For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to teach an adult class on parables. I have taught almost everything else—Mariology, Introduction to New Testament, Old Testament, St. Paul, Prayer, and the Book of Revelation. But never a class that just focused on the parables.
I decided to start reading one of my dozen books on the topic. After the first few chapters, I realized this stuff is way more complicated than I had originally thought. However, I decided since the material was not as complicated as my high school algebra I would continue my studies.
Now that I am on my fourth book of the 12, I have a better idea why I picked up the first one. I want to learn to read the text of the parable for both what it says and not what I think it says as well as to discover what is missing in the story. Because I have found this information helpful, I would like to share with you some of the gems I have discovered.
Beginning on Nov. 27, 2016 cycle A readings were proclaimed for Sunday’s liturgy. This means Matthew will be the Gospel for this coming liturgical year. A little background is in order. In each of the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke), parables can have various interpretations depending on where they are positioned in the overall narrative as well as their immediate context.
As few people know the society and culture in which Jesus lived, much of their shock has been sandpapered away over the years. For example, in Jesus’ time, society was tightly structured in terms of who was “in” and who was not, in terms of religion or the secular world. It also was a culture of scarcity for the poor as well as being shame bound.
One of my favorite parables is the Unjust Steward. The story of a job termination, that is, a man was fired due to gossip shared with the boss, begins with “What is this I hear about you?” Given no chance to defend himself, he took the initiative and cleverly got even with his boss. Of course, his superior praised him because if he had not he would have lost face with his neighbors and his other employees. However, with all parables, there is no one correct written in stone meaning. On the other hand, this story is richer in texture because the reader or listener knows something about its cultural context. This parable has been a favorite because I, along with Jesus, admire this man’s initiative.
Another favorite parable is the story of the talents, which we will hear proclaimed on the last Sunday before the Solemnity of Christ the King in 2017. Often sermons will focus on the word talent with the idea that it is a gift for doing something—being an artist, writer or teacher. However, the word is a unit of money. One source I found said that it was worth approximately $360,000 in today’s market.
The gem I found was the observation that the third servant commented while the first two did not. “I know you to be a hard man” and because he did, the talent was buried insuring no loss, therefore, supposedly no rebuke. But the first two servants immediately went out to invest what they had been entrusted with. As a result, there is a sharp contrast between these servants and the third in terms of how they perceived their master, as all three were given no instructions as to what to do with the money.
What kind of relationship would send the first two out to invest and third one to bury? Such a question can challenge our own experience of God.
So the next time a parable pops up in your life, take another look. Jesus wanted his audience to ask themselves, “What did he mean by that?” I would venture that he wants us to do the same.