Living Parables

Today’s Versions

Mark G. Boyer, Corbin S. Cole

• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781725285811
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Studies

Living Parables: Today's Versions presents parables in updated language and images. Biblical parables are culture-bound; they are embedded in images that were well-known to a Jewish culture. Jesus was a first-century, Jewish, Galilean peasant, and his concerns, speech, and idioms belong to that culture. His milieu is far removed from ours today. The images found in parables carried meaning that is lost on modern audiences.A simple example will suffice. In the Jewish world of the first century, leaven was considered to be corrupt because people did not understand how bacteria worked. On the most important day of the year--Passover--bread had to be unleavened, uncorrupted. Today, no one thinks of yeast in that way. If we want bread dough to rise, we need to leaven it. Therefore, what image might Jesus use today that carries some of the same cultural connotations that yeast or leaven carried in his world? Might he speak about Ebola virus or radioactivity? Those images carry the same negativity that yeast or leaven bore in his world. This book contains parables found in the New Testament in a form that Jesus might tell today.

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Parables in Matthew’s Gospel

House Building

(Matt 7:24–27)

Jesus said: “Everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise contractor who built his house on a concrete foundation. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on concrete. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish contractor who built his house on soil. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall.”

Jesus said: “Everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise contractor who, living in a tornado zone, built a shelter out of thick concrete. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew, and a tornado dipped down out of the clouds and hit that shelter, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on thick concrete. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish contractor who, living in a tornado zone, built a shelter out of wood. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and a tornado dipped down out of the clouds and hit that shelter, and it was shredded into many tiny pieces and blown away.”

Jesus said: “Everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise contractor who, living in a hurricane zone, built a shelter out of thick concrete. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew, and a hurricane hit that shelter, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on thick concrete. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish contractor who, living in a hurricane zone, built a shelter out of wood. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and a hurricane hit that shelter, and it was shredded into many tiny pieces and blown away.”

Jesus said: “Everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise couple from Missouri who chose to build their house on a concrete foundation. The rain fell, flash floods came, and Midwest tornadoes blew and beat on the house, but it did not fall because it was built on concrete. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish couple from Missouri who built their house on soil. The rain fell, flash floods came, and tornadoes blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and it was a great fall!”

Jesus said: “Everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise contractor in Australia who built homes out of steel and concrete. The land dried up, the summer came, and a massive wildfire broke out, but the house did not fall, for it was built to withstand the flames. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish contractor in Australia who built his homes completely out of wood. The land dried up, the summer came, and a massive wildfire broke out and consumed the house and it burned to the ground—and it was a great disaster!”

Patches and Wineskins

(Matt 9:16–17)

Jesus told the disciples of the Dalai Lama, who had asked him about the lack of fasting of his disciples: “No teacher takes a sticker off a student’s old homework assignment and puts it on a new one, for the sticker won’t stay attached and pulls away from the later assignment, and is lost among the papers on the teacher’s desk. Neither is an iron-on patch put on old jeans; otherwise, the patch comes off in the wash, and the jeans are torn more, and the patch is destroyed; but a new iron-on patch is put on a new pair of jeans, and so both are preserved.

Jesus told the disciples of the Dalai Lama, who had asked him about the lack of fasting of his disciples: “No one puts a pair of rusty strings on a brand-new guitar, for the strings will sound bad, break, and may damage the guitar. Neither is a new guitar put into an old non-protective case for travel; otherwise the case will be opened after a day of airline travel and the new guitar will be destroyed; but a new guitar is put into a new protective case, and so both are preserved.

Jesus told the disciples of the Dalai Lama, who had asked him about the lack of fasting of his disciples: “No one puts a piece of moldy fruit in a bowl of fresh fruit, for the mold will spread and the entire bowl of fruit will be tainted. Neither is fresh fruit put into an old unwashed storage bin; otherwise, the crop will be infected with mold and bugs, and the entire bin of fruit will be lost; but fresh fruit is put into a clean bowl with other fresh fruit or stored in a clean bin, and all fruit is preserved.

Sower and Seed

(Matt 13:3–9)

Jesus told the crowd on the beach many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A Kansas farmer drove his tractor into a freshly plowed field in the autumn to plant winter wheat. And as he drove the tractor and planter up one row and down the other, some winter wheat seeds fell on the road, and the crows came and ate them. Other seeds fell on the gravely ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly in the spring when the snow melted, since they had no depth of soil. But when the warm spring sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. Other winter wheat seeds fell among the wild blackberry canes growing near the edge of the field, and the wild blackberry canes blossomed and leafed and choked them. Other winter wheat seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundred bushels per acre, some sixty, some thirty. Let anyone with ears listen!”

