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Category Archives: Parables


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Matthew 13:52—The (Second) Littlest Parable

The other day as I was skimming through Jesus’s parables in Matthew, I noticed this odd little text:

51 Συνήκατε ταῦτα πάντα; λέγουσιν αὐτῷ· Ναί.

52 ὁ δὲ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· Διὰ τοῦτο πᾶς γραμματεὺς μαθητευθεὶς τῇ βασιλείᾳ⸃ τῶν οὐρανῶν ὅμοιός ἐστιν ἀνθρώπῳ οἰκοδεσπότῃ ὅστις ἐκβάλλει ἐκ τοῦ θησαυροῦ αὐτοῦ καινὰ καὶ παλαιά.

53 καὶ ἐγένετο ὅτε ἐτέλεσεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς τὰς παραβολὰς ταύτας, μετῆρεν ἐκεῖθεν.

51[Jesus asked them], “Have you understood all these things?”
They say to him, “Yes.”
52But he said to them,
“Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the Kingdom of the Heavens is likened to a man—the master of a house—who pulls out from his treasury new things and old things.
53And when Jesus had finished these parables, he went away from that place.

Strangely, I had never heard this before. Ever. Not in church, not in my undergraduate studies, and not in my graduate work in New Testament. Klyne Snodgrass, in his massive and comprehensive volume on the parables of Jesus, grants only a cursory glance at the text, offering subtle hints that one may not technically count this saying as parabolic in nature.[1] But the text is clearly a parable, as indicated by the final clause offered by v.53, which seems to include the preceding verse as belonging among the other parables. So not surprisingly, this easily overlooked analogy tacked onto the very end of Jesus’s parabolic discourse caught my attention and sparked my curiosity. Though it’s not the shortest parable—that distinction goes to the Parable of the Leaven in Mt. 13:33 (19 Greek words)—it actually comes quite close, with the “meat” of the verse occupying only 22 words in the Greek text. It is also unique to the Matthean tradition; Ulrich Luz suggests that vv.51-52 may have in fact been created by the author of Matthew, though the “new vs. old” trope is found elsewhere and has probably been incorporated into the parable as Matthew presents it (see Mk 2:21-22, Mt. 9:16-17, and Lk 5:36-37).[2]

The verb choice for what exactly the master of the house does with his treasure is also strange. ekballei, literally “to throw/cast out,” brings to mind the image of throwing away or discarding. John Nolland offers the following explanation: “The imagery is of disposal, not of display. This scribe is a discipling disciple: the treasure he has gained is a treasure he passes out to others.”[3]

Cyril of Alexandria (Fragment 172), Origen (Commentary on Matthew 10.14), and Augustine (Sermon 74.5) all suggest that Matthew is offering a juxtaposition of the “old” way of the Jewish scribes (the Old Testament) with the “new” way of Christ in the imminent Kingdom of the Heavens (the New Testament).[4] Though I disagree with the allegorical nature of these patristic interpretations (particularly that of Cyril—after all, there was no developed New Testament canon at the time Matthew was written), I do feel that the likeliest interpretation of the parable is that Matthew is bringing together the law and the gospel, intending for them to work in tandem in the process of discipleship. Jesus frequently utilizes “both/and” rhetoric throughout the Gospels (“I have come not to abolish the law…”), and in this brief little parable Matthew portrays Jesus encouraging the use of the new without leaving the old behind in the storeroom. Discipleship is a holistic endeavor that requires rummaging around in the treasury, pulling out the new and the old, and dispensing one’s possessions (wisdom, knowledge, memories) to those who may benefit from them. This parable also illustrates well the reading and interpreting process of hermeneutics—when considering a new text, the reader brings to it his or her entire history to aid the reader in understanding.

And then there’s Augustine:

The learned scribe is now in the Kingdom of God, bringing forth from his storeroom not new things only and not old things only. For if he should bring forth new things only or old things only, he is not a learned scribe in the Kingdom of God presenting from his storeroom things new and old. If he says these things and does not do them, he brings them forth from his teaching office, not from the storeroom of his heart. We then say, Those things which are brought forth from the old are enlightened through the new. We therefore come to the Lord that the veil may be removed. (from Sermon 74.5)[5]

[1] See Klyne R. Snodgrass, Stories With Intent: A Comprehensive Guide to the Parables of Jesus (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008). 45, 173.

