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The
lost coin The woman's coins seems to be part of a
family nest egg, a little hoard of savings in a world before
banks...
The
sower : the focus was not on the sower, or even the
seed, but on the kind of soil on which it fell.
The
mustard seed Once that seed was planted in a garden,
its potential for growth was enormous.
The
prodigal son
Both the young men are lost to their family and
by the end of the parable it is not clear if both, or only one,
has been found.
The
lost sheep
On first reading, this parable seems a little unfair. What about
the ninety-nine who have done what they were supposed to do?
The
ten bridesmaids
In many respects they were alike, but in their preparation or lack of it they were perfect opposites. The story turns on that difference.
A
lamp under a bushel
People must think carefully about what Jesus says, then not only
talk about his ideas, but live them
The
Pharisee
and the tax collector The Pharisee attributes his
goodness to God's grace. So far so good. But he seems to look down
on the rest of the world...
Houses
on rock and on sand There were shoddy builders in the
ancient world, just as there are now. They cut costs by skimping
on the all-important foundations, and in the end they were found
out.
The
good Samaritan Who is my neighbour? Should the
needs of your neighbour override convention? Who are you in
this story? |
A poor woman has lost a
coin, and searches for it. The drachma she has lost is probably about a
day's wage for an ordinary worker.
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Parable of the
Lost Drachma, Domenico Feti |
The woman's coins seems to
be part of a family nest egg, a little hoard of savings in a world before
banks. This money of hers may be a buffer against hard times, or perhaps
has been put aside for a special purpose, such as a pilgrimage to
Jerusalem.
Using a lamp to catch the
gleam of the coin and a broom to pull it out, she searches her house.
When she finds the coin
she happily calls her neighbors to share this moment with her. In the
Greek text the friends are female: she is a respectable woman. We too are
asked to identify this story with God's joy in the restoration of a
sinner, and perhaps ask this question: are we the sinner whom God searches
for?
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8
"Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one
coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek
diligently until she finds it? 9
And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and
neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin
which I had lost.' 10
Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over
one sinner who repents."
Luke 15:8-10 |
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The sight of
a sower working in his field was a common one in that agricultural
society, and the varied fate of the seeds was well known to anyone who
lived there.
But the focus
of the parable was not upon the sower, even though this story is called
the 'parable of the sower'. It was not even about the seed. What was
important was the fate of the seed, which was directly dependent upon the
kind of soil on which it fell.
Without good
soil, the seed could not take root, flourish and bear fruit. It would die,
despite its best efforts to take root and grow. Rocky ground is not earth
full of stones, but with rock close to the surface so there is no depth to
the soil. Such ground is common in Galilee.
The place
where the seed falls is all important, and not the result of an accident.
It depends on the grace of God and the responsiveness of human beings -
both are necessary if the plant of faith is to flourish.
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3
And he told them many things in parables, saying: "A sower
went out to sow. 4
And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds
came and devoured them. 5
Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they had not much soil,
and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, 6
but when the sun rose they were scorched; and since they had no
root they withered away. 7
Other seeds fell upon thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked
them. 8
Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a
hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
Mark 4:3-8 |
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The events of Jesus'
ministry were world-changing, but they did not represent the full
realization of the kingdom of God. Comparing the two was like comparing
the tiny mustard seed to the robust plant it could one day become - a
large shrub as much as 9 feet tall. Once that seed was planted in a
garden, its potential for growth was enormous.
This must have been one of
Luke's favorite stories. He wrote the Acts of the Apostles and so knew all
about the growth of the Church from a tiny mustard seed to a
magnificant plant.
Luke may be alluding to
Ezekial 17:22-23, where a tree with birds nesting in its branches becomes
an image of a powerful king able to protect his people with stability and
peace. The birds that come to the tree find shelter and protection, but
there are many different sorts of birds who use it: as there will be both
Jew and Gentile in the kingdom of God.
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30
And he said, "With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or
what parable shall we use for it? 31
It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown upon the
ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; 32
yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all
shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the
air can make nests in its shade."
