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ஏனைய பதிவுகள்:
HOW
DO I LOOK AT BIBLICAL PARABLES
HOW DO I LOOK AT BIBLICAL PARABLES
”Our Lord made
ready use of the parabolic method of teaching to the extent that Mark comments
"but without a parable spake he not unto them" (4:34)”.
So goes
the story about our biblical parables. Jesus on his preaching line took up so
many parables - some understandable, some are not; some at par with humane
justice and some are not. But since it was all from the mouth of God each one
is always praised and complied with by the believers. But for one who went out
of faith like me, so many questions on the rightness of the parables and their
intended objectives may arise. Simple acceptance of all the words in Bible is
meant only for the believers.
I quote
some parables here and give my perception of them, which are, as far as I am
concerned, very humane in nature.
PRODIGAL SON
The story of the
prodigal son,(Luke 15:11-32), a very famous and well known biblical parable,
stands as a good example for me. No need to elaborate the story; everyone knows
it. Normally we accept the end of the story, even praising the
all-forgiving-dad. But for
me there is a question. Had I been the father, I would have asked my prodigal
son to be under the tutelage of my elder son till he proves his repentance.
That would correct my younger son and honour my elder. But what the father of
the story did actually provoked his ever dependable and sincere elder son.
//“The older
brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded
with him. But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving
for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young
goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has
squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened
calf for him!’//
This is
what the elder son felt. None knows what happened when father justified his
celebration for his prodigal son. I personally feel the unreasonable father
would lose both his sons soon. A very bad managerial error, the dad had made.
Reward should go to the right person and punishment should go to wrong
character. Only that would infuse real justice in the minds of both the sons.
VINEYARD PARABLE
Almost
this same type of judgment happens in another vineyard parable. Matthew
20:1-16. Master fixes up salary and asks labourers at the early hours of the
day with specific wages. Then he employs labourers till evening at various
different times. At the end of the day he pays them equally. Very natural for
the early comers to murmur. But the boss defends his choice of paying equal
amounts: " ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you
agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take
your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave
you. Don’t
I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious
because I am generous?’.
My contention is, if the boss
wants to be this generous, he could have extended more generosity to the early
workers, paying them more than a denarius. He could have made all happier. I had been professionally a teacher and so my judgment is based on how a
teacher should evaluate his students. I should give them marks according to
their efforts and results. I should not give centum to all my students, irrespective of their achievements. This
would hurt a real sincere worker and all his motivation would be thoroughly
spoiled. The following interpretation for this parable does not cut ice for me:
"Some who are
faithful with the small opportunities that God gives them, now “last” in the
eyes of people, might receive more reward than one who is “first” in the eyes
of people but who is unfaithful with the bigger opportunities God has given
him".
WHEAT AND WEEDS
The sower has sown good seed in his field for a healthy
wheat harvest. But in the dark of night an enemy came and sowed weeds among the
wheat. "So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared
as well" (13:24-26).
It is interpreted that the good seeds are
the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one, and
the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age. Jesus
says that the reapers -- not the slaves -- will take care of this at harvest
time. "The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect all
causes of sin and all evildoers, and they will throw them into the furnace of
fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
So god allows wantonly the evil to grow among the good ones
and then punishes. Poor logic. God allows the bad to exist, allows them grow,
but then at the end throw them into an eternal fire! I don’t find evn human
justice in this.
Matthew
13:47 47 “Once again, the kingdom
of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all
kinds of fish. 48 When
it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and
collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. 49 This is how it will be
at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the
righteous 50 and
throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing
of teeth.
It just
shows explicitly how and what a MERCIFUL god he is! Why are bad fishes bad and
how? Who made them bad? At least in human beings one can keep talking about
'free will' and say that a man has to choose the right thing and all that
logic. But in fishes how come some are good and some are bad. Did they sin and become
bad?! My question: How come a merciful
god could create an eternal blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and
gnashing of teeth. (I have been having this question as my STANDARD QUESTION
since I feel creation of an eternal hell fire to punish short lived men sounds not
only logical but also humanly irrational.) And how bad fishes or bad men came into being.
As in the previous parable of Wheats and Weeds, the weed is ALLOWED to grow and
finally is thrown into everlasting hell. Are the weeds so sinful? Weeds are not
useful 'directly' for man; that's all. Not 'sinful' anyway!
SEEDS & SOIL
Of course some
parables would be so nice and meaningful and simply straight. Math 13:18-23 - It is about sowing seeds. Seeds fallen on right soil would grow well
unlike those fallen on hard rocks.
So
simple, straight and clean.
CORRECT FIRST
THYSELF
There is
one other parable, again a simple and effective, statement: . “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in
your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? (Math
7:1-5)
LAMP ON THE HILL
“You are the light of the world. A town built
on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a
bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the
house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see
your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
But most
of the parables are not like this. Jesus has to give some interpreation for
such difficult parables.
Mat 13:10-12
Matthew 13:9-15
9 Who hath ears to hear,
let him hear.
10 And the disciples
came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
11 He answered and said
unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of
heaven, but to them it is not given.
12 For whosoever hath, to
him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not,
from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
This
12th verse is still a mystery for me. I really don’t get the meaning of it. It also
sounds to me bad since whoever has, would be given more; and whatsoever does
not have, shall be taken away. It sounds almost like: make rich richer; make
poor poorer!! Is it right? Does the parable mean this?
RICH MAN AND
LAZARUS
Luke 16:19-31
“There was a rich man who was dressed in
purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a
beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the
rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
“The time came when
the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also
died and was buried. In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw
Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham,
have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool
my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’
“But Abraham
replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things,
while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in
agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in
place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone
cross over from there to us.’
“He answered, ‘Then
I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, for I have five brothers. Let him
warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’
“Abraham replied,
‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’
“‘No, father
Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will
repent.’
“He said to him,
‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced
even if someone rises from the dead.’”
//remember
that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad
things,// what does bible say? No rich man can enter heaven. Does the bible say
poverty is the ladder to heaven.. leave alone things they had done on earth. I really
don’t know why all religions keep poverty always on a high pedestal'? Is it for
attracting even the poor people to become the believers of gods, as Osho
suggested. Here the Lazarus did not go to the lap of Abraham not for any good
deeds he did; just because he was poor (who knows how he became a poor!) The
rich man, it seems, sinned by wearing a finely stitched suit, driving in his
Rolls Royce! So he goes to hell, not for doing sinful things but living a
luxurious life (who knows how hard he had to work to reach that level?)
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