[2] Ulrich Luz, Matthew 8–20. Hermeneia (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2001). 285.

[3] John Nolland, The Gospel of Matthew: A Commentary on the Greek Text. The New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2005). 571.

[4] Manlio Simonetti, ed. Matthew 1–13. Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture: New Testament, Vol. 1a (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2001). 290-91.

[5] Ibid, 291.

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Blogging the Book of Isaiah: Parables about Vineyards

If there is no fruit, why care for the vineyard?

Yesterday, I noted how Jesus echoed the Prophet Isaiah as regards the insufficiency of the temple cult when one is murderous/hateful toward one’s fellow covenant people (see here). Today, I want to point out Jesus’ reliance on Isaiah, once again. This time Jesus slightly adjust a parable told by Isaiah to fit his own context.

In 5.1-7 Isaiah rebukes Judah for failing to maintain their covenant obligations with YHWH. As the singing oracle of YHWH he states this:

I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside. He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well. Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit.

“Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad?

Now I will tell you what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be destroyed; I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled.  I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and briers and thorns will grow there. I will command the clouds not to rain on it.”

The vineyard of the LORD Almighty is the nation of Israel, and the people of Judah
are the vines he delighted in. And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress. (NIV)

We notice here that Isaiah says Judah is like a field that simply will not become what she was intended. Like a lot of land protected to be a fruitful vineyard that does not produce, so Judah was a protected people that did not become what YHWH sought.

Jesus follows a similar outline, yet notice an important shift as it is told in Mt. 21.33-46. The vineyard is not under judgment. Now it is the ones who are asked to care for the vineyard by the Master (YHWH). They are the focus of God’s wrath:

“Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.

“The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.

“But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

“Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”

“He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”

Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?

“Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”

When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet. (NIV)

In this parable Jesus does not condemn Israel. Jesus condemns the leaders who have led them astray. It seems that the servants are prophet-types and the son is likely Jesus himself, the Messiah. We see this frames Jesus’ mission. He intentionally departs from Isaiah to emphasize something different. He is focusing his warning on the leaders which is exactly what the chief priest and the Pharisees see it as aimed at them. It is!

My question regarding Mt. 21.33-46 is who did Jesus understand to be the recipients of the kingdom taken from the Pharisees? He is intentional about saying it is the leaders who are the primary focus of God’s wrath (at least in this context the people of Israel are not the first people to be blamed), who did Jesus think would take their place? Thoughts?


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Unfolding Parables

The Prodigal Son

The parables of Jesus are often confusing for interpreters. These stories are symbolic and the authors of the gospels often use the symbolism for their own literary purposes. In all likelihood these parables unfolded from how Jesus used them to how the evangelist used them.

That being said, does it bother you if someone today does the same thing to a parable as found in the gospels? For instance, does Augustine or Origen infusing the parable of the prodigal son with various meanings bother you? If so, why? If a parable could unfold from Jesus’ meaning to the authorial meaning why not once again for another interpreter?


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A Parable (You Know Where This is Going)

The Good Samaritan

Today is 9/11. Every year we speak about remembering 9/11 and we should. We should never forget. We should never forget what fanaticism can do. We should never forget what fundamentalism can do. We should never forget that religion can be dangerous at times. We should never forget that humans can be hateful. What we need to avoid is “remembrance” that moves us toward revenge, eye-for-an-eye behavior, and away from the gospel.

That being said,I have a parable to tell:

It was a mild day at Ground Zero in New York City, NY. A large crowd has gathered to hear a famous religious teacher. He was difficult to define. Unlike many of the religious conservatives in his country he refused to align with any sort of military agenda in the name of God. He was critical of the fundamentalist as well accusing them of placing so many rules on the people that God had been removed from the equation. Likewise, he offended the more sensible liberals with talk of ridiculous things like “angels, demons, spirit, and miracles”. Many in the crowd were there in interest of what he would say regarding how people should respond to the hateful events of 9/11 that had taken place nine year ago.

A well-dressed man, a local seminary professor with a freshly minted Ph.D. in theology, approached this religious teacher to ask him a question. He said, “Teacher, what does it look like to behave in such a way as to inherit eternal life?”