Jesus told the crowd on the beach many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A Nebraska farmer went out to sow corn seed in his newly-plowed field. And as he drove his tractor with the planter behind, some corn seeds fell on the asphalt road, and the robins came and ate them. Other corn seeds fell on gravely ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly after the first spring rain, since they had no depth of soil. But when the clouds cleared and the hot sun shown, they were scorched, and since they had no root, they withered away. Other corn seeds fell among brush growing along the fence enclosing the field, and the brush grew up and choked them. Other corn seeds fell on good soil and brought forth large ears of corn, some a thousand bushels per acre, some six hundred, some three hundred. Let anyone with ears listen!”

Jesus told the crowd on the beach many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A gardener went out to plant lotus seeds in her water garden. As she worked, some seeds fell on the bank of the pond, and the birds ate them for an easy meal. Other seeds fell in the rocky shallows of the pond and sprang up quickly because they were immersed in water; yet when the sun came up the next day, they were burned up, and because they had no roots, they withered away. Other seeds fell in deep water, and were drowned. Other seeds fell over mud in adequate water and blossomed into beautiful lotus flowers. Let anyone with ears to hear listen!”

Jesus told the crowd on the beach many things in parables, saying: “Listen! An orphanage was placing children with families. As the adoption process played out, some children were placed with abusive families, never getting a chance to succeed in life. Other children were placed with loving families and flourished, only to be moved a few months later and have their hopes wither away. Some children were placed in extremely strict homes, where their spirits were suffocated and they weren’t equipped for their adult lives. Other children were placed in loving, caring homes, which enabled them to flourish throughout their lives. Let anyone with ears able to hear listen!”

Once upon a time there were three Bible students who were given a CD by their teacher. The CD featured a televangelist broadcast; the students were told to take the CD home, watch it, and learn biblical lessons from it. Each took home a copy of the CD and proceeded to begin to watch it. The first was disturbed and distracted by noises outside. Therefore, he never understood the meaning of the CD because he did not pay close attention to it. The second began watching the CD and learning from it, but her cell phone rang. Instead of quickly ending the call and finishing the CD, she forgot all about it and became engrossed in the conversation with her friend. But the third student turned off his cell phone and concentrated on the CD and understood what the televangelist was communication. He then became so happy and excited about what he learned that he made copies of the CD for his friends and encouraged them to watch it and to learn from it.1

A teacher was preparing students for a test with a lecture. As the teacher taught, some of the students did not comprehend the meaning of the lecture; so they lost interest quickly. Others understood at once, but became bored with the lecture and eventually lost interest also. Some of the students listened to the lecture, but they became distracted easily and didn’t hear all that they needed to understand clearly. The last group of students understood the lecture, passed the test, and got an A for the course. The students who really want to learn will learn!2

Wheat and Weeds

(Matt 13:24–30)

Jesus told another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a composer who completed a symphony; but before publication an enemy composer changed the notes in one of the symphony’s movements. So when the conductor practiced the symphony with his orchestra, the unknown notes appeared. And the conductor came to the composer and said to him, ‘Did you not place better notes in your symphony? Where then did these strange notes come from?’ He answered, ‘An enemy composer has done this.’ The conductor said to him, ‘Then, do you want me to remove those notes from the symphony?’ But the composer replied, ‘No; for in removing the unknown notes you would remove some of the original notes with them. Let both of them be played together until the symphony is finished; after the listeners’ applause I will tell the first violinist, Collect all the orchestra’s booklets, remove the movement that has been altered, and bind the sheets of music in bundles to be burned, but gather the rest of booklets for storage in the music archives.’”

Jesus told another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to the National Football League draft, when teams choose rookies for their season; but before new players played, they were tested by the team coaches. So, when the assistant coach noted that a rookie was not a good player, he went to the head coach and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not draft good players? Where then did this uncoordinated rookie come from?’ He answered, ‘An enemy coach has done this.’ The assistant coach said to him, ‘Then, do you want me to fire the rookie?’ But the head coach replied, ‘No; for in firing the rookie you would remove some of our potential plays. Let all the rookies play together until the game is finished; after the final score, I will tell the general manager, Collect all the players’ statistics and fire the players who did not meet our expectations; but gather together the rest of the rookies to sign contracts for the next five years.’”

Jesus told another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a lake with native mussels; but someone launched a boat infected with zebra mussels into the lake. So when the conservation agent came to inspect the lake, the zebra mussels appeared. And the agent came to the conservatio...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Abbreviations
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Parables in Matthew’s Gospel
• Chapter 2: Parables in Mark’s Gospel
• Chapter 3: Parables in Luke’s Gospel
• Chapter 4: Other Parables
• Chapter 5: Current Parables
• Bibliography
• Recent Books Published by Wipf & Stock