Mark 4:30-32
18
He said therefore, "What is the kingdom of God like? And to
what shall I compare it? 19 It is
like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his
garden; and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air
made nests in its branches."
Luke
13:18-19 |
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This parable is usually
called 'The Prodigal Son', but it might just as well be called 'The Lost
Sons'. Both the young men are lost to their family, and by the ending of
the parable it is not clear if both, or only one, has been found.
The dramatic situation is that the younger son demanded
full rights of possession over the portion (about one-third) of his father's estate which he could expect to inherit in the normal course of events when the father died. While the elder son remained at home, and his father retained his rights over the produce of his portion of the estate, the younger son turned his share into cash and departed to enjoy the proceeds away from home and parental control.
When dissolute living had reduced him to penury, and his
new friends had deserted him, he was forced to take the most menial form of employment, one that was particularly loathsome to a Jew who regarded swine as unclean animals. He would gladly have eked out his miserable wages by sharing the carob pods which the swine ate
but he was too disgusted to do so.
His desperate state brought him to repentance. He realized not only that he had landed himself in sorry straits but also that he was unworthy to be called his father's son; he was fit only to be a servant, and he was prepared to humble himself and seek reinstatement at that level.
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The Prodigal
Son, Rembrandt |
But before he reached home his father was already looking for his arrival, and before he could blurt out the whole of his intended confession, his father had welcomed him back into the family circle, treated him with great honour, and given orders for a feast of rejoicing over the return of one who had been as good as dead.
One person refused to join in the celebration, and grumbled at the lavish care being
given his ne'er-do-well brother. He accused his father of failing to treat him in the same free and joyous manner, only to be reminded that all the resources of the home were his. One can be lost even at home. The discovery of the lost and the resurrection of the dead were occasions for joy.
One question is left unanswered: did the elder brother eventually join in the celebration and accept his brother back as a member of the family? The omission is deliberate. For the elder brother represents the Pharisees and their spiritual kin, and the parable is an appeal to them to receive the outcasts. Jesus was waiting for their verdict.
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11
And he said, "There was a man who had two sons; 12
and the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the
share of property that falls to me.' And he divided his living
between them. 13 Not many days
later, the younger son gathered all he had and took his journey
into a far country, and there he squandered his property in loose
living. 14 And when he had spent
everything, a great famine arose in that country, and he began to
be in want. 15 So he went and joined
himself to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into
his fields to feed swine. 16 And he
would gladly have fed on the pods that the swine ate; and no one
gave him anything. 17 But when he
came to himself he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants
have bread enough and to spare, but I perish here with hunger! 18
I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him,
"Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; 19
I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of
your hired servants."' 20 And
he arose and came to his father. But while he was yet at a
distance, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and
embraced him and kissed him. 21 And
the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and
before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' 22
But the father said to his servants, 'Bring quickly the best robe,
and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his
feet; 23 and bring the fatted calf
and kill it, and let us eat and make merry; 24
for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is
found.' And they began to make merry. 25
"Now his elder son was in the field; and as he came and drew
near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26
And he called one of the servants and asked what this meant. 27
And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and your father has
killed the fatted calf, because he has received him safe and
sound.' 28 But he was angry and
refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, 29
but he answered his father, 'Lo, these many years I have served
you, and I never disobeyed your command; yet you never gave me a
kid, that I might make merry with my friends. 30
But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your living with
harlots, you killed for him the fatted calf!' 31
And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is
mine is yours. 32 It was fitting to
make merry and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is
alive; he was lost, and is found.'"
Luke 15:11-32 |
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Something has been lost: a
sheep. Just one sheep. Why not write it off? There are still ninety-nine
left. The loss is only one percent, and in any business you have to expect
a certain percentage of loss.
But even in its lost state
this lost sheep remains valuable to its owner. He is determined to recover
it. God is the shepherd who owns the sheep. He loves us and is determined
to find and reclaim us, even though it is our own foolishness that has got
us into a dangerous predicament.
