Don't Know Much About the Bible - Kenneth C. Davis [158]
The parables have a long history of interpretation. In medieval times, they were overlaid with levels of heavy allegorical symbolism, a style of interpretation no longer in vogue. However, that goes to show that people have always brought their own perspective to the parables and to the Bible. There are more than thirty parables in the Gospels, although John does not record any of them. (The Gospel[s] in which each of the following parables can be found is indicated.)
• The Sower: A man sows seeds. Some fall on the path and are eaten by birds; some fall on rocky ground and wither away; others fall in the midst of thorns and are choked; but some fall on good soil and bring forth great crops. The seeds in this parable are the word of God and the soils are the various ways people respond to Jesus’ teaching. (Matt., Mark, Luke)
• The Mustard Seed: The kingdom of God is like the mustard seed, the smallest of seeds, but when full grown becomes a great tree. (Matt., Mark, Luke)
• Evil Tenants: A landowner rents out his land to tenants who don’t pay and then kill the men sent to collect the rent. The landowner will eventually destroy the tenants. This parable was told to the priests and scribes to illustrate how they were rejecting Jesus. (Matt., Mark, Luke)
• The Divided House: “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand.” (Matt. 12:25, Mark 3:23) Jesus said this after he was accused of casting out demons using the power of the Devil. Jesus was saying that it was impossible to cast out Satan by the power of Satan. In a more practical sense, the verse was paraphrased by Abraham Lincoln (“A house divided against itself cannot stand”) in 1858, before the American Civil War, to mean that a divided nation would not last.
• The Fig Tree: When a fig tree blossoms, it is evident what the season is. Jesus tells the disciples that they should look at the signs—meaning himself and his works—that indicated the kingdom of God is also near. (Matt., Mark, Luke)
• Yeast: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast.” God’s word is like yeast, which when added to flour allows it to rise into bread. (Matt., Luke)
• The Marriage Feast: The two versions of this parable diverge. In Matthew’s version asking gives a wedding feast but all the invited guests beg off for different reasons, so the king sends troops to kill the reluctant guests. (This was a prophetic parable aimed at those who rejected Jesus and referred to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE by the Romans.) Then servants bring in passerby off the streets to fill the wedding hall and when the king sees one of the guests does not have on the proper clothing, he is thrown out and Jesus offers a puzzling moral: “For many are called but few are chosen.” Does that mean heaven has a dress code? This has been a tricky one for theologians. The guest was pulled off the streets. Why should he have on the appropriate clothes? Some scholars have suggested that this aspect of the wedding story was a separate parable, which seems like a cop-out. Another interpretation is that even somebody who comes to the feast—“heaven”—needs to come in the right spirit—represented in the parable as a suitable garment. This is an implicit recognition that salvation is not going to be universal. Only those who pay attention to the call will be “chosen.”
In Luke, the story is a little more straightforward. The guests who refuse the invitation are those who reject God’s summons through Jesus. They too were “called” but rejected the summons and won’t be “chosen.”
• The Lost Sheep: A shepherd with a hundred sheep will still go and look for the one that is lost. God also wants to bring the lost sheep back to the flock and celebrates when he finds the lost sheep. (Matt., Luke)
• Wise and Foolish Builders: People who hear Jesus and listen are like the wise man who builds his house on rock; the house will