Luke, the Gospel of Amazement
Study Guide

Michael Card
July, 2009

Week 1- Introduction

Background:
• Luke is part one of a two-volume work. (Luke/Acts) Ancient sources attribute the work to Luke. (Muratorian canon 170 AD, Iraneus 180 AD, Clement of Alexandria 170 AD, Origen 200 AD, Tertullian 175 AD)
• It is the most literary of the gospels.
• 700 words found no where else in the N.T.
• It is popular to refer to Luke as “historiography” because of its concern for technical historical detail. (cp. Herodotus)
• Writes around 68 AD (Like you and me writing about the 60’s)
• Written to Theopholis who had already been instructed in the faith. (That’s all we know of him!) “Most Excellent” is an official title. (cp. Acts 23:26)

Questions:
1. Who is Luke?
• A companion of Paul (Luke writes 28% on N.T, Paul 24%) Col.4:14 “Our dear friend Luke the doctor and Demas send greetings.” Paul might have needed a doctor for either his blindness or to treat his malaria. 2 Tim.4:11 “Only Luke is with me.” He is a faithful and compassionate man. Philemon 24 “Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus sends you his greetings as do Mark, Aristarchas, Demas and Luke, my fellow workers.” (Could Luke have been teamed with Demas the lawyer?) Some have speculated that the name is a hypocorism, a “pet name,” derived from the master who manumitted him, Lucius.

• Not an eyewitness 1:1

• Probably a freedman. Luke is a slave name. The task of physician was often a slave’s work in the Hellenistic world. He uses a lot of technical medical and nautical vocabulary as well. (a ship’s doctor?)


• He loves songs: Benedictis, Nunc Dementis, Ave Maria, Gloria in Excelsis, only in Luke. These are not reflected in his sources. (Paul and Mark)
• Astonished by the life of Jesus: Look for the word “amazed” or “astonished”
• Some think he might have been the brother of Titus (cp. Cor.8:18, 12:18, also Luke never mentions Titus in Acts.)


2. What would we expect to be the indications of his being a doctor?
• Medical language (precise and technical) “Many have taken up…” also the opening statement of one of Hippocrates’ works on medicine.
1:3 “I have carefully ‘autopsied’”
1:63 “Zecheriah asks for a prescription tablet.
3:3 John baptizes for the ‘remission’ of sin.
4:53 the demon ‘convulsed’ him
4:38 Peter’s mother has a ‘great’ fever. (Doctors in the ancient world differentiated between great and small fevers).
8:43 The woman with the issue of blood. Other writers tell us that she suffered many things at the hands of other doctors. Luke leaves that detail out!
9:38 ‘Examine’ my son
14:2 man with ‘dropsy’
22:50 Malchus loses his ‘little ear’
• Concern for healings of Jesus and other medical details.
• Compassion of a doctor reflected in Jesus’ life.
• Focus on prayer.

3. What would we expect from a slave writer?
• “Those who should don’t, those who shouldn’t do.”
Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist and Mary. (Lk. 1)
Simon the Pharisee and the “sinful” woman. (Lk.7)
The Good Samaritan (Lk.10)
Rich man and Zazarus (Lk.16)
Tax collector and Pharisee (Lk. 18)
The Rich men and the poor widow. (Lk. 21)
The 11 and “the women.” (Lk.24)

• Compassion for the marginal people, the poor.


4. What was the life situation of his writing?
• Uncertain. Since it was written to a specific person and not a church or group of people. One opinion is that Luke/Acts is a cover letter for a collection of Paul’s letters to be used at his final trial in Rome.

