Jesus, Parabler and Parable (Tuesday, July 21, 2009)

I think hard times bring out our need for stories.

– Diane Winston, interviewed on Speaking of Faith, hosted by Krista Tippett

The Bible is filled with poetry and stories. Some stories are factual; most are true; and all are historically rooted in the experiences of ancient Israel and the early Church. The gospels are filled with a particular kind of story attributed to Jesus known as parable. Many of these parables have been transformed into allegory by gospel writers or tradition, whereby characters are symbols of God, Israel, and so on. Our goal in this session is to see parables afresh on their own merit and to regain some of the surprise, awe, or astonishment they must have elicited nearly two thousand years ago.

Part I: Jesus as Parabler

Let us first define a parable. A parable tells a story set in the world of its hearers, knows the hearers’ expectations for the story’s characters and plot, and instead presents a plotline that subverts those expectations and surprises the hearer. (John Dominic Crossan, The Dark Interval)

To explore parable in greater depth, we will look to a well known parable found in Luke 10.30-35, often entitled, “The Good Samaritan”.

Jesus replied, ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii (equivalent to two days’ wages of a day laborer), gave them to the innkeeper, and said, “Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.”

To supplement this reading, please read pages 85-88 of Crossan’s The Dark Interval.

Now re-read this week’s text.

You may use the usual questions as a study guide.

1. What 'grabbed' you? What did you notice?
2. Is there a question you would like to put to any character in the story?
3. Did you have a 'feeling' reaction at any point in the story?
4. What did the passage say to you?
5. What do you think the passage says to us?
6. Summarize the passage in one sentence.

Part II: Jesus as Parable

For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written,

‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.’

Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling-block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

– 1 Corinthians 1.18-25

Gospels (documents telling of the “good news”) were not unusual, nor were they biographical in the modern sense of the word. They may contain stories of miraculous conception or birth and resurrection. The main character may very well be the emperor, the son of god, who brings salvific peace to the empire. The main character certainly would not have been someone who (a) was not a Roman citizen; (b) an artisan peasant—after all, the artisan was not likely to be a wealthy landowner; and (c) a tried and convicted criminal crucified for his crimes.

Jesus was unlikely to be a Jewish martyr. Crucifixion was designed to bring shame and dishonor to the person on the crucifix as well as the person’s family. The crucifixion was held publicly so that those who would see it would be discouraged from making the same mistake as the one hanging on the crucifix. In essence, it served the same purpose as the death penalty has served in the United States of America: to be a “deterrent”. The person would be unclean and the Jewish practices for caring for the body would likely have been ignored; the passion narrative goes to great length to assure people that Jesus happened to have an exceptional burial to others crucified, that he was in fact buried according to Jewish tradition. Furthermore, the gospels account for a resurrection story, a crucial confirmation of a martyr’s righteousness.

Jesus was an unlikely “King of the Jews”. He was also an unlikely “martyr”. He was a “nobody”. To his disciples though, he was someone through whom they experienced God’s presence and who painted a divine vision of peace and justice for the world. They proclaimed the foolishness of the gospel far and wide: Christ crucified and risen.

Read pages 102-103 of Crossan’s The Dark Interval. Then consider the drawing in the email attachment sent out to you.

Taken literally today, statements of faith and creeds sound supernatural or phenomenal because we live with a modern mindset. But if heard in first century, these statements of faith would be remarkable because they were about Jesus of Nazareth.

I believe . . . in Jesus Christ God’s only Son our Lord;
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried;
The third day he rose from the dead;
He ascended into heaven,
and sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty
From thence he shall come
to judge the quick and the dead.

Is it possible to reclaim these statements of faith not as modern fact but as parabolic truth? This is a question for our discussion this week.

Tangential Listening

This week's Speaking of Faith from American Public Media is focused on Television and Parable of Our Time. From the web site, you can download and listen to the broadcast version, the unedited conversation, read the reflections of the host, Krista Tippett, and subscribe to the weekly podcast.