P A Downs

Christianity retold

Luke

The Wall

by Leave a Comment

Image by falco from Pixabay

An Imaginary Parable

A King lived in a castle, behind a high wall. Whenever he tried to come out and meet his people, his tenants added more stones to the wall. So the wall got higher and higher. One day…

What does that mean? – apart from ‘Jesus is a lot better at parables than I am.’

What is modern?

A commonly asked question is: ‘How relevant can a two thousand year old religion be to a modern urban society?’ Yet, Christianity spread in towns. Towns with running water, baths, a social security system … Christianity and towns — ‘modern urban societies’ — have been together since the time of the first apostles.

[Read more…] about The Wall

Commentary: The Two Debtors (Luke 7: 41-43)

by Leave a Comment

The Two Debtors is based on Luke 7: 41-43

Does This Parable Need Retelling?

I nearly put this parable in Parables That Don’t Need Retelling, so – no, not necessarily. Money lenders and debt still exist, as I mentioned in the commentary on The Unforgiving Debtor. But the way we handle that debt has changed enough that we might need to retell this parable.

[Read more…] about Commentary: The Two Debtors (Luke 7: 41-43)

Commentary: Counting the Cost (Luke 14:28-33)

by Leave a Comment

Image by Alexa from Pixabay

Counting the Cost is based on Luke 14: 28-33

Two Mini-Parables

This section of Luke’s Gospel comprises two mini-parables. We don’t know whether Jesus always told them together, or whether he sometimes split them up. Both are about the cost of discipleship – one about losing all our money, the other about losing our lives, families and homes.

[Read more…] about Commentary: Counting the Cost (Luke 14:28-33)

Parables that shouldn’t be retold?

by Leave a Comment

Image by WikiImages from Pixabay

‘I Am’

Between them, the gospels often include several versions of the same parable. The Flower Seeds and the Pots is a retelling of Luke 8: 5-8, but I could have picked the version told in Matthew 13: 3-8 (and elsewhere, I’ve retold Mark 4: 3-9). They’re all obviously the same basic parable – but with different flourishes.

This happens often enough that it suggests that (as I’ve said in other posts) Jesus varied his parables to suit the needs of his audiences. Varying (or retelling) parables to suit the needs of our modern audience follows in that Jesus-tradition.

[Read more…] about Parables that shouldn’t be retold?