I am taking a class this semester that I have wanted to take my whole life - a class on the parables of Jesus. I like to tell stories and I have always been attracted to Jesus' parables. For most of my life, I have approached the parables with the assumption that I could figure them out like a puzzle. Oftentimes, there seems to be a "key" to the puzzle. One parable that has always eluded me is the parable of the "shrewed manager" in Luke 16:1-9 (or 13 depending on where you think the parable ends).
I will write more in the future about why I believe this could be considered the "perfect parable" but I will share one reason now. Try to assign roles to the different characters in the parable and you will quickly realize that a person cannot figure out this parable by taking that route. The rich man cannot be God because then you would have to say that God praises a dishonest manager. The manager cannot be Jesus because then you would have to say that Jesus uses dishonest methods to justify the means and, consequently, we should too.
What should we do with this parable? One thing is certain. We cannot sit down and attempt to unlock this parable by assigning roles and then figure out exactly what Jesus wants us to do or figure out more about God through these roles.
What have you "done" with this parable in the past?
If you can't answer this question easily, then that helps make my point that this could be the perfect parable.
No comments:
Post a Comment