5. How might Luke have been impacted by being a companion of Paul?
• Travel narrative (on the road with Jesus) great central section 9:51-18:14
• Concern for universality of the gospel. Genealogy begins with Adam. Angels speak of “all the people.” Simeon refers to Jesus as a “light to the Gentiles.” Only Luke quotes this. Story of the Good Samaritan, only in Luke, Faith of the Centurion (7also in Mt. 8) Sending out of the 72 Parable of the Banquet 14:15
• Special emphasis on the innocence of Jesus. Pilate pronounces Him innocent 3 times, Herod pronounces Him innocent, the thief on the cross does as well, as does the Centurion. Rome dominates the scene.
• Many words and phrases are common to the Gospel of Luke and the Letters of Paul; compare:
Luke 4:22 with Colossians 4:6.
Luke 4:32 with 1 Corinthians 2:4.
Luke 6:36 with 2 Corinthians 1:3.
Luke 6:39 with Romans 2:19.
Luke 9:56 with 2 Corinthians 10:8.
Luke 10:8 with 1 Corinthians 10:27.
Luke 11:41 with Titus 1:15.
Luke 18:1 with 2 Thessalonians 1:11.
Luke 21:36 with Ephesians 6:18.
Luke 22:19-20 with 1 Corinthians 11:23-29.
Luke 24:34 with 1 Corinthians 15:5.


6. How does the Gospel of Luke function in the cannon of the NT?
As a bridge into the writings of Paul.

7. What does Luke add to our picture of Jesus?
Jesus’ concern for prayer, the prayer life of Jesus
5:16 Jesus goes to the wilderness to pray, often all night
6:12ff prays before the calling of the 12
9:28 mount of Transfiguration, to pray
11:1 Jesus often goes to a particular place to pray, gives a parable on prayer (1 of 2 in Luke)
19:46 the purpose of the 2nd Temple expulsion was to reestablish a place of prayer.
*What we might expect to find in Luke is Jesus praying for someone to be healed, we never see this. After a long wait, when we finally get to actually hear Jesus pray, it is a prayer that can be spoken in a single breath, the short form if the Lord’s prayer.
What we do see is long solitary prayer sessions. Prayer is woven into the fabric of Jesus’ life.
Developing a lifestyle of listening.
8:18 “Consider carefully how you listen.”
Emphasis on the poor the outcast and women. Women play a significant role in the ministry of Jesus. Mary, Elizabeth, Anna, Martha and Mary, Joanna, Susanna. In 8:1-3 we discover that Jesus’ ministry was financially supported by this group of women. (Modern scholars are beginning to push for the idea that the writer of Luke was a woman. Assumption: no man would ever give women so much credit!)

8. What ever happened to Luke?
Leadership of the church at Philippi. Acts 16:40 “they left” before beginning with verse 10 “we” rejoins 20:5. Paul had left Luke behind to help start the church at Philippi.
Tradition says he wrote his gospel in Greece (Thebes?) Never married and died in Bithynia at the age of 84.
Was beheaded; his head is interred in a high alter which stands over the grave of Peter. His body was first buried in Thebes the original sarcophagus is still there. It was then moved to the church dedicated to the apostles in Constantinople


Assignment: Read the entire gospel of Luke outloud this week.



Those Who Should, Don’t. Those Who Shouldn’t Do.
Week 2

Like John’s motif of misunderstanding except that it goes deeper. Here there is always two people or groups. The 10:21 passage explains the pervasiveness of the motif.


• Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist and Mary. 1:5-56 (67ff)
Willing to believe.
• Centurion and the Jews. 7:1-10
“He deserves,” “I don’t deserve.”
• Simon the Pharisee and the “sinful” woman. 7:36-50
“Do you see this woman?”
• Jesus’ family and the listeners. 8:19-21
The new, listening family of Jesus.
• The possessed man and the unpossessed Gerasenes. 8:26-39
“Please let me stay with you,” “Please go away!”
• The Good Samaritan 10:25-37
The religious vs the spiritual
• The parable of the Banquet 14:15-24
The invited decline so the uninvited are dragged in.
• The parable of the lost son. 15:11-32
A hater of hesed
• Rich man and Lazarus 16:19-31
The “blessed” in hell and the “cursed” in heaven.
• Healing of the 10 lepers 17:11-19
Pity, praise, thanksgiving. (One out of ten, a Samaritan)
• Tax collector and Pharisee 18:9-14
Self-righteousness vs begging for mercy
• Zacchaeus and the people 19:1-10
(climax of the section on the new value system.) contrasting the rich young ruler (18:18ff)
• The Rich men and the poor widow. 21:1-4
The new value system incarnate in a poor widow.
• The Crucifixion 23:35, 47
“If he is the Christ…” “This was a righteous man…”
• The 11 and “the women.” 24:8-12
Seeing and believing vs seeing and not believing.


