So this blog is all about storytelling. Anyone who’s been
tuning in so far should be well aware of that. And to that crowd, I just want
to say, “Thanks! Thanks for sticking with me this first month and change.” And
for those of you who didn’t know that, I’m assuming you’re new here. So, to
those people, I just want to say, “Welcome! I hope you’ll stick around for at
least the next month and change. But preferably even longer.”
I’ve only written one other Second Sunday Switch-up so far
(which, if you haven’t already, you can read here), but these posts are a chance for me to write about something
a little different to an older audience. Rather than telling a story, these
posts will usually focus on faith, ministry, and/or storytelling more
generally. But I figured the best way to start would be to see what Jesus
Himself had to say about storytelling.
Parables were a huge part of Jesus’ ministry. Sure, Jesus
delivered sermons sometimes – the Sermon on the Mount takes up three whole
chapters of Matthew for crying out loud! – but Jesus understood the power of
story. He recognized that sometimes the most effective way for His audience to
learn some deep theological truth was not to describe it or preach it to them.
Sometimes, it was better to show a principle in action through stories.
So let’s talk about parables for a bit. Now please note that
most of what follows aren’t actually my own original thoughts. I’m just here to
give the ideas a bit of artistic flair. A lot of this information comes from
Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart’s book How
to Read the Bible for All Its Worth. It’s a great book that gives a lot of
background information about the various genres of literature found in the
Bible. If you have a chance and like to read, I’d highly suggest you take a
look at it.
But I digress. First of all, let’s determine what parables aren’t. For instance, parables are not
true stories about actual things that happened, nor are they meant to be read
as simply moral fables. When Jesus told the Parable of the Lost Sheep, He
wasn’t talking about some shepherd who actually left his entire flock at risk of
being eaten by wolves to save the one stupid sheep that went off on its own. (Side
note: I’ve never really understood the logic there. From what I’ve been told,
sheep are pretty dumb, so leaving them alone doesn’t seem like a smart idea… If
someone knows more about first-century AD shepherding that will clear this
parable up for me, feel free to let me know in the comment section below.)
So if parables aren’t true stories or fables, then how are we supposed to approach these stories?
Well, Fee and Stuart describe parables as pseudo-allegories that do communicate
moral truths but, more importantly, inspire people to action. Let’s break down
what that means.
An allegory is a description or narrative with a sustained
semantic reference to another description or narrative. To put that in layman’s
terms, a parable is a story where various ideas or images in that story stand
in for something else. Importantly, this “standing in” is continued throughout
the entire story. So, if we look at the Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis has Aslan
stand in for Jesus/God throughout all 7 books.
However, not all parables are totally allegorical (he says
as Augustine rolls over in his grave). Some of them are, the most obvious
example being the Parable of the Sower where Jesus Himself explains what each aspect
of the parable means. But most parables are only loosely allegorical. Thus, in
the Parable of the Prodigal’s Son, you should read the father as God and the
unfaithful son as representing sinners, but you’d probably be stretching the allegorical
nature of the parable too far if you started reading things into the pig slop
or the famine.
Moreover, yes, there is typically a truth claim being made
in these stories. You are supposed to learn something from Jesus’ parables. But
more than that, the point of parables was to inspire people to do something because of what they
learned. The Good Samaritan doesn’t just teach us who are neighbours are; it
leaves us with the question of whether we are going to be like the Good
Samaritan and go out of our way to help our neighbours, whoever they might be!
This is not Jesus promoting legalistic Christianity; this is Jesus encouraging
His followers through story to live out their faith in everything they do!
To recap, then, a parable is a story where a few elements
allegorically relate to real life ideas or situations with the hope of getting
listeners/readers to act upon what they have learned. But if you’ve read some
of Jesus’ parables, you’ll know that some of them are pretty confusing. Which
leads us to a problem, a problem that the disciples point out right after Jesus
tells His first story.
Take a look at Matthew 13:1-10 to see how this plays out.
Jesus has just told a big crowd a story about a farmer who sowed seeds on a
path and rocks and good soil. And then He stops. No tweetable lines about the
Kingdom of Heaven, no mind blowing new explanation of the law. I can imagine
the disciples looking at each other thinking, “Yeah, and…?” So they ask Jesus
why He’s decided to start telling stories instead of, you know, preaching or
something…
Now we might be tempted to think that the disciples were a
little silly for asking this question. After all, the disciples ask a lot of
stupid questions. And this is Jesus we’re talking about. The story’s in the
Bible… Of course there’s going to be some spiritual meaning here!
But take your Sunday School Glasses off and actually think
about this. Jesus isn’t speaking in a church or a synagogue where it would be
expected that He would dive into something super spiritual. He’s teaching to a
crowd of people on a beach. Moreover, this is early in Jesus’ ministry. Some in
the crowd had probably heard about Jesus and knew what to expect, but I’m sure
there were just as many who just wanted to know what all the fuss was about. Either
way, it would probably come as a surprise when this usually quite spiritual
teacher starts giving farming advice. He gives absolutely no context, merely
saying at the end that those who have ears to hear should listen…
No wonder the disciples want to know what His deal is! Why
does Jesus think that these kinds of obscure stories are the best way to teach
people? And in typical Jesus style, His answer is equally ambiguous:
“Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of
heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more,
and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have
will be taken from them. This is why I speak to them in parables:
‘Though
seeing, they do not see;
Though
hearing, they do not hear or understand.’
. . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears
because they hear. For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people
longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but
did not hear it” (Matthew 13:11-17).
Did you catch that? Jesus celebrates because the disciples have been given knowledge about
the Kingdom of Heaven through story that so many others have missed! He praises
the disciples here for having open eyes and ears! And yeah, that might seem a
little odd. Jesus usually calls His disciples out for not understanding anything, and the next thing He does is actually
explain in detail what the Parable of the Sower is all about. But obviously
Jesus sees that His story has awakened some sort of understanding in the
disciples, and He’s thrilled!
I’m sure He has a similar thrill when people come to
understand one of His parables today too. The Bible might not give us detailed
explanations of every parable, but a reader intent on study and listening to
the prodding of the Holy Spirit will slowly come to understand the deeper
meaning and call to action in each story. And no, not every parable will have
the most obvious interpretation, but this story form makes the message easily
accessible to anyone with open heart, mind, and ears.
In short, Jesus placed a high value on His parables! They
weren’t just some side project to His main teaching. He saw His parables as
equally important to His sermons. It was through stories that people could
easily relate to that Jesus revealed the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven. It
was here that Jesus showed people how to act, not just told or commanded. And
it was through this obscure means of teaching that Jesus said eyes and ears
could be opened to even deeper truths.
There is power in stories. This is why people tell stories
around campfires, read books, and watch movies. It’s why the most effective
Sunday School programs I’ve seen have told stories rather than preached kid
friendly sermons. Stories show us things that can’t easily be told, and they
have the potential to move, teach, and delight us in ways that no other medium
can. Jesus understood the power of story, and He leveraged it to His advantage
in His ministry. And I’d love to see more ministries take more advantage of
this teaching method too!
As this blog moves forward, parables are bound to come up.
They are, after all, some of the more obvious stories in the New Testament. All
of the above is the background I’ll be working with when writing my parable
lessons from here on out, and hopefully you’ll see it in action on Thursday
when I cover the Parable of the Lost Sheep. But for all of you reading this, whether
a new reader or old, keep these things in mind too when you read parables for
yourself going forward. It might just make parables come to life for you in a
way they never have before!
~Brentagious
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