Christianity retold
The Three Employees is based on Matthew 25:14-30
God’s nation is like an entrepreneur who was going on a years-long journey, who called in three of his employees and gave them all his seed capital. One of them got one million pounds, one of them got four hundred thousand pounds and one got two hundred thousand, each according to the entrepreneur’s appraisal. Then he went away.
[Read more…] about The Three Employees -Matthew 25:14-30
The Ten Budgets is based on Luke 19: 11-27
The basic form of this parable – servants entrusted with money by someone going on a journey – appears in the Gospels in two versions. The version in Luke is told just before Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem and is a parable for the crowd. They thought the Kingdom of God was going to appear immediately; this parable (according to Luke) is partly a warning that it won’t.
[Read more…] about Commentary: The Ten Budgets – Luke 19:11-27The Ten Budgets is based on Luke 19: 11-27
A priest had to go on a long journey to be appointed Bishop of her local area. She got together ten of her congregation and gave them a budget of ten thousand pounds, telling them to use it to run several church projects until she got back.
[Read more…] about The Ten Budgets: Luke 19: 11-27
Mushrooms and Toadstools is based on Matthew 13:24-30
Fields and wheat and an enemy coming along to sow weeds – all of this was well known in Jesus’ day. Sowing weeds like darnel was a well-known revenge tactic, one that happened often enough that there were laws against it. This isn’t a parable based on folk-tales, but one based on everyday life – a series of events so familiar that the disciples and the gospel writer include the explanation (Matthew 13: 36-43) to be certain the reader understands that Jesus wasn’t just talking about some village scandal.
[Read more…] about Commentary: Mushrooms and Toadstools: Matthew 13: 24-30Mushrooms and Toadstools is based on Matthew 13:24-30
God’s nation is like a bloke who grew mushrooms in a box. One day he took a nap and his rival came and spread some toadstool spores all over the box. So, when the mushrooms sprouted, the toadstools also started coming up.
[Read more…] about Mushrooms and Toadstools: Matthew 13:24-30
The Tiny Speck and the Giant Tree is an adaptation of Matthew 7.1-5
The first comment to make about this parable is that it really doesn’t need retelling – even after nearly two thousand years, the meaning is still immediately accessible. What can be explored are the translation choices; for example, I replaced ‘plank’ or ‘beam’ with ‘giant oak tree’.
[Read more…] about Commentary: The Tiny Speck and the Giant Tree