{"id":937,"date":"2019-05-26T22:12:42","date_gmt":"2019-05-26T21:12:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/?p=937"},"modified":"2019-05-26T22:12:44","modified_gmt":"2019-05-26T21:12:44","slug":"why-did-jesus-teach-in-parables","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/?p=937","title":{"rendered":"Why did Jesus teach in parables?"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is part of a New Testament lecture on the teaching of Jesus<\/p>\n

6.6\tInterpreting the Parables
\n6.6.1\tWhat is a parable?
\nA parable (Greek parabole, Hebrew mashal) is any literary device with two levels of meaning which reveals a deeper truth. It can be e.g. a proverb (Luke 4:23) a riddle (Mark 3:23) a comparison (Matthew 13:13) a contrast (Luke 18:1-8) and a story which could be simple (Luke 13:6-9) or complex (Matthew 22:1-14). Some distinguish between forms such as \u201csimilitudes\u201d (a comparison using \u201clike\u201d or \u201cas\u201d), \u201cexample stories\u201d, \u201cparables\u201d which are extended metaphors, and \u201callegories\u201d, but categories are blurred.<\/p>\n

6.6.2\tWhy did Jesus teach in parables?
\n\u2022\tTo capture attention, stimulate interest and seal in the memory;
\n\u2022\tTo make people think for themselves;
\n\u2022\tTo stimulate a response, often by graphic or humorous dramatization;
\n\u2022\tNarrative examples to clarify applications of teaching;
\n\u2022\tTo emphasise unusual or controversial elements of teaching;
\n\u2022\tTo undermine the defences of opponents.
\n6.6.3\tHow parables work \u2013 The Sower and the seeds Matthew 13:1-9, 18-24;
\nConcealing and revealing \u2013 see Matthew 13:10-17.
\n\u201cTo further reveal the truth to those who accepted the mysterious\u201d, at the same time to \u201cconceal the truth from those who rejected the obvious\u201d Hendricksen on Matthew 13:12.
\nOnly those who accept Jesus as Messiah will receive the truth the parables reveal (Tasker).<\/p>\n

6.6.4\t History of the interpretation of parables
\nFrom the Early Church Fathers onwards and through the Medieval period \u2013 allegorising e.g. Augustine.
\nA. J\u00fclicher (1888, 1899). Each parable has only one single \u201cpoint of correspondence.\u201d
\nJeremias and Dodds: seeing the parables in the context of the Kingdom of God: parables of growth and parables of crisis. Both argued for realised eschatology \u2013 parables revealing the kingdom as it has arrived.
\nE. Fuchs and E. J\u00fcngel: parables as language events which bring into being the reality they describe.
\nRecent approaches :literary criticism and reader-response hermeneutics \u2013 detaching from its original context so any parable can mean whatever the reader wants it to mean. Not a helpful approach.<\/p>\n

6.6.5\tThe contribution of Kenneth Bailey Poet and Peasant, Through Peasant Eyes<\/p>\n

A. Recognising the rhetorical forms within parables: identifying the literary structures. He suggests four:
\nProse sections structured using the inversion (chiasmus) principle A B C D D\u2019 C\u2019 B\u2019 A\u2019 e.g. Luke 18:18-30
\nPoetic sections using a variety of parallelistic devices \u2013 Bailey has found seven types. They include step parallelism, Luke 6:20-26 (A B C A\u2019 B\u2019 C\u2019 ); inverted parallelism Matthew 13:13-18 ABCDEFGG\u2019F\u2019E\u2019D\u2019C\u2019B\u2019A\u2019;
\nSections with a tight parallelism in the centre encased with one or more sets of matching prose sections
\nThe parables in Luke usually follow a distinct \u201cparabolic ballad\u201d form. In these there is often an inverted structure e.g. A B C D E D\u2019 C\u2019 B\u2019 A and the turning point or hinge of the story brings attention to the most important point. So in the parable of the prodigal son Luke 15:11-24 the turning point in the literary structure is at v.17 \u201che came to his senses\u201d.<\/p>\n

B. Locating the parables in their cultural settings, particularly in the customs of peasant communities in the Middle East in the First Century AD. See the examples of exegesis in UNITS 9.5.3, 11.8 and ESSAY E.
\n6.7\tHermeneutics of parables
\na.\tWhat was the meaning in the original Sitz im Leben (life setting \u2013 the cultural context)? Dodd & Jeremias, recently especially Bailey,
\nb.\tWhat was the meaning which the Gospel Writer was wanting to convey (the literary context)? Conzelmann and Redaction Criticism.
\nc.\tWhat is the meaning for us today? First find the \u201cpoint(s) of correspondence.\u201d
\nd.\tOften \u201cthe rule of end stress\u201d \u2013 what is the punchline? P.G. Wodehouse defined a parable something like this. \u201cA parable is a rattling good yarn which drags you in and keeps you hooked but keeps something up its sleeve which sneaks out and bops you one in the end.\u201d
\n6.7.1\tSurvey of the parables
\nAlmost all the parables teach about one or more aspects of the Kingdom of God, addressing one or more of three questions:
\n\u2022\tHow does God act in His Kingly Rule?
\n\u2022\tWhat can we learn about the character of God and\/or Jesus as King?
\n\u2022\tHow should (or do) people respond to God as King?<\/p>\n

I also talked about the parable of the prodigal son and some of what I said can be found here http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/?p=10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is part of a New Testament lecture on the teaching of Jesus 6.6 Interpreting the Parables 6.6.1 What is a parable? A parable…<\/span><\/p>\n

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