Everyone likes to hear a story. The power of a great story can be immense with the ability to delight, inspire, connect and move the listener or the reader. A good Storyteller does all that. But, not many have the skills to be able to tell a story. Today’s article is about the most important master story-teller of all time : Jesus Christ - the divine Storyteller from Heaven whose parables are indeed the greatest stories ever told !
During the short period of Jesus Christ’s ministry on earth, even though he performed so many incredible miracles that clearly showed his divinity, what continues to move and captivate people for more than 2,000 years already is the impact of Jesus Christ the Story-teller. Using the device of parables to tell his stories, Jesus teaches us how to transform ourselves to be God’s creatures - good, compassionate and loving human beings. With simple stories and examples of our ordinary lives, Jesus is able to convey spiritual truths and lessons. This surely is the power and skill of the master Storyteller from Heaven.
Above : James Tissot (1836-1902). Jesus Teaches the Multitudes by the Sea; painted around 1886-1896. Opaque water colour over graphite on grey wove paper. Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York City, USA
Right :Ludovico Mazzolino ( 1480-1528 ): The Twelve year Old Jesus Teaching in the Temple; oil on poplar wood; GemaldeGalerie, Berlin, Germany.
Left : Renaissance Fresco which depicts as Jesus as a ‘ Boy Among the Doctors and Scholars in the Temple of Jerusalem ‘ by Giuseppe Garibaldi ; Chiesa di San Giovanni e Paolo, Collegiata of San Gimignano, Italy.
In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus is so identified with this teaching style to his followers that Mark tells us that, “He did not say anything to them without using a parable”
(Mark 4:34 )
“And again He began to teach by the sea. And a great multitude was gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea. Then He taught them many things by parables…”
(Mark 4:1-2).
“ This was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet: ‘I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.’ ”
(Matthew 13:35)
“I use stories when I speak to them because when they look, they cannot see, and when they listen, they cannot hear or understand.”
Matthew 13:10-13
“The knowledge of the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have in abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. This is why I speak to them in parables”
( Matthew 13 :11-13)
The words from Jesus in Matthew 13: 11-13 above provide the rationale and enigma of the parable format which Jesus used. The parable format was to serve two purposes - to reveal the truth to believers and to conceal the truth from non-believers. But, Jesus taught on many levels to his listeners – his own Apostles, the disciples and the general multitudes. The parables were for all of humanity ; not exclusively for his disciples or for Christians. On a superficial level, we need to grasp the essential meaning of the story. If we open our hearts and minds, we would be able to go beyond and discern the true meaning of the parables – the spiritual core of the story. This strategy of parables often frustrated Jesus’ own Apostles, not all of whom were able to reach the level of discernment without the gentle guidance of their divine teacher.
What is the difference between a story and a parable?
Novelists tell stories with various kinds of narratives, twists and plots. Multiple characters and events fill the story to engage and captivate the reader. On the other hand, as mentioned, a parable is really only a very specific type of story – a short and simple story of real people in very ordinary situations - meant to give a moral and spiritual lesson. In the case of Jesus Christ, simply put, parables are ‘earthly stories with heavenly meanings’. Jesus had the wisdom to simplify the profound spiritual truths he needed to share with humanity in the form of relatable stories that are easy to understand. In other words, a parable is a tale about a common subject to illustrate a more profound and valuable moral lesson.
The Bible is the epic of the world. We read about incredible heroes and heroines, drama and melodrama, vast and impossible settings, superhuman deeds, the most beautiful heart-rending lyrical verses, colourful imagery, rhythms and epic writing styles. There is promise and fulfilment; birth and death ( with many gory ones ), faith and miraculous fulfilment - the whole drama of humankind contained in the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. Yet, the ( at least ) 30 parables of Jesus which constitute a significant part of the New Testament are a quiet contrast with the epic tales of the Bible in particular in the Old Testament. The parables of Jesus easily transport the reader into the mind of the story’s protagonist. It’s magical when we see how parables can open our minds and change them.
Let’s see how this magic is woven by the parables of Jesus Christ, the divine Storyteller. I have selected just two :-
THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER
The universally beloved and popular ‘Parable of the Sower’ is regarded chronologically as the ‘first’ parable of Jesus written in the Gospel of Mark ( 4:1-20) which is also the oldest Gospel written from oral tradition around 65 CE to 75 CE. The message of the ‘Parable of the Sower’ is so important that it appears in all the three synoptic gospels of Mark, Luke and Matthew.
