Thayer Thursday – Luke’s context of parables
Chris Thayer is the Director of Discipleship at Good Shepherd Church in Charlotte, NC where he oversees adult life groups and Biblical education. On Thursdays I share his weekly “Thayer’s Thoughts” for small group leaders, which are based on the previous Sunday’s sermon. Click HERE to watch or listen to the accompanying sermon.
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Last week we saw the significance of the theme of redemption from exile within the story of the Prodigal Son. The fancy terminology for this type of background information on a passage of scripture is “Historical Context.” Recognizing that these stories weren’t written or spoken to us (though they were certainly written down & preserved for us!) is integral to understanding and applying what we read in the Bible accurately.
Another form of “Context” that helps us to understand and apply the Bible is called “Literary Context.” This highlights the type of literature a book is. Knowing what kind of book I’m reading is not only important for knowing what I will enjoy; it also informs how I read the book. Though I like Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Academic works – they each come with their own set of assumptions and rules. If I read a fantasy book the same way I read academic literature – I would have a thoroughly confused understanding of reality!
We understand this intuitively. We know we read an encyclopedia differently than we read The Hunger Games. While we recognize this for modern day writings – it’s easy to not realize we should do the same thing amongst the books of the Bible.
The book of Luke (and the other three Gospels) is written in a form of literature called “Historical Narrative.” A distinctive of this type of literature is that it recounts actual events in such a way as to convey a particular point. Even though, for instance, Matthew, Mark and Luke use much the same material – they use it in different ways as they convey their overarching points about who Jesus was, what He did, and why it matters. Remembering the Literary Context of the Gospels has made me keenly aware over the past two years that I’ve unintentionally missed the interconnectedness of the various parables, teachings, and dialogues contained within the Gospels.
So what does this have to do with the parable of the Prodigal son located in Luke 15?
As we discussed last week, the parable of the prodigal son was told in reaction to the Pharisees and teachers of the law who were sneering at Jesus for being with tax collectors and “sinners.” Jesus uses this parable (and the two before it) to proclaim God’s deliverance of Israel from exile – a deliverance that the Pharisees were ironically trying to bring about but missed as it was happening.
In the second half of the parable of the prodigal son, Jesus uses the character of the older brother to directly address the reaction of the Pharisees and teachers of the law. At the end of the parable, we’re left wondering what the older brother did. Does he return into the house? Does he walk away from the father and the family?
While this parable ends with a question mark (and we can certainly understand this as a choice for the older brother to either participate in the celebration with His father or reject it) the following parables & remarks of Jesus recounted by Luke illuminate this ending further. The parable of the Shrewd Manager, the comments about marriage and adultery, and The Rich Man and Lazarus serve as an exclamation point on the warning the Pharisees are receiving.
First, the Parable of the shrewd manager (Luke 16:1-15) highlights how the Pharisees and experts in the law have been unfaithful managers of what they have been given in their roles as leaders.
Second, Jesus’ comments about adultery (Luke 16:16-18) draw the attentive reader’s memory to the Old Testament Prophet’s consistent use of the analogy of Israel being like an adulterous wife who had left her husband and chased after other men. This further strengthens the warning Jesus is giving to the Pharisees – warning them that their actions are indicative of them being unfaithful to God.
Finally, Jesus tells the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31), proclaiming the reality of what it means for the Pharisees to reject the restoration being provided by God: It will mean nothing less than separation from the people of God and his final redemption of those people. Poignantly at the end of this parable, Jesus points to the reality that miraculous signs (even somebody rising from the dead!) won’t produce repentance since they won’t even listen to the people who came before Him – the prophets who spoke of Him.
Luke’s telling of these stories of Jesus in this order is not random or a coincidence. In telling them this way he is bringing to a head the conflict Jesus is having with the Pharisees and proclaiming that their rejection of Him and His work amongst the “tax collectors and sinners” is nothing less than the rejection of God’s plan of redemption from exile. If they fail to accept Jesus – they will fail to receive God’s redemption and will be left in that decision: hell itself.
Chris Thayer
Categories: Biblical Scholarship, Biblical Theology, Blog, New Testament, Thayer Thursday