Two Yanks In Oz

I promise I won't do this very often- however, today's NT lecture caught me totally off guard. It happened at around 9:30 am this morning and I am still thinking about it!

Today we began looking at how to read parables. What was the purpose of parables? How do we dissect them to really understand the impact they would have had on their audience, and why Jesus chose those particular stories at those particular times?

We first talked about how most people think of parables as allegories. "So when Jesus was talking about this, he REALLY meant this...." No, he didn't. He meant exactly what he said. Parables, according to Duncan Corby (our lecturer) are not allegories, they are literal. And they are purposefully literal. Think about the times you've tried to "analyze what Jesus really meant" and gotten really confused- and you have centuries of Christian tradition and knowledge on your side. The people listening to Jesus didn't understand the things that we understand. There's no way they would have understood things like the kingdom of heaven, redemption, and forgiveness of sins- they lived in a society where the way to God was to keep his law and remain pure. Especially the Pharisees, who prided themselves on being good jews- and throwing the "not clean" Jews out of the country (or killing them) so they could be ready to enter God's kingdom. So Jesus speaks to them in terms they understand. Therefore, you have farmers, slave owners, people at weddings, etc. Literally.

The second thing is, Jesus wasn't using the parables as an illustration for a lesson he hoped they would learn and take to heart. He was telling the stories to provoke a reaction from his audience, and maybe cause change. It wasn't the Sunday School Bible hour with Jesus; Or the Let's Be Good People hour; it was the Hey...Let's Look at Where You Have Misinterpreted Who God Is..and Why You Are Wrong hour. He meant business.

So Jesus sets up the story like any good joke. In a good joke, you get a pattern going...for example,
"Sam gets up to heaven and starts walking around. He sees his friend Bill with an UGLY woman on his arm. He says, God, what is this? God says, Well, that's Bill, my faithful servant. Sam says, If he was so faithful, what's with the ugly woman? God says, Well, he sinned once, and that's his punishment...
Then Sam sees his friend George, with an UGLY woman on his arm. Sam says, Hey God...what's up with the ugly woman? God says, Well, that's my child and mighty man of God George...but he sinned once, so that's his punishment.
Then Sam sees his friend Bob. Bob is walking around with a BEAUTIFUL woman on his arm. And Sam says, Ok God...I KNOW Bob sinned at least once! And God says, Well, that's my faithful servant Jennifer, and she sinned once..." (courtesy of DC..I have no jokes on my own. :) )

So we've got a pattern and we think we know what's coming next when BAM! The storyline changes. For some reason that is either really funny or it really unsettles us.

So Jesus uses familiar terms and familiar places to set the scene and to set up patterns- then at the end of the parable, when the Pharisees think they know what's up, Jesus shakes things all around and basically calls out insecurities in the Pharisees (or makes them really mad. )

First of all, pretty much all of Jesus' parable telling was directed at the Pharisees, usually in response to a question or thought from one of them. ( Woman who anoints Jesus with oil; parable of the lost sheep, parable of new wine, etc) So we know he is talking to a very devout, religious group of men who are unsure of who Jesus is. Some of them think He could be a prophet so they're giving him a chance, while others are all for the crackpot option. It isn't until Jesus starts saying things like "I am the son of God", "Hey you..Yeah, I forgive your sins" and other blasphemous things that these guys start getting nervous.

So the parable we really discussed today was the Good Samaritan. So Jesus and the Pharisees are chatting it up, and one of them says, "Hey Jesus...how do I get into the Kingdom of God?" And Jesus is like, "Well, you're a Pharisee...what does the law say?" And the Pharisee says, "Love the Lord your God and love your neighbor." Jesus says, "Bingo! You're right." The Pharisee tries to justify himself here. I think because he, being a teacher of the law, didn't feel it necessary to show love to those who were sinning and making Israel unclean. At that time, people ate and socialized with their social equal- so for a Pharisee to give attention or aid to someone who was a sinner was like lowering themselves to the sinner's level. So he wants Jesus to say it's ok. So he asks, "Hey Jesus, who counts as my neighbor?" And Jesus launches into the parable of the Good Samaritan. If you've never read it, it's in Luke 10:25-37. Now from here on out, I'm copying and pasting my notes from the morning:

The Good Samaritan
• Luke 10:25- 37 Identify the Audience
o Audience= teacher of the law (Pharisee)
• Jews and Samaritans do not get along (political and religious animosity)
• Pharisees hate priests (Levites)
• Pharisees are into good deeds
--Jesus sets the story up so the Pharisees understand. They would have automatically agreed that a man walking by himself down a road could easily be mugged and beaten- kind of like how we today think, in the back of our minds, that women who walk in dark parking lots at night have a good chance of being hurt.
--First we see a priest walk by the man who needs help. The pharisees do not like priests, because priests often exploited the temple to earn money. So when the priest doesn't stop, the Pharisees are probably like, "Yeah...priests suck...no way any priest would ever stop to help!"
--Same thing with the Levite, who was basically a priest.
--When Jesus talks about the 3rd man, they probably expected it to be a Pharisee- but no, it's a Samaritan, they very people Pharisees hate most of all. Samaritans claimed THEY were the true people of God. How could anything good come from a Samaritan?

o Maybe it’s not about doing good to your neighbor….maybe it’s about who you hate in your heart of hearts, and what you’re going to do about it.
o God’s concerned with the state of our heart- if we hate someone, how are we going to relate with them?
--For example, if I said the story was set in modern day Australia and it was a Christian stranded on the road, and the only person who would help was a man who ran an abortion clinic, how would you feel about that?
Or if we were in America, and it was a Christian stranded, and I said the only person who helped was a fundamentalist Muslim? Or an illegal immigrant from Mexico? (Stereotypes aside)
If it was you stranded, and the very person you hated most in the world offered to help you, would you take the help?

o We need to expose the hatred so we can discover that we need Jesus.
We need to realize that Jesus/ God loves everyone..EVERYONE. And we are not better because we act like a Christian and keep the law- it's what's in our hearts; our love toward our God and our neighbor, that counts.