This
parable seems a little unfair. What about the ninety-nine who have done
what they were supposed to do? Shouldn't they be valued too?
But in fact the emphasis
here is on the worth of each individual. You may be worthless in your own
estimation, because you only see what you have made of yourself. God sees
you differently. He sees what you were created to be and what, with His
help, you can become.
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12
What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them
has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the
mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? 13
And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more
than over the ninety-nine that never went astray.
Matthew 18:12-13 |
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The story of the ten wise maidens and the ten foolish maidens is a masterpiece. The first thing that hits the reader is the difference between the wise and the foolish women. In many respects they were alike. But in their preparation or lack of it they were perfect opposites. The story turns on that difference.
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The trouble
with these pictures is that the Foolish Virgins seem to be having
all the fun, and the Wise Virgins
are rather dull by comparison... |
All ten had been invited to the banquet, and each of them knew their task: to welcome the bridegroom when he came. They waited joyfully for his arrival. All of them knew the bridegroom and the bride. And all of them became drowsy and fell asleep after a long wait.
But suddenly he came, and at once the essential differences between the women emerged. Five had oil in
their lamps and five did not. Five were ready and five were unprepared.
So the first point of the parable is a question: Are you ready? Or are you among the five foolish women who had
received the invitation, responded to it, but were not inwardly prepared?
You know which group you should be in, and want to be in. You should be among the wise who, although they, too, had fallen asleep, were nevertheless ready. On that distinction hangs your destiny.
The second point of the parable is that the difference between the wise and
the foolish women was revealed by the coming of the bridegroom. The
difference revealed itself in crisis.
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The Clever
Virgins, by He Qi |
During the days before the wedding or the night leading up to the start of the feast few would have noticed that five women had
adequately prepared for the bridegroom's coming and five had not. But suddenly the bridegroom came, and the
distinction was immediately apparent.
The parable poses a question: will you be ready for Christ when he comes, when you meet him face to face? Or will you have spent your time (and life) foolishly, on things that don't matter in the long run?
And there are two messages
in the parable:
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each person must stand
on their own; they cannot blame anyone else for what they are
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lost opportunities
cannot be regained; there is a point of no return, and it will be too
late to undo the damage of neglect.
Think about it.
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1
"Then the kingdom of heaven shall be compared to ten maidens
who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2
Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3
For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them;
4
but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5
As the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. 6
But at midnight there was a cry, 'Behold, the bridegroom! Come out
to meet him.' 7
Then all those maidens rose and trimmed their lamps. 8
And the foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for
our lamps are going out.' 9
But the wise replied, 'Perhaps there will not be enough for us and
for you; go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.' 10
And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who
were ready went in with him to the marriage feast; and the door
was shut. 11
Afterward the other maidens came also, saying, 'Lord, lord, open
to us.' 12
But he replied, 'Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.' 13
Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
Matthew 25:1-13 |
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Jesus talked about lamps
on several occasions, using this image to stress the responsibility his
disciples had to the people they encountered:
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they must pay careful
attention to Jesus' teachings so that they could pass them on
accurately.
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they must think
carefully about the true meaning of what he said, and then not only
talk about his ideas, but live them.
Immediately before Jesus'
comment about a lamp under a bushel (in the gospel of Luke) he has been
speaking of sowing the seeds of his teachings in good soil. Now, using the
image of an oil lamp, he gives the disciples (and us) more instructions:
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the world is in
spiritual darkness
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Jesus is the world's
light
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those who know Jesus
are to become light-bearers to the world
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we in the modern world
are to be lights, living and proclaiming the gospel.
The tricky bit is working
out how we do this, and then putting our beliefs into action.
God, help us.
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21
And he said to them, "Is a lamp brought in to be put under a
bushel, or under a bed, and not on a stand? 22
For there is nothing hid, except to be made manifest; nor is
anything secret, except to come to light.
Mark 4:21-22 |
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Pharisees were leading
figures in the life of Israel in New Testament times, but Jesus is often
critical of them.
