Parable

31 He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; 32 it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”

33 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”

44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and reburied; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; 46 on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it. 47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; 48 when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. 49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous 50 and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 51 “Have you understood all this?” They answered, “Yes.” 52 And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”

Those who insist that Scripture is to be taken at face value, as literal fact or as infallible truth are missing the nuances of so much Scripture where parables teach in roundabout ways such truths that cannot really be pinned down or entered into a spreadsheet. Here is how Pr. David Lose looks at the stuff of parables:

– “While most of us grew up reading the Parable of the Mustard Seed somewhat simplistically (“Big things often have small beginnings”), the truth is that mustard was a weed, uncontrollable, invasive, undesirable.

– So different from our cultural associations, leaven in the biblical world was a sign of impurity and kneading it into the flour irreparably tainted the loaves.

– Rushing out to buy a field because you know it’s worth far more than the seller is aware, (while perhaps shrewd, could also be considered dubious, if not dishonest.

– There is a surprising joyfulness in the one who sells all to buy a precious pearl, though few around the buyer would likely have understood his actions.”

One might almost say that parables are subversive scripture! (To quote Diana Butler Bass: “The word ‘parable’ means to ‘overturn’ or ‘cast aside’.) Underneath or beside their superficial meaning, we find all manner of upending insight. The Kingdom of God is not something we can easily imagine this side of Eden. The parables do as much hiding of the Kingdom as they do revealing it! In part, that is because we read and ponder them differently, depending on the state of our soul at that moment. It is almost like the adage that you can never step into a river in the same place twice because the river has moved on. We will probably never read a parable exactly the same way either. Not only are we different today than yesterday, but the parable itself is elusive and means much more than we can apprehend.

Just as the Kingdom is a place we only glimpse, as in a dream, so the parables in this gospel passage and the others in the New Testament are meant not just to tantalize but also to revolutionize our thinking about the values that the followers of Christ are to espouse. These parables become the lenses through which the Kingdom is seen as the upside-down, shimmering version of our present reality!

Here is a bit of evidence that Jesus was about more than mere storytelling: First, mustard never grows into a tree. It is invasive, yes, but it is not tree material. Second, yeast is in scripture a cover word for corruption. Take that thought back to the parable!

Jesus explained why he preferred parables in verse 13: “This is why I speak to them in parables: “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.” It was as though he was speaking in “kingdom code” so that those who believed would understand and those who did not believe would be scratching their heads in wonder! Granted, these crafted tales were told in a context 2,000 years old so that some of the connections are probably long lost to us “moderns. But there is enough substance left for us to ponder and reflect on these disrupting stories.

There are many questions we can put to each of these stories. Here are a few that may help as we seek to go deeper into our understanding of the Kingdom and our role in it.

· Who are the main characters and is there one with whom I most identify?

· Is there a surprise embedded in the story? How does this increase my understanding of what the Kingdom is like?

· Is there a challenge or an invitation that tugs at my heart as I read these? Are there other emotions that come up?

· How would I explain this parable to someone new to the Faith?

Your answers to these questions may shift over time, but the time spent reflecting on the substance of Jesus’ favorite teaching method will not be wasted. I remain fascinated with verse 51. After this grouping of parables, Jesus asked his disciples if they understood all these things. Surprisingly, they answered, “Yes.” What am I missing? What might we each be missing as we hope and work toward bringing the Kingdom into our world?