The teacher responded: “What is written in the Scriptures? How would you interpret it? How would you answer this question?”

The lawyer responded with a glee look on his face as if he was about to ace the final exam: “You should love the Lord your God with all you heart and all your strength and all your mind , and your neighbor as yourself.”

The religious teacher responded: “Well done! If you do this you will find life.”

Since this way the day when Americans everywhere were seeking to “remember” what had happened on 9/11 and how, God forbid, it would never, ever, ever happen on this land again lest someone pay, the professor asked a question seeking to justify himself: “Ok, but really, there are so many people on this planet, how should I define such a broad word as ‘neighbor’?”

The religious teacher responded: “There was man driving late at night from Buffalo here to New York City. It was partly rainy, partly snowy, and it was creating a semi-slushy surface. The man did not like the song on the radio so he looked down briefly to change the channel only to notice he had lost control of his car. As quick as he could look up his car was sliding toward a ditch on the side of the road. There he crashed into the wet muddy ditch with the car being smashed and his limp, unconscious body stuck inside.

“An hour or so later, in the early morning, a pastor in a hurry for a local denominational conference was driving toward the accident. He was going to be one of the first speakers and he was already a bit behind schedule. He saw the car wrecked on the side of the road and he though, “Oh no, this is an inconvenience. I am already late. If I can’t be on time to my own talk the presbyter will never ask me to speak again. Besides, I don’t have the tools to free that man and geez, what if he has HIV or something? I can’t risk my health. I have a family and a church that I am responsible to care for. I am sure someone else will do something.”

About forty-five minutes later a local Democratic candidate for state senator was on his way to meet with some prospective donors. He went over his speech once, twice, three times. He was running on a platform for the “marginalized”. He wanted to see reform for the poor and he felt that the government was only allowing unjust laws further assisting an already unjust system.

As he approached the wreck on the side of the road he thought to himself, “Surely someone has already called 9-1-1. Why waste time doing something that is clearly the task of a fireman or state patrol. We are all gifted in different ways to make things better and my way is fighting this unjust system! Others are gifted for events like this. I must be on my way.”

Two more hours pass and a young man who was a student at NYU, who majored in biology, and who had just spend some time with his family in the upper part of the state, hurried back toward the Big Apple. He had a class with an important final scheduled in a couple hours.

The man was a Muslim. He received a lot of stares on days like 9/11. People called him a “terrorist” and talked about how “hateful” his religion is. He sometimes felt like he was all alone in this world. He needed to do well in school, he needed to do well on this test, he needed to make something of himself. No one else was looking to give him a hand out.

Then he saw the car. He knew what he had to do. He pulled over and put on his emergency flashers. He jumped out of his car and ran toward the wreck on the side of the road. The door would not open so he removed his coat and wrapped it around his hand so he could smash out the window. After bloodying himself up a bit pulling and tugging and tearing the man out of his car he carried his limp body back to his own vehicle. He drove as fast–yet as cautious–as he could to the nearest hospital.

When he arrived he provided the people with his contact information. He told the nurses that he would come back later that day and if there was any problems they could call him at his number that he provided. He then made his way to take his test knowing he would be late, but that he did the right thing.

“So what does it mean to love your neighbor? This is what it means. This Muslim modeled what it means to show the love of God to others.”

Scandal! How could this religious teacher be so insensitive. Muslims killed Americans on this day! They shouted and yelled at the man and he simply walked away. The young professor sat there a bit stunned. In all his theological studies he noted within himself that he had forgotten this side of religion. As he looked around at the grumbling faces he realized he was not alone.

I am fairly sure that if Jesus was around today he may very well tell a very similar version of this parable (see Luke 10.25-37). The Samaritans were impure “dogs”. They were half-breeds with a corrupt religion that only spoke some half truths. They were to be shunned for their false religion and awkward culture.

Today I do not call Americans to remember the words of Jesus for no American is responsible to call Jesus “Lord” by virtue of your citizenship in this country. But Christians do call Jesus “Lord” and this means more than simply “Savior”. It means he is our Master and if he is our Master he is the one who defines love of neighbor for us. Let us use these times to shows Muslims everywhere what it means to follow and love like our Christ.