• The Joy of Jesus LK. 10:21!!! God has a hand in this!
The 70 have just returned triumphantly. This isn’t said of Jesus anywhere else in the gospels. (Same word used to describe Mary’s rejoicing for basically the same reason, “He has filled the hungry up with good things and sent the rich away empty.”1:53


An Unimaginably Paradoxical Prototype

Week 3
“We have seen paradoxical things today.”

Intro *Levels of structure.
Intentional (parallel nativity narratives chapts 1-2, contrasting stories of “those who should…,” travel narrative (9:51-19:27) collections of parables, (6 panels in Acts). For others it is not so clear.
“Unintentional” structures. The block we will look at tonight (5:1-7:29) cannot be conclusively proven to be intentional. But does it need to? It represents a segment of the life of Jesus that was dominated by a central theme of unorthodoxy. (Or perhaps it is a small window into a life that was continuously dominated by it.)

Paradoxon (hapax legomenon) lit. “contrary to opinion,” “against all expectations” “contrary to what might otherwise bring glory”

• The choice of a tax collector. 1-30
• The “choice” of sinners. 32
• Unorthodox observances (don’t fast and pray(?) 33
• Parable of incompatibility of old and new. 36-39
• Sabbath violations 6:1-11
• Radically reversed blessings and woes. 17-26
• Impossible command! 27-34
• *Climax: The heart of hesed- the fundamental character of the gospel. (the defining characteristic of God) 35f
• A gentile asks for what he does not deserve. 7:1-10
• Jesus power over the death impregnated world wins praise for God. 11-18
• The stagger effect of the “inadequacy” of Jesus. The most staggering question in the New Testament. 18-21
• Closing scene. A glimpse of the new reality. 29



Introduction: Developing a Feel for the Flow of the Ministry
Week 4

Phase 1: The Beginning
• Jesus is baptized (3:21f), tempted (4:1-12), driven from Nazareth (13-30).
• He moves to Capernaum (31) and calls the “core” of the disciples (Simon, Andrew, James and John)(5:1-11).
• During his movement through the villages he heals and preaches. He adds Matthew, the tax collector (27-31).
• The band of “followers” grows. In 6:12f, He designates 12 “apostles.” They will be sent out with His authority to speak His Word and do His work.

Phase 2: A Difficult Indoctrination (last week)
• Jesus introduces the disciples to the “paradoxical” nature of His ministry. (6:17-49)
• Luke provides the first unorthodox fruits, a gentile Centurion.(7:1-10)
• John the Baptist is portrayed as stumbling over this “scandalous” Messiah, who fails to meet everyone’s expectations. (7:18ff)
• Jesus affirms John. Neither of them as willing to “dance to the worlds’ tune. (7:32-34)
• The next fruit of His ministry, a “sinful” woman. (7:36-50)
• Jesus tells a parable (8:5-8) which the disciples fail to understand. (9)

Phase 3: Uncertain Headway and Rising Opposition
• Jesus’ mother and brothers come to “take Him away.” (8:19-21, cp Mk. 3:21)
• After He calms the furious storm the disciples ask, “Who is this?” (8:25)
• The frightened Gerasenes beg Jesus to leave. (8:37)
• Ministry continues, heals unclean woman, raises a dead girl. (8:40-55)
• The Twelve are sent out on their first mission. (9:1-6) they return, try to find rest but are confronted with the 5 thousand. (9:10-17)

