Those hard to figure parables
AM Psalm 26 • 1 PM Psalm 119:73-96
Gen. 42:18-28 • 1 Cor. 5:9-6:8 • 1 Mark 4:1-20
A theologian from Texas (and that’s not a contradiction in terms) once wrote that his entire Sunday school training could be summed up in one sentence: “Jesus is nice, and he wants us to be nice too.” But, as Tex knew, the actual teachings of Jesus are often confusing, even disturbing. Some of his parables were like “spiritual hand grenades” designed to blow up our comfortable ways of thinking and give us a new way of seeing.*
Many of the teachings attributed to Jesus in the New Testament take the form of short sayings (aphorisms) or provocative short stories (parables). Both are part and parcel of the “Wisdom tradition” found in several religions. Think, Job and Ecclesiastes, but also Lao Tzu and the Buddha. The parables of Jesus invite us to break out of our conventional beliefs and even to reconsider the way we see the world.
Today we encounter the parable of the sower, a familiar figure to the people who heard Jesus teach. Versions of this story appear in all three of the synoptic gospels and in the non-canonical Gospel of Thomas. It’s one of those parables that Jesus interprets for his disciples in a private conversation after delivering it to a large crowd gathered on sea shore to hear him.
I find myself thinking about that multitude of people who were not privy to Jesus’ explanation but had to puzzle over his words. For many it was not the first time they had heard him teach. Why did they keep coming back if Jesus’ words were so confusing? Did any of them have the means within themselves to decipher Jesus’ meaning? What did they make of the fact that three-fourths of the seeds were wasted? Surely they realized that Jesus wasn’t just talking about a farmer planting a crop that largely failed, but what was he getting at? And why did he suggest that those “outside” of his inner circle would remain in the dark? Once again I find myself with more questions than answers. Maybe I need to sit quietly with the questions for a while. Maybe you do too.
Written by Bob McMath
Bob finds the questions posed at St. Paul's as important as the answers.
* In addition to reflection on the assigned text, my thinking on the subject of parables has been shaped by the work of two scholars, Marcus Borg and Cynthia Bourgeault.