PREACHERS, politicians, and other public speakers know that a story is often the best way to get a point across to their listeners. In his itinerant ministry, Jesus was no exception. Some of his most important teaching was contained in stories—parables. Yet often we do not take them seriously enough to seek what he was really saying. Two thousand years of Christian theology has also obscured his original intent, often by considering them to be allegories rather than stories.
In that process, anti-Jewish stereotypes and prejudices have too often come to dominate the interpretation of the parables. Any villain is seen as representing Judaism, while the hero or victim represents the church—and, of course, in this framing God is on the side of the church. This often-unconscious bias affects how we read and understand the story and obscures Jesus’ message.
Professor Amy-Jill Levine, in Short Stories by Jesus, aims to correct that. As a Jewish New Testament scholar teaching at a Christian divinity school, she is uniquely situated to place Jesus and his teaching in their historical and cultural context. Jesus was a first-century Jew speaking to other first-century Jews. If we do not understand that starting point, we cannot understand Jesus or his stories. In an introduction not to be skipped, she points out that the parables often echo themes that appear elsewhere in Jesus’ teachings: economics, relationships, and, most important, prioritizing life in expectation of the coming kingdom of God. To make his point, he uses common, everyday examples of real-life characters and situations his audience would recognize.
Levine looks at 11 parables, providing for each her literal translation, the historical and literary context, and a reading of what it might have suggested to its original audience and what it can say to us today. Along the way, there are historical and theological explanations of the Samaritans, the Pharisees, Torah and Talmud, first-century Jewish culture, and more that help make the parables come alive.
Take, for example, the parable we know as “The Prodigal Son.” Much traditional Christian commentary sees it as an allegorical representation of the father as God, the older son as the Pharisees or all Jews, and the younger son as Christians who repent and find the grace of God. Rather, Levine suggests, see it as a story of broken family relationships that poses hard questions about reconciliation and wholeness. Those questions, and our response to them, can transform our own relationships as individuals and nations. That transformation can ultimately lead to forgiveness and new ways of living together.
Similarly, the “Good Samaritan” can be seen as a practical application of what Jesus meant when he said to love our enemies, who may also be our neighbors. “Will we be able to bind up their wounds,” Levine asks, “rather than blow up their cities?” The story of a landowner paying workers who began at the end of the day the same amount as those who worked the entire day need not be made complicated via allegory. It rather raises economic questions of employer-employee relationships, a fair wage, and a living wage with parallels today.
In each case, the contextualization and explanation of the parables opens new doors for us to hear what Jesus was saying and to ponder what that means for our lives. Rather than seeing them simply as stories, or seeking allegorical symbolism, we are left with questions, often provocative and unexpected.
“The parables have provided me countless hours of inspiration, and conversation,” Levine concludes. “They are pearls of Jewish wisdom. If we hear them in their original contexts, and if we avoid the anti-Jewish interpretation that frequently deforms them, they gleam with a shine that cannot be hidden.”
Got something to say about what you're reading? We value your feedback!