Christianity retold
The Lost Garnet is based on Luke 15: 8-10.
There was a woman who had a garnet necklace, which was of great sentimental value. One day, one of the garnets fell off and she lost it.
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The Sourdough Starter is based on Matthew 13: 33
The original parable is only one verse long; this isn’t so much a retelling as an expansion.
Nowadays, it’s a bit of a judgement call whether people will be familiar with breadmaking. The advantage of factory baked bread is that it makes a staple part of the diet cheap and readily available. A disadvantage is that it’s now possible to not have a clue how to make bread.
Jesus, however, could assume his audience would all be able to fill in the gaps. They’d know that the woman would need to add water to the flour/yeast mix. Then, they’d know that once the yeast was working through, the bread would rise. They’d also realise that only the risen dough would be baked into bread and just how much bread ‘three measures of flour’ would make (a lot). Even if they’d never personally baked a loaf of bread in their lives, they’d have seen it being done.
[Read more…] about Commentary: The Sourdough Starter-Matthew 13:33The Sourdough Starter is based on Matthew 13: 33
God’s nation is like a bowl of sourdough starter. There the starter sat, bubbling quietly away, when a woman took it and hid it. Only she hid it in twenty kilograms of flour, then made it into dough!
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The Watchful House Sitter is based on Luke 12: 35-38
This is an example of a parable that still exists in its two different forms. The version in Luke ends with the master rewarding his slaves by serving them a meal. But there’s another version in Mark (Mark 13: 32-37) which concentrates on the doorkeeper.
The most common explanation is that – in a world where ‘social media’ consisted of sending an expensive letter – Jesus varied his standard parables to make slightly different points. So Mark picked the version emphasising the loyal doorkeeper, watching through the night. Luke chose the version where the slaves working overtime being rewarded with their own party.
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