only because the points and, ultimately, the main point of the joke are obvious

NOTE: By the way, that the parables were first TOLD: heard audibly.

We have first READ them, which means we have not heard them in their original form.

Just as jokes usually work much better orally than in writing,

so too, parables worked really well for Jesus’ hearers, too.

III. The Exegesis of the Parables

A. Finding the points of reference

1. Back to the analogy of the Joke:

a. 2 things capture the hearer of a joke

the hearer’s knowledge of the POINTS OF REFERENCE

AND the UNEXPECTED TURN in the story

b. the key to interpreting the joke, then, is to identify the points of reference

when that’s done, we can also better understand the unexpected turn (which we usually DO miss, since we know the parable before we know the context)

c. if you miss these, then you miss the whole joke

…so too for the parable

2. Remember story of prostitute coming into a dinner meeting Jesus had in home of Pharisee named Simon?
Jesus tells parable of 2 men who owed money to moneylender

One owed 500 denarii (500 days’ wages)

Other owed 50

Neither could pay, so he forgave both

Which of the two would be the more appreciative?

Obviously, the man owing 500

Jesus then interprets:

You all—like the may owing 50 haven’t shown me much affection

BUT this woman has kissed my feet & washed them w/ tears

HENCE: Points of reference:

Moneylender = God

Pharisees = debtors of 50 denarii

woman = debtor of 500 denarii

At the end of the story, Simon has egg all over his face

3. NOTE WELL: This is not an allegory

IN an allegory, every element has a point of reference

In parables just one or two or three points of reference are typical

B. Identifying the audience

1. Given the importance of defining the points of reference

…it is really important to try to identify the audience when spoken

2. When that’s possible, our task: (p. 155)

a. listen to the parable again and again

b. identify the points of reference intended by Jesus that would have been picked up by the original hearers

c. try to determine HOW the original hearers would have identified with the story, and therefore what they would have heard

3. E.g., Good Samaritan

a. occasion: question of a many of religious significance

“what do I need to do?”

Jesus: “What does the Law say”
Man: “Love God …love neighbor”

J: “Do so.”
Man: ‘But who is my neighbor?

J: Story …2 points of reference: man in the ditch

the good Samaritan

NOTE: the priests who disregard the man in the ditch

are NOT points of reference for the man. He is an expert in the law, probably a Pharisee, & they don’t like the priests who are too high and mighty to care for the poor. Pharisees DID care for the poor, and gave alms regularly, so the common disregard by the priest would come as no surprise to the hearer of this story.

Hence, the may “grooves with Jesus” through that part of the story

But Jesus then throws a curve: the hero is not a Pharisee, but a Samaritan

--in whom the Pharisees hold nothing but contempt!

Now, Jesus not only CATCHES the Pharisee by not making a Pharisee the hero …by telling the story he exposes the Pharisees lack of love for the Samaritan!

The punch line we might add to the story would be

“You are so busted!”

C. The ‘contextless’ audience

Of course, some parables are told without giving us a context

Here, we just have to do our best to reconstruct the most obvious points of reference …and surprise elements

D. The parables of the kingdom

1. Whenever a sentence begins, “The kingdom of God is like…”
…is better translated, “It is like this in the kingdom”

HENCE: the kingdom is not equated with a mustard seed

RATHER: the kingdoms is equated with exponential growth

…as results when mustard seeds grow

2. Such parables are about the ‘already/not yet’, but the emphasis is usually upon the “already” side of that equation.

IV. The Hermeneutical Question

A. In order to catch the immediacy of a parable, try retelling it in our context, see Fee, 106-1

B. Read about the kingdom: e.g., George E. Ladd’s, The Presence of the Future (Eerdmans, 1974)

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