tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7805369423841502949.post4037550648117355135..comments2023-07-26T10:45:31.419-04:00Comments on Jubilee Justice : The Parable of the Life-Risking, Faithful ServantChiapas09http://www.blogger.com/profile/16153785119257336519noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7805369423841502949.post-57588218012964690622014-11-15T18:30:06.103-05:002014-11-15T18:30:06.103-05:00Mark,
That’s the right question to ask. If one i...Mark, <br /><br />That’s the right question to ask. If one is preaching Matthew’s interpretation of Jesus, then the Master going away and coming back at the end of time to judge us makes sense—a little judgmental, but logical in terms of Matthew’s slightly judgmental tone (note the very harsh punishment on the “goats” in the next parable). I think most people actually follow Matthew in interpreting this parable (and the next), but just leave out the “bad” parts. <br /><br />On the context, Matthew set up the context that you were noting, and chose (and edited) the parables to fit that context. Matthew does that often (as do the other evangelists as well). A few weeks ago the Lectionary covered three encounters (out of four) of Jesus with the religious authorities. It’s not likely that one day all of the Pharisees and Sadducees lined up to ask him accusatory questions and watched patiently as each one in front of them got shot down by Jesus before they had their turn. It’s <i>more</i> likely that Matthew hauled these stories together and tweaked (“redacted”) them to fit his local issues and concerns.<br /><br />But if one is trying to preach Jesus, underneath Matthew’s overlay (which, as you guessed, I am doing), then you are forced to look for different, alternative messages. It’s unlikely that Jesus would have created an allegory about himself going away for a long time and then coming back to judge us (to people who had no idea that he was going away, let alone coming back), and it’s unlikely that he would judge the poor who remained behind by taking everything they had and giving it to the rich. What is <i>more</i> likely (if you are trying to ferret out the original Jesus--admittedly difficult) is that he was trying to describe what real life is like in poisonous, unfair, unequal Palestine. In real life, wealthy people steal from poor people. Their underlings do the dirty work for them and get rewarded for it, and if anyone stands up and says you are a thief and you harvest other peoples’ crops, they get shut down and punished for it. Sometimes the magic works and sometimes it doesn’t. This seems to be a story that says, you <i>have</i> to stand up to evil, but if you do so, you have to expect a likelihood that you will not win. Actually, that is the parable of the life of Jesus, so it’s not impossible to think that he would construct a parable here and there which says the same thing.<br /><br />Does any of this get at your questions? Keep in touch.Stan G Duncan https://www.blogger.com/profile/01757624042233162584noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7805369423841502949.post-8824687937195062382014-11-13T06:52:26.441-05:002014-11-13T06:52:26.441-05:00Thanks, Stan. This is really compelling, and close...Thanks, Stan. This is really compelling, and closely argued. But what about context? This parable is set in the context of "the son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect" (24:44), then the parable of the servant set over the household. Surely that set up suggests seeing the son of man represented by the master of the household in that story (it's hard to argue the drunken and abusive wicked servant is actually the good guy there). But the general structure of the three parables is pretty similar -- wouldn't Matthew have seen the potential for confusion? I guess what I'm asking is this:in your analysis above, are you looking for the parable's original intent in the (unknown) context in which Jesus originally used it, or are you arguing that the author of the gospel of Matthew would have agreed with your analysis?<br /><br />Peace,<br /><br />Mark.mwphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04133736448740478605noreply@blogger.com