Phase 4: Uninformed Confession and Prideful Confusion
• Peter makes his great confession, Jesus is Messiah. (9:20, cp. Jn.6:68)
• Jesus explains the Messiah in terms none of the disciples could grasp. (9:22-26, cp. Mt. 16:22, Peter’s rebuke))
• Transfiguration (9:28-36)
• Again Jesus tries to explain his coming suffering. They do not understand and are afraid to ask Him to explain. (9:45, cp 18:31-34)
• The disciples argue about who is the greatest. (9:46ff)

Phase 5: The Point of No Return
• The final journey to Jerusalem begins. (9:51)
• Samaritans oppose Jesus. (9:53)
• The 72 sent out on successful mission. (10:1-24)
• Parable of the Good Samaritan. (10:25-37)
• Martha and Mary contrasted. One does the other listens. Amazing paradigm shift for women.
• Jesus provides disturbingly simple prayer. (11:1-4)
• Encourages his disciples to be “shameless” when they pray. (11:8)
• Crowd asks for a sign, but none will be given… (11:29)
• More “woes” on the Pharisees. (11:42-53, cp.6:24ff)



Phase 6: A Desperate Time Calls Forth a Radical New Value System

Values and Maxims

Given the rising tension due to the unorthodoxy and scandal of Jesus’ ministry, in chapter 12 we see a shift in the direction of His teaching. The emphasis will shift to the new value system of the Kingdom; what matter and what does not, what has value and what does not, what you should fear and what you should not. Hand in hand with this modest shift, Jesus begins to speak more maxims, short encapsulations of His teaching that will make them easier for the disciples to remember. Though they appear through out Jesus’ teaching, (6:31, 45b, 7:35, 47,8:18, 9:48, 62, 11:9, 41) they are concentrated in chapters 12 though 16. In form, they tend to appear at the end of a block of teaching and summarize what has gone before. This is only a partial list:

• “Don’t be afraid, you are worth more than many sparrows.” (12:7)
• “A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” (12:15)
• “Life is more than food and the body more than clothes.” (12:23)
• “Seek first His kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.” (12:31)
• “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”(12:34)
• “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” (12:48b)
• “Indeed, there are those who are last who shall be first, and first who will be last.” (13:30)
• “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (14:11, cp.Phil.2:6-11)
• “Anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” (14:27)
• “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?”(14:34)
• “There is more rejoicing over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” (15:7)
• “There is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (15:10)
• “We had to celebrate and be glad because your brother was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found.” (15:32) (The maxim is contained within the parable.)
• “No servant can serve two masters…You cannot serve God and money.” (16:13)
• “What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight.” (16:15)
• “If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.” (16:29) (Maxim contained within the parable.)
• “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.” (17:37)
• Maxim from 4:11 repeated in 18:14
• “Anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” (18:17)
• “What is impossible with men is possible with God.” (18:27)
• “Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.” (20:18)
• “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” (20:25)
(From this point they virtually disappear from the narrative)


Introduction: Developing a Feel for the Flow of the Ministry
Week 4

Phase 1: The Beginning
• Jesus is baptized (3:21f), tempted (4:1-12), driven from Nazareth (13-30).
• He moves to Capernaum (31) and calls the “core” of the disciples (Simon, Andrew, James and John)(5:1-11).
• During his movement through the villages he heals and preaches. He adds Matthew, the tax collector (27-31).
• The band of “followers” grows. In 6:12f, He designates 12 “apostles.” They will be sent out with His authority to speak His Word and do His work.

