Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi

Although the combined verses command love of God and love of neighbor, they do not mean, “Just do some good loving, but forget about dietary regulations, circumcision, Sabbath observance, or Temple sacrifice.” They mean that the love commandments become the touchstone by which all other actions are assessed.

To speak of loving God and loving neighbor does not require theological precision; it does not ask for a particular location of worship (Gerizim, Jerusalem, Mecca, the Ganges, or Ssogoréate . . .); it does not speak to a particular book (the Torah, the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Christian Bible, the Qur’an, or the Book of Mormon . . .). Loving God a

With this parable, the allegorical interpretations create yet a third problem. They threaten to turn the kingdom to which the merchant and pearl are compared into a commodity or an obsession. For some readers, the kingdom, like the pearl, can be “bought,” usually through sacrifice; this makes the kingdom a commodity. Others concentrate on the seeki

better translation would be: “If a person has a hundred sheep and one of them is deceived, does he not leave the ninety-nine upon the mountain and going, seek the deceived? And if he comes to find it—amen, I say to you—that he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine who were not deceived.”

There’s an old saying in biblical studies (I first heard it from Ben Witherington III) that a text without a context is just a pretext for making it say anything one wants.

perhaps the parable tells us that despite all our images of golden slippers and harps and halos, the kingdom is present at the communal oven of a Galilean village when everyone has enough to eat.

The kingdom is present when humanity and nature work together, and we do what we were put here to do—to go out on a limb to provide for others, and ourselves as well.

better translation would be: “If a person has a hundred sheep and one of them is deceived, does he not leave the ninety-nine upon the mountain and going, seek the deceived? And if he comes to find it—amen, I say to you—that he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine who were not deceived.”

Christians will, and should, seek new meanings in the ancient texts; otherwise, to use theological language, they will be putting the Holy Spirit out of business.