WHY PARABLES?

A reflection by Br. Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Matthew 13:24 – 30

“I will open my mouth in parables, I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundation of the world (Mat 13:35).”

Today’s Gospel features Jesus’ competence to teach the people in parables. In the synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke), the parables are abound. But, why did Jesus deliver His message in the parables? Is it not better to speak in straightforward fashion to avoid confusion and misinterpretation?

One of the probable reasons is that telling parables is something particularly Eastern way of understanding. Like Confucius, Buddha, and some other great gurus of the East, Jesus had penchant to teach through stories. This is a beautiful way of expressing the truth precisely because it appeals to the ordinary experience of His disciples. When Jesus met the people from the agricultural context, He said the parable of the sower. And, when He encounters people living in the cities of commerce, He taught parables on investment of talents. But, there is a profound truth lies beneath.

Reading parables posts a fundamental difficulty for some of us. Often, the truth seems fluid and escapes direct understanding. What is this all about? Can he just tell us what He wanted to tell us? We cannot blame Jesus for being a Jew and teaching through parables, but we may trace our tendency for looking the plain and even instant answer from our highly Westernized education system. Gerhard Lohfink, an author of Jesus of Nazareth, revealed the western obsession to facts and data. Truth has to be measurable, observable and verifiable. Thus, things that fall short of these categories, has no claim to be called truth. I do not say that Western style of learning is not good, but I am saying it differs greatly from the ancient East. In fact, without rigorous and discipline sciences of the West, it is impossible for us to have a computer to type this reflection and a printer to produce this article you are reading now!

When we encounter Jesus and His parables, we are invited to set aside our western-trained mind and see the beauty of the parables. In this fast-moving world, reading parables slows us down and allow us to reflect. We need to chew them slowly and let the truth unveil itself in our own understanding. As a novice preacher, parables are a great help for me. When I write a reflection on one of Jesus’ parables, I spend a moment of silence every day for a week, just to have a dialogue with the parable. How can I relate the parable of the good soil into my life as a students? How does the parable of the yeast speak for married people? Amazingly, the parables always give me fresh answers.

Dear brothers and sisters, often, we are like the disciples. We are impatient and rushing in looking for the meanings behind various happening in our lives. Why did I flank the exam? Why didn’t I have an ordinary and normal family? Why did my close friend have to suffer HIV? Please, Lord, answer me now! There is no easy and fast solution to those questions. The more we demand, the more we are frustrated. Thus, Jesus taught us the parables. He gave us a method to cope with life’s hardest moments, to walk straight in a crooked way and to rise again every time we fall. Fr. Timothy Radcliffe, OP, my favorite author, once said that hope is not about attaining our expectations or a quick fix to our problems, but despite an unwanted results, we are still able to discover meanings. Let us enjoy every parable we encounter, let them sink deep into our system and allow them to lead us into God’s time and wisdom.