By Rev. Dr. Mike Graves
Many of you already know that we began a brief sermon series last Sunday, one we’re calling “Three Sermons, One Text.” For three weeks in a row, the scripture passage comes from Luke 10:25-37, the well-known parable about a man jumped by thieves while traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. We read about who does and doesn’t come to the traveler’s aid. That’s the “one text” part.
The ”three sermons” part began last week with Rev. Bryce Bowers, and continues this week and next with me and Rev. Carla Aday. Three different sermons on one text, rich with possibilities because texts always mean more than one thing. Biblical scholar Dale Martin famously observed, “Texts don’t mean things; people mean things with texts.” You may want to read that sentence again.
Since I’m preaching one of the three weeks, I wanted to share some insights that won’t be in my sermon, observations about parables in general, and with a little nod to the one we’re highlighting these three Sundays.
The first insight relates to the literary form itself, a parable, or better yet, a riddle. Contrary to popular opinion, they are not simple illustrations. In the early 1960s, British scholar C. H. Dodd identified two key characteristics: on the surface, the parables would have seemed mostly normal to first century Mediterranean folks and simultaneously bizarre on at least one point. So, with any parable, we should look for what would have jumped out to our ancestors in the faith, some odd twist.
Second, even when a given parable doesn’t employ the language of “the kingdom of God” (and most do), parables always imply it. The Greek word translated “kingdom” is the same word used for the “empire” of Rome. In other words, Jesus’ riddles contrast the generous ways of God with the ruthless ways of Rome’s emperors. This would still be true in a democracy when culture often makes room for the elite wealthy among us, ignoring the poor. Or when anyone who is different somehow counts as less than others. This parable in the series is no exception.
Lastly, it has always boggled my mind that Jesus’ favorite method of talking about God is in riddles. I’m not talking about how the riddles work (familiar and shocking) but how shocking I find Jesus’ preferred means of communicating spiritual truths. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus speaks in parables more than half the time. He’s like the Riddler in the Batman series, except on the side of justice.
I guess a bonus insight would be how parables leave the ball in our court, so to speak. They are not wrapped up with bows or simple lessons, “The moral of the story is….” Not hardly. Instead, the parables ask us questions, much like the two Jesus asks in this one: What is written? How do you read it?