On Jesus’ Parables #1
This will be the first in a series of my looking into various parables Jesus told. I have been reading these parables since January of this year in an attempt to better understand what they meant to his listeners and what we should do with them today.
Following a long tradition of oral storytelling, Jesus used characters and situations his audience would understand. He made references to everyday life in rural areas – sheep, vineyards, seeds, bread, nets, a homeowner, servants, sons, children, tenants, weddings, and so many more ordinary people, objects and situations. All common events and objects that rural people were already familiar with. His parables were meant to help the downtrodden, the oppressed, the poor, the rural folks, the workers, the farmers understand God without the priestly wrappings and language found in Jerusalem. This is not to say that the city people would not understand the parables, but that the rural people were in greater need to hear God’s plan for them; they were the underclass who were largely ignored except to be treated as servants to the rich and powerful landowners, priests in Jerusalem, politicians, and Roman occupiers of the country. Their jobs were to produce the necessities of daily living, like agricultural products, fish from the waters, products from the wool of sheep, and meat from goats, sheep, and cattle. Their lives were difficult and tedious, and they themselves were so taken for granted that they and their needs became invisible to the powerful.
So it is, that Jesus traveled the countryside to deliver His Father’s message to the people. And what better way than to use parables grounded in ordinary, common people and objects they knew. They knew that such stories were not to be taken at surface value, for parables carried a spiritual or moral message. Thus, Jesus spoke to them in their language about ordinary life and connected their lives to God’s Kingdom. Israel was familiar with prophets and religious folks roaming the country with their messages about God and what He wanted people to do. So, for a long time, Jesus was seen by the powerful in Jerusalem as another itinerant preacher in the wilderness. I will not deal with the time after the powerful felt threatened by Jesus, as I will assume most, if not all, readers know what happened.
Just as important, though, were the messages he brought from His Father. There would be those who heard and understood his parables and would know what they had to do to enter the Kingdom of God. Those who heard but did not understand were not ready for His message, as they were more focused on things of the physical world.
The Pearl of Great Price is a short parable found in Matthew 13: 45-46. Briefly, a merchant found a pearl of great price and sold all he had to purchase it. That’s the parable. So, you may ask, “Well, what does this parable mean?” Good question.
Since Jesus used a parable, his use of “pearl” meant something other, something not physical or of this world. Those who heard this but did not understand would think that is really a smart business move to invest in something worth much more than what one has – otherwise, why would the merchant have sold all he had. But such thinking would only mislead; the hearer did not get the point at all because he took the parable literally. So caught up in things of this world, he did not “see” or “understand” that “pearl” meant something not of this world. And this not understanding would apply to rural and city folks alike. However, those who understood would realize that the “pearl of great price” was a reference to the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God would, therefore, be far more valuable than all the riches of this world.
So, the subtle message would be along this line: While one lives in the physical world and has physical things, one will live in the hereafter either in darkness or in the Kingdom of God. If one values “things” – money, land, clothes, homes, or social status, one totally misunderstands this life is temporary and one cannot take stuff into the darkness. Though you need “things” to live here, if you want to be in the Kingdom of God, you will need to focus on the Kingdom as having the greatest value for life hereafter.
I do understand that not everyone would have this understanding of a “pearl of great price.” Others may “see” otherwise. And that is okay IF they do not take this parable literally. Other explanations are possible, as a parable hints at a moral or a spiritual meaning beyond the literal meaning of the words. One other version might be “Keep your eyes on the prize!” That’s familiar and works as well when the prize is The Kingdom of God or Justice or any other abstract not physical in the here and now. Another, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket,” works, too -- IF one focuses on things here too much, one may forget about living after death. Keep one or more “eggs” (moral understandings, religious beliefs or practices) in focus. “Whatever floats your boat,” as the saying goes, for preparing for Life on the Other Side.