Archbishop of Sydney

Parables

By + George Pell
ARCHBISHOP OF SYDNEY
9 September 2001

What is particularly strange for us today is that Jesus left no writings. We have evidence that he could read, doing so and preaching in his local synagogue. But there is no surviving writing.

What we call the New Testament was written by early followers, most of it between 30 to 50 or 60 years after Christ's death. There is no modern-style biography, but four books of his story and teachings, letters of church leaders such as Paul, a strange meditation on death, struggle and redemption and a short history of some early Christian communities. There were many other writings too and the early Church decided which deserved special prominence and enjoyed a higher status and authority through inclusion in the list of New Testament books.

We cannot reach back to Jesus except through the evidence collected and sanctioned by the Church. So it was that St. Augustine, a North African philosopher convert towards the end of the fourth century A.D., recognised that he could only come to believe in Christ, if he was first able to believe in the Church.

No one can deny the various achievements of Christianity. But what does Christ have to offer today to our world of technology and travel, instant communications, dollars and drugs? Is Christian teaching relevant or another old fashioned curiosity? As a plump thirteen year old altar server reminded me once, "Things have changed a bit since Jesus lived". Where should we start to judge Christian claims?

Many searchers want something short and accessible, at least for a start. Matthew's gospel is one such point, but probably a bit long for those brought up on television grabs.

My suggestion is to start with Jesus' parables, his brief teaching stories, found in the gospels. There are forty of them in Matthew, Mark and Luke, many well known to us, such as the parables of the Prodigal Son, the Good Samaritan, the Lost Sheep, the Rich Fool, the Pharisee and the tax collector.

a believe these unusual tales, often with an unexpected lesson or point to them are the best way to enter the mind of Jesus, and try to work out what his message is.

Primary school children often cannot get the point of a parable and it is possible to listen to them for years without grasping the point at issue. Why did Christ praise the unjust steward, a genuine crook?

a couple of anecdotes show their power. An atheist and ex-Christian once explained that he taught his children the parables so that they would be aware of their beautiful and unusual teaching, now so central to our Western imagination.

a missioner who was working in Papua New Guinea instructing local converts told me he prepared a series of talks on Jesus' miracles. For every miracle of Christ the locals had one as good or better in their history and the missioner's own faith was a bit shaken. They were unimpressed. He then moved on to a series of talks on the parables. The locals had never heard anything like them and recognised them as the wonderful masterpieces they are.

So should we.