Commentary

What’s in the box? (Matthew 13: 51-52)

May 7, 2022 by P A Downs Leave a Comment

What’s in the Box? is an adaptation of Matthew 13: 51-52

So Jesus asked his students, “Have you understood all these parables?”

And they said, “Yup.”

Jesus replied back to them, “So, listen, everyone who’s been trained to teach, trained for God’s nation is like someone who’s got a jewellery box in their house. They can bring out the old jewellery, the new jewellery – or both!”

Commentary

Yes, I know. I usually put the commentary on a different blog page. But this parable is really only one sentence long and it also doesn’t fit thematically with the parables it comes after. Matthew seems to be suggesting Jesus used this parable to round off a teaching session (about parables) with another mini-parable on how to use what he’d just taught.

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Commentary: The Donations (Matthew 13:47-50)

April 30, 2022 by P A Downs Leave a Comment

The Donations is based on Matthew 13: 47-50

Fishing

A fishing net catches anything too big to fall through the netting, all jumbled up together. After they’ve brought up their net, fishermen would need to sort through the catch. They’d keep the fish that were edible (had visible scales and fins) and throw away anything that wasn’t.

As far as we know, Jesus only told one parable about fish. It’s surprising, because Jesus spent a great deal of his ministry around and on the Sea of Galilee and several of his disciples were fishermen. The various Gospels contain many passages where Jesus is on the lake – telling the disciples where the fish were, sorting out a sudden squall, taking a short cut across the lake instead of around it. Perhaps, in this case, actions spoke louder than words.

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Commentary: Forcing Old and New Together (Mark 2: 21-22)

April 16, 2022 by P A Downs Leave a Comment

Image by Michael Schwarzenberger from Pixabay

Forcing New and Old Together is from Mark 2: 21-22

What’s the Problem?

The main ‘problem’ with these two mini parables is that they’re now the ‘old’ and we’re the ‘new’! They’re both good candidates for retelling, because they’re almost impossible to understand without explanation. So, people listening today might get the idea that there’s some kind of problem putting old and new together, but what they might not realise is that Jesus swaps the problem item between the two parables.

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Commentary: The Unproductive Biotech Company (Luke 13: 6-9)

April 2, 2022 by P A Downs Leave a Comment

The Unproductive Biotech Company is based on Luke 13: 6-9

Retelling the Unfruitful Fig Tree

Jesus used a fig tree in a vineyard, so he was probably thinking about individuals. Not Israel as a whole.
A fig tree is supposed to produce figs! The parable is about people not doing what they’re ‘meant’ to do.
The fig tree might just need a bit of help (loosening the soil, adding fertiliser).

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Commentary: The Rich Idiot (Luke 12:16-20)

March 12, 2022 by P A Downs Leave a Comment

The Rich Idiot is based on Luke 12: 16-20

Why Retell?

This is a parable that can still be understood without explanation. Farmers still exist and they still have bumper crops. They still rebuild their barns (though nowadays, they’d probably be rebuilding them into self-catering holiday homes). There are a few points we’d miss (if the rich fool is discussing things with himself, he’s got no friends), but even a modern, urban audience will still ‘get’ the main point.

So why retell?

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Commentary: Churchwarden and Salesman (Luke 18:10-14)

February 26, 2022 by P A Downs Leave a Comment

Churchwarden and Salesman is based on Luke 18:10-14

People retell this parable a lot and it generally ends up being set in a church – mainly because, for Christians, ‘church’ is shorthand for ‘God will be listening,’ as well as ‘a holy place’. Another place to set the parable might be a cathedral; a place that both very pious and less pious people might end up being together.

The Original Setting

The original setting of this parable is the Temple, in Jerusalem. In Jesus’ time, the Temple was the place where Heaven met Earth; to go to pray in the Temple was to go to pray in the presence of God. The parable doesn’t mention the daily sacrifices, but the original audience would be well aware that the Temple was also where you made sacrifices to God for your sins. That holy Temple was deliberately destroyed by the Romans; the only part that’s survived to modern times is the Western Wall.

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