The Parables

Friday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time A-1

Entrance Antiphon Cf. Ps 96 (95): 1, 6 O sing a new song to the Lord; sing to the Lord, all the earth. In his presence are majesty and splendour, strength and honour in his holy place.

Collect Almighty ever‑living God, direct our actions according to your good pleasure, that in the name of your beloved Son we may abound in good works. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Scripture today: 2 Samuel 11:1-4. 5-10. 13-17; Psalm 50; Mark 4:26-34

Jesus also said, This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces corn — first the stalk, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come. Again he said, What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade. With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything. (Mark 4:26-34)

The Parables Everyone who has some knowledge of the figure of Jesus Christ — especially considered as Teacher — knows that he made special and extensive use of the parable. The parable is a brief story which illustrates a religious teaching. It is concrete and pictorial, gaining the attention of the whole man — mind, heart and imagination — and not just of his intellect. Christ’s employment of parables is part and parcel of his Incarnation. Had God chosen a different people to be his own, and therefore had the promised Messiah been of a different race, the method of his teaching may well have been different. Had the Messiah been a Greek, his discourses may have been much more abstract in expression. Had he been an Egyptian, or a Roman, or a Persian, his mode of teaching would have had characteristics of those peoples. Jesus Christ was a Hebrew, and his human intellect and imagination was therefore Hebraic. As man he thought very concretely, and this, we might say, was surely the most successful way to teach — with concrete imagery. There is this to be mentioned too, that if we compare the teachings of Jesus Christ as they are presented in the Gospels, with the teachings of the prophets before him, are not those of Jesus Christ outstanding in their clarity? In large measure this is due to his use of the parable. There is no prophet in the Scriptures who used the parable so extensively as Jesus Christ. As a result, while the Gospels are the most important part of the entire corpus of inspired writing, they are perhaps the clearest. The most educated read them, as do those of very limited education. However, one result of this clarity, this concreteness and use of everyday imagery and story, is that we can easily deceive ourselves into thinking that we have plumbed the parable more or less to its depths at a mere several readings. But no. We ought remember who it is who devised the parable in question, and how constantly we ought be returning to it for fresh insight and inspiration. We ought love the imagery used by Jesus Christ and make our home in it.

Let this be a broad introduction to the simple parables of today’s Gospel passage. All through the Gospels we see that our Lord is speaking of the “Kingdom of God.” This “Kingdom” is God’s rule. It is his lordship, his dominion. Christ’s announcement is that it is nigh, near at the gates. He will show that it is present in his person, for he is himself both divine and entirely subject to the divine. He is himself God, and at the same time he is the Son. The goal of our Lord’s preaching is to invite all to strive to enter the Kingdom, which is to say to submit to the plan and will of God as it reveals itself in the new dispensation announced by Jesus Christ. We enter this divine Kingdom by entering into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, a relationship that is both loving and obedient. The greater our relationship in love with Jesus Christ, the deeper will be our entry into the Kingdom of God. The task of life is, as St Paul repeatedly puts it, to be “in Christ.” If we are “in Christ,” we shall keep his commandments, and this will be the sign that we love him and the Father. Now, what is it like to enter into the Kingdom of God in this way? To begin with, it is not a sudden business. It takes time. It is a gradual process of improvement and repentance. We read that “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces corn‑ first the stalk, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.” So the grace of God is at work constantly, and this is the secret behind the holiness of the saints. Again, it is like the mustard seed that grows without being noticed. We must be patient and persevering, and rely on the power of grace that is constantly working. This work, the work of holiness and entry into the Kingdom of God, is the work of our lifetime, however short or long it may be.

Let us take to heart the imagery of this parable. I once heard of a debate over the relative merits of literature and philosophy. It was felt by the literary man that through literature one best proceeds towards the truth. Be that as it may, there is no doubt that Christ characteristically expressed himself in the mode of literature rather than of philosophy. He preferred the story, the allegory, the pictorial maxim, to abstract discourse. It means that his message is accessible to the best and the poorest, to all ages and peoples. Let us contemplate the Kingdom by means of his images.

(E.J.Tyler)

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