Phase 2: A Difficult Indoctrination (last week)
• Jesus introduces the disciples to the “paradoxical” nature of His ministry. (6:17-49)
• Luke provides the first unorthodox fruits, a gentile Centurion.(7:1-10)
• John the Baptist is portrayed as stumbling over this “scandalous” Messiah, who fails to meet everyone’s expectations. (7:18ff)
• Jesus affirms John. Neither of them as willing to “dance to the worlds’ tune. (7:32-34)
• The next fruit of His ministry, a “sinful” woman. (7:36-50)
• Jesus tells a parable (8:5-8) which the disciples fail to understand. (9)

Phase 3: Uncertain Headway and Rising Opposition
• Jesus’ mother and brothers come to “take Him away.” (8:19-21, cp Mk. 3:21)
• After He calms the furious storm the disciples ask, “Who is this?” (8:25)
• The frightened Gerasenes beg Jesus to leave. (8:37)
• Ministry continues, heals unclean woman, raises a dead girl. (8:40-55)
• The Twelve are sent out on their first mission. (9:1-6) they return, try to find rest but are confronted with the 5 thousand. (9:10-17)

Phase 4: Uninformed Confession and Prideful Confusion
• Peter makes his great confession, Jesus is Messiah. (9:20, cp. Jn.6:68)
• Jesus explains the Messiah in terms none of the disciples could grasp. (9:22-26, cp. Mt. 16:22, Peter’s rebuke))
• Transfiguration (9:28-36)
• Again Jesus tries to explain his coming suffering. They do not understand and are afraid to ask Him to explain. (9:45, cp 18:31-34)
• The disciples argue about who is the greatest. (9:46ff)

Phase 5: The Point of No Return
• The final journey to Jerusalem begins. (9:51)
• Samaritans oppose Jesus. (9:53)
• The 72 sent out on successful mission. (10:1-24)
• Parable of the Good Samaritan. (10:25-37)
• Martha and Mary contrasted. One does the other listens. Amazing paradigm shift for women.
• Jesus provides disturbingly simple prayer. (11:1-4)
• Encourages his disciples to be “shameless” when they pray. (11:8)
• Crowd asks for a sign, but none will be given… (11:29)
• More “woes” on the Pharisees. (11:42-53, cp.6:24ff)

Phase 6: A Desperate Time Calls Forth a Radical New Value System

Values and Maxims

Given the rising tension due to the unorthodoxy and scandal of Jesus’ ministry, in chapter 12 we see a shift in the direction of His teaching. The emphasis will shift to the new value system of the Kingdom; what matter and what does not, what has value and what does not, what you should fear and what you should not. Hand in hand with this modest shift, Jesus begins to speak more maxims, short encapsulations of His teaching that will make them easier for the disciples to remember. Though they appear through out Jesus’ teaching, (6:31, 45b, 7:35, 47,8:18, 9:48, 62, 11:9, 41) they are concentrated in chapters 12 though 16. In form, they tend to appear at the end of a block of teaching and summarize what has gone before. This is only a partial list:

• “Don’t be afraid, you are worth more than many sparrows.” (12:7)
• “A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” (12:15)
• “Life is more than food and the body more than clothes.” (12:23)
• “Seek first His kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.” (12:31)
• “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”(12:34)
• “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” (12:48b)
• “Indeed, there are those who are last who shall be first, and first who will be last.” (13:30)
• “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (14:11, cp.Phil.2:6-11)
• “Anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” (14:27)
• “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?”(14:34)
• “There is more rejoicing over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” (15:7)
• “There is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (15:10)
• “We had to celebrate and be glad because your brother was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found.” (15:32) (The maxim is contained within the parable.)
• “No servant can serve two masters…You cannot serve God and money.” (16:13)
• “What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight.” (16:15)
• “If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.” (16:29) (Maxim contained within the parable.)
• “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.” (17:37)
• Maxim from 4:11 repeated in 18:14
• “Anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” (18:17)
• “What is impossible with men is possible with God.” (18:27)
• “Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.” (20:18)
• “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” (20:25)
(From this point they virtually disappear from the narrative)

Parables
Luke shows us parables at work!
Week 5
What is a parable? para, (beside) bole (to throw) comparison, to throw something beside something else for the sake of comparison. The parable is an extended metaphor, a metaphor which has through extension come to life with characters and a story. A metaphor simply says this is like that. A parable is able to enlarge the statement, this is how this is like that, this is what that means or can mean, this is what this means for you. The extension of the metaphor into parable allows for you and me to be included in the story.