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The Pharisee
and the Publican, James Tissot |
On the other hand tax
collectors were unsavory types, but Jesus befriended them. There may be
hope yet for those who have been written off by respectable society.
The Pharisee in this story
attributes his goodness to the grace of God, and thanks Him. So far so
good. But he seems to look down on the rest of the world. He is dismissive
of the tax collector who is also praying in the Temple. Thank God, he
says, I am not like that awful man back there - and in fact his life and
achievements are impressive. But his love for God does not move him to
compassion for those less fortunate than himself, and his righteousness
may even drive him away from others.
In contrast, the tax
collector signals his unworthiness before God. His words echo the opening
words of Psalm 51, about the sin and repentance of David. He does not shy
away from the fact that as a tax collector for the Romans he oppresses his
own people, but there is a depth of feeling in his words that is missing
from the Pharisee's prayer.
Things are not necessarily
as they first seem. We must look deeper at a situation before we
understand it.
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9
He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that
they were righteous and despised others: 10
"Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and
the other a tax collector. 11
The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank
thee that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust,
adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12
I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I get.' 13
But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up
his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful
to me a sinner!' 14
I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than
the other; for every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but
he who humbles himself will be exalted."
Luke 18:9-14 |
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There were shoddy builders
in the ancient world, just as there are now. They cut costs by skimping on
the all-important foundations, and in the end they were found out. Jesus
uses this image to warn his listeners.
The warning is not given
to unbelievers or people who rebelled against Christ's teachings, but to
people who listened to them and said they believed. They heard what was
right, acknowledged that it was right, and professed to be following
Jesus' teaching, but they did not put these teachings into practice.
On the surface, everything
seemed to be going well. They professed all the right things. They mixed
with true believers. As long as life went smoothly it was difficult to
tell them apart from people who truly believed.
But at heart they were
only talking about repentance, about belief, about love. And when the
storm came, there was no real foundation to support them, and they
collapsed.
Is this you?
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24
"Every one then who hears these words of mine and does them
will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock; 25
and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and
beat upon that house, but it did not fall, because it had been
founded on the rock. 26
And every one who hears these words of mine and does not do them
will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand; 27
and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and
beat against that house, and it fell; and great was the fall of
it."
Matthew 7:24-27 |
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The parable of the Good
Samaritan poses several questions for the reader:
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Who is my
neighbour? Not someone else's, but mine?
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Should the needs of
your neighbour override convention, taking precedence over normal
practices? The priest and the Levite are castigated in the story for
sticking to the rules (avoiding physical contact that would make them
ritually unclean), rather than helping the wounded man.
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Who are you in
this story? An onlooker, the dutiful law-abiding priest and Levite, or
the wounded man lying in the ditch? Or the Samaritan, a passerby who
does not step over the man but goes out of his way to help?
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The road going
down into Jericho, 19th century photograph |
The story is sometimes
presented as if it is just about being kind to someone who is down on
their luck. It is not. It is about our own personal obligation to do more
than pass our lives in a safe little bubble. We are responsible for our
fellow travellers. We have to be like the Samaritan. It is dangerous for
him to stop and help - the thuggish criminals may still be nearby. But he
does, because it is the decent, right thing to do. And his compassion is
not limited to those of his own nationality, race or religion.
In showing mercy to the
injured man the Samaritan becomes his neighbour. The lawyer whose question
has prompted this story is challenged to follow his example.
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The
Good Samaritan, Aime Morot Le Bon |
30
Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to
Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him,
and departed, leaving him half dead. 31
Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw
him he passed by on the other side. 32
So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him,
passed by on the other side. 33
But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was; and when
he saw him, he had compassion, 34
and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine;
then he set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn, and
took care of him. 35
And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the
innkeeper, saying, 'Take care of him; and whatever more you spend,
I will repay you when I come back.' 36
Which of these three, do you think, proved neighbor to the man who
fell among the robbers?" 37
He said, "The one who showed mercy on him." And Jesus
said to him, "Go and do likewise."
Luke 10:30-37 |
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