Right : Vincent Van Gogh – ‘The Sower at Sunset’, oil on canvas painted in 1888 in Arles, Provence; Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo. The Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) actually painted several paintings about the Sower. Vincent's father and uncle were Protestant pastors and Vincent at one time even wanted to be a pastor. Vincent Van Gogh in one of his lay sermons did in fact compare God to a Sower when he wrote about God who “infuses his blessing in the seed of his Word sown in our hearts”.
Left : James Tissot (1836-1902); The Sower (Le Semeur), 1886-1894. Opaque water colour over graphite on grey wove paper, Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York City, USA.
Pieter Bruegel the Elder,’ Parable of the Sower’, a 1557 landscape painting; Timken Museum of Art in San Diego. In this vast landscape by the Dutch/Flemish Master, in the bottom left of the painting, you can just barely make out the figure of the Sower sowing the seeds. The soil doesn’t look very promising, but yet the Sower continues to sow. By contrast, on the right there is a very healthy looking crop of corn of some kind. Although still green, it is already tall. The sun shines on this field. Bruegel’s painting above is one of his earliest landscapes and speak beautifully of our relationship with creation. The Word is sown in human hearts within the whole of creation. Beautiful !
Let’s read the ‘Parable of the Sower’ which has not only inspired great artworks; it has transformed and uplifted the hearts of millions of Christians.
“Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed.
As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.
Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.
Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain.
Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.”
…Then Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”
( Mark 4: 1-20 )
In this parable, the Sower first scatters his seeds on inhospitable terrain—rocky, thorny, and dry—seemingly to no effect. However, many of the seeds do find fertile ground and these are the seeds which bring forth a great harvest. We can liken the words of Jesus accepted by those who are willing and ready to listen to that of the seeds of the Sower which find fertile ground. Jesus did in fact explain to his Apostles that the seed represents the teachings of God’s word. The Sower represents anyone who proclaims it. As you can see in the paintings above, the Sower is hard-working toiling all day long, walking up and down the ploughed fields, row upon row as he scatters the seeds in his hands. He concentrates on his task without distractions. Just as the disciples of Christ did - as Sowers teaching the word of God with hope and courage. The various soils in the parable represent our hearts and our responses to it. In other words, this ‘Parable of the Sower’ is an allegory of the Kingdom of God. I can’t help but repeat the beautiful words of Vincent Van Gogh comparing God to a Sower; a God who “infuses his blessing in the seed of his Word sown in our hearts”. Who knew that behind the frenzied genius of Vincent Van Gogh’s artworks was this extraordinary man who loved God !
PARABLE OF THE LEAVEN or THE PARABLE OF THE YEAST
Right : Etching by Jan Luyken illustrating the parable, from the Bowyer Bible
Left : Parable of the Leaven by Sir John Everett Millais ca.1860; Watercolour on paper ; Aberdeen Art Gallery, Scotland.
“The Kingdom of Heaven is like the yeast a woman used in making bread. Even though she put only a little yeast in three measures of flour, it permeated every part of the dough.”
( Matthew 13:33 )
The ‘Parable of the Leaven’ is perhaps the shortest parable in the Bible – in the Gospels of Luke and Matthew. And yet, this shortest story packs a very big punch and leads to some very different interpretations as you will see below.
On its surface, the parable describes what happens when a woman adds leaven or yeast or what we sometimes call ‘baking powder’ to a large quantity of flour. When we leave this mixture overnight, we will see that the living organisms in the leaven ferment and grow overnight, so that by morning the entire quantity of the flour dough has expanded and risen. And, when we bake it, it becomes bread. Without the leaven and the time needed for fermentation, the flour cannot be made to rise. It will be just a flat lump of flour.
In the modern world, the most common and immediate interpretation of this parable is that the leaven or yeast represents the Gospel and the woman kneading the flour dough is the Church or the believers. As a result of evangelization, the Church and the Gospel will quietly grow and spread to all the corners of the earth.