How do they work?
1. Identification By means of the imagination, I am drawn into the story where I identify with one or more characters. (cp. Mt. 13:10ff Matthew alters the sense by using the conjunction because instead of so that: “This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand” (Mt 13:13 RSV). That is to say, because the general public was slow to grasp the sense of Jesus’ teaching, he embodied it in parables to make it more immediately intelligible. The hardness of the saying is thus mitigated.cp. Isaiah 6:9–10… The effect of your preaching will be their persistent refusal to accept what you say, to the point where they will have rendered themselves incapable of accepting it.” Context of persistent disbelief. )

2. Lack of Closure (end of lesson.)

**Luke usually gives a context. (eg. The Stubborn Widow (Lu. 18:1-8),
The Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Lu. 18:9-14)) (cp. Mt. 13:3, Mk. 4:2 “Then Jesus told them many things in parables… Note Mt. 18:23ff for rare exception.)
Luke’s examples of them actually working: Simon the Pharisee, The Two Debtors (7:16-21), Lawyer, The Good Samaritan (10:25)

Parables of Jesus
(Bold indicates only in Luke)
1. The wise and foolish builders (Mt.7:24-27, Lu. 6:47-49)
2. The Debtors (Lu. 7:41-47)
3. The Rich Fool (Lu. 12:16-21)
4. The Waiting Servants (Lu. 12:35-40)
5. The Barren Fig Tree (Lu. 13:6-9)
6. The Sower (Mt. 13:3-9, 18-23, Mk. 4:1-9, 14-20, Lu. 8:5-8, 11-15)
7. The Tares (Mt.13:24-30, 36-43)
8. The Secret Seed (Mk. 4:26-29)
9. The Mustard Seed (Mt. 13:31f, Mk. 4:30-32, Lk. 13:18f)
10. The Leaven (Mt. 13:33f, Lk. 13:20f)
11. Hidden Treasure (Mt. 13:44)
12. Pearl of Great Price (Mt. 13:46f)
13. The Net (Mt. 13:47-50)
14. The Unmerciful Servant (Mt.18:23-35, rare exception of context)
15. The Good Samaritan (Lu. 10:30-37)
16. The Friend at Midnight (Lu. 11:5-8)
17. The Great Supper (Lu. 14:15-24)
18. The Lost Sheep (Lu. 15:3-7, Mt. 18:12-14, note Matthew gives no context))
19. The Lost Coin (Lu. 15:8-10)
20. The Lost Son (Lu. 15:11-32)
21. The Unjust Steward (Lu. 16:1-9)
22. The Rich Man and Lazarus (Lu. 16:19-31)
23. The Stubborn Widow (Lu. 18:1-8)
24. The Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Lu. 18:9-14)
25. The Laborers in the Vineyard (Mt. 20:1-16)
26. The Minas (Lu. 19:11-27)
27. The Two Sons (Mt. 21:28-32)
28. The Tenants (Mt. 21:33-44, Mk. 12:1-12, Lu. 20:9-18)
29. The Wedding Feast (Mt. 22:1-14)
30. The Fig Tree (Mt. 24:32, Mk. 13:28f)
31. The Long Journey (Mk. 13:34-37)
32. The Ten Virgins (Mt. 25:1-13)
33. The Talents (Mt. 25:14-30)

Some Rabbinic Parables

Judah ha-Nasi said: “Unto what is the matter like? It is like a king who was judging his son, and the accuser was standing and indicting him. When the tutor of the prince saw that his pupil was being condemned, he thrust the accuser outside the court and put himself in his place in order to plead on his behalf. Even so, when Israel made the Golden Calf, Satan stood before God accusing him, while Moses remained without. What then did Moses do? He arose and thrust Satan away and put himself in his place.” Ex 32 (J267; Ex. Rab. 43:1)
R. Simeon b. Yohai taught: “A parable. It is like men sitting in a ship. One took a drill and began boring beneath his seat. His fellow-travelers said, ‘What are you doing?’ He responded, ‘What does it matter to you? It’s my seat I’m boring under!’ They said, ‘The water will come in and drown us all!’” (J271; Lev. Rab. 4:6)
A philosopher asked R. Gamaliel, “Why is your God jealous of idol-worshipers rather than of the idol itself?” He answered, “I will tell you a parable. To what is the matter like? It is like a king who had a son, and his son raised a dog whom he named for his father. Whenever the son took an oath, he said, ‘By the life of this dog, my father!’ When the king heard of it, with whom was he angry, his son or the dog? Surely his son!” (J174; Mek. Bahodesh 6:113ff.).
Unto what is the matter like? It is like a fox who was walking alongside a river, and he saw fish going in swarms from one place to another [fleeing the fishermen]. He said to them, “Would you like to come on to the dry land . . . ?” They said to him, “ . . . If we are afraid in the element in which we live, how much more in the element in which we would die!” So it is with us. . . . If we go and neglect the Torah [which is our life], how much worse off we shall be. (J148; b. Ber. 61b) Jesus doesn’t use this Aesop/talking animal type parable.
A king had a vineyard for which he engaged many laborers, one of whom was especially apt and skillful. What did the king do? He took this laborer from his work and walked through the vineyard with him. When the laborers came for their hire in the evening, the skillful laborer also appeared among them and received a full day’s wages from the king. The other laborers were angry at this and said, “We have toiled the whole day, while this man has worked but two hours; why does the king give him the full hire, even as to us?” The king said to them, “Why are you angry? Through his skill he has done more in two hours than you have all day.” (y. Ber. 2:5) Cp. Mt. 20 where Jesus gives the parable a different twist!

Conclusion:

Therefore consider carefully how you listen. 8:18
“This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.” 9:35
“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.’ 16:3


Listening to the Poem of Your Life
Eph.2:10 "We are God's masterpieces, poems..."


God speaks through the Word of scripture, through the silence of prayer, but also through the parable of your life. Your life is a poem, a song, a parable. The Bible gives abundant examples of people's lives that were in fact living parables: Abraham offering his son to God, a parable of God offering His own Son for us. Jacob wrestling with God, a parable of the struggle we all have in finding faith. These are not unique. Job's scenario might be played out in heaven every day! Job's suffering, a parable about the truth that God doesn't always give us answers, but He always gives us himself.
**Listening to the parables of Jesus will teach us how to listen to the parables of our own lives The best way to learn to listen to the parable of your life is to examine the parables of Jesus and learn how to listen first to them.
The parable is not simply one form of communication it is the paradigm for communication. We identify with one or another character in the parable. You are the son who had strayed off with the family riches. I am the older jealous son whose teeth are set on edge by the return of the prodigal. Perhaps you are the woman, on her hands and knees who has been searching all day, perhaps even all your life for the treasure of a single lost coin.
The "Aha" Moment

A final important feature of the parable, at least most of the parables of Jesus is an open ending, a lack of closure. By this I do not mean that they have endings in and of themselves. The boy returns home, the judge finally listens to the widow, the pearl is found. But what is often left silent is the moral, the summation, the conclusion. Within the freedom of the form of the parable, Jesus leaves the "aha" to us. The moment of realization is ours to savor, and explaining the parables to death often means robbing them of this, their most important characteristic. That is the parables greatest strength as well as its greatest weakness. The transcendent moment of the opening of the eye of the heart is left to be experienced by you alone with the Spirit.

**Like parables, our lives often lack closure. This should be seen as an invitation to listen! It is exactly the same with the parable of your life! of your life as well. For it is still Jesus who is creating the story as you live day by day. Like the parable, you are allowed not only to be a character in the story; more important you are still invited to identify with the other characters in the parable that is your life. And through identification with others you experience to the full all that the parable of your life means.

“If God is speaking, then nothing else matters except listening.”
Brennan Manning
“Consider carefully how you listen!”
Jesus

Jesus parables are an invitation to learn to listen to His Word, to the silence of prayer and to the parable of your own life! 

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