However, let’s remember the historical context. When Jesus taught this parable, it was in the 1st century, more than two thousand years ago ! It was also a Jewish world where in Jewish religious practice ( the Torah), leaven is regarded as something bad. In fact, in the Bible, far from being a symbol of good, leaven is often the symbol of the exact opposite ! In the well-known epic story of Moses and how Moses brought the Jews out of slavery in Egypt, we know that they had to leave in a very big hurry to escape the wrath of the Pharaohs. In their rush to pack and leave Egypt, they could not spare the time for their bread to rise ( something they would normally do). So, God said that for First Passover meal dedicated to the Lord the night before the Jews left Egypt, they would commemorate this occasion by eating only ‘unleavened’ bread as a symbol of their emancipation. And so, they were instructed to meticulously search out, find and destroy any trace of leaven in their midst. “You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwelling places you shall eat unleavened bread.” ( Exodus 12:14). The Jewish people still do today at Passover which is a very important Jewish religious festival.
Jesus himself in the New Testament referred to the leaven as something other than ‘good’. Among the many occasions when Jesus said this, take a look at the following examples : "Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod” ( Mark 8:15). The leaven of the pharisees was hypocrisy and the leaven on the followers of King Herod was materialism.
So, all the above interpretations of the leaven must surely be puzzling, if not astonishing and quite disconcerting to the 21st century reader of this parable ? Is the leaven a symbol of good or a symbol of evil ? Which is correct ? Well, this is why Jesus spoke in parables ! The answer is not immediately apparent to the undiscerning reader. It’s not just about reading the mere words of the parable; it’s not just about putting the parable into the historical context ( the 1stcentury ) and it’s not just about deep theology. Discern. Discern. Discern. With your hearts and minds. And then you will surely see the truth about the ultimate lesson of the Parable of the Leaven !
Before we go into that, I would like to share with you another perspective of the ‘Parable of the Leaven’ which I find most fascinating. The main character; the star of this very important lesson and story here is a woman - not a man as is the case in most of the parables of Jesus. The main protagonist in this parable is just an ordinary woman working in her 1st century kitchen. Such a familiar, mundane and often unappreciated household task and yet, Jesus has put this woman kneading her flour dough, front and centre of his story ! Jesus tells us to go look into the kitchen of this woman toiling away. He tells us – look here and you will find discernment and spiritual truth ; here - in the kitchen - is where you will be able to perceive the Kingdom of God. It’s totally wonderful for me to meditate on this fact – that the destiny of the humble microscopic quiet inconspicuous leaven – which has been turned into what some people call the ‘Kingdom Leaven’ or the ‘Word of God Leaven’ - involves a woman in her kitchen !
The Ultimate Meaning Behind the Parable of the Leaven
So, in the ‘Parable of the Leaven’, Jesus is teaching us about transformation. Just as the very tiny amount of yeast is able to transform ordinary flour dough into a huge loaf of bread, so too, if we have the Kingdom of Heaven in our hearts, we can bring about our own transformation - and that of others. Jesus is the leaven. Without Jesus and the word of God in our hearts, we cannot be changed. What changes? How does change happen ? Just as in the case of the leaven and the flour, the effect is slow, silent and unseen. The leaven works its magic overnight, the yeast spreading through all the dough and in the morning, it literally doubles in size.
And, just as you can’t remove the yeast once it is mixed into the flour dough, once you have God imprinted in your heart, it’s always there and becomes part of your very existence. The small microscopic yeast - we don’t see it ; yet it produces such amazing and definite results. Jesus Christ -the word of God – the inescapable yeast – nurturing our growth and filling our lives.
_________________________________________________________________________
Editor’s Note :
Dear Reader, thank you for reading this edition of SMITTEN BY FAITH.
ALL articles in every issue are FREE.
For those of you who upgraded to be a PAID Subscribers for US$ 60.00 a year, thank you so much ! All proceeds go to the Regina Apostolorum Foundation to promote Catholic higher education.
See below - PAID Subscribers can download will the Bitly links to the digital copy of the book by Joan Foo Mahony, ‘LATE HAVE I LOVED THEE’ and THE COLLECTED ARTICLES, VOLUME ONE 2021; VOLUME TWO 2022 and VOLUME THREE 2023 of Smitten By Faith, DIGITAL COMPILATIONS of all the previous years’ 2021, 2022 and 2023 articles.
VOLUME FOUR ( January to June 2023 ) of the collected articles of Smitten By Faith will be available soon.
For those who wish, paid Subscribers will also receive the Bitly link to full contents of ALL the Letters From Yangchow : Letters I to III. (Apologies for the delay in getting the Letters out !)
For paid subscribers, simply click on the relevant Bitly links to receive the publications.
Paid Subscribers will also receive additional exclusive material from time to time.