The Satire of Parables

Sermon preached by the Rev. Lowell E. Grisham, Rector
St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Fayetteville, Arkansas
July 27, 2008; 11th Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 12, Year A
Episcopal Revised Common Lectionary

(Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52) -- Jesus put before the crowds another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches."

He told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened."

"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

"Have you understood all this?" They answered, "Yes." And he said to them, "Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old."
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When you dig into Jesus' parables a little bit, they can make you crazy. Many of the parables can leave you feeling surreal and confused. Sometimes they are like a Buddhist koan: "What is the sound of one hand clapping?" You try to get your mind around them, but they defy defining. With his parables, Jesus challenged conventional thinking and easy answers. He broke his listeners out of their complacency, and created space in their imaginations.

These parables today may seem familiar and comfortable to you. But maybe there is more here than meets the eye. I'm going to try to open up some of the fabric of these stories and images. Let's see where it takes us.


"The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches."

In Jesus' world, mustard is a weed. An invasive weed. No one would intentionally sow mustard seed in an agricultural plot. And it doesn't become a tree. Maybe a big bush, but never a tree.

But Jesus' listeners recognized this language about a great tree that the birds of the air would make their nests in. That tree was an important image for Israel -- an image of Israel's destiny in the messianic age.

Listen to the vision of Daniel:
Upon my bed this is what I saw; there was a tree at the center of the earth, and its height was great. The tree grew great and strong, its top reached to heaven, and it was visible to the ends of the whole earth. Its foliage was beautiful, its fruit abundant, and it provided food for all. The animals of the field found shade under it, the birds of the air nested in its branches, and from it all living beings were fed. (Daniel 4:10-12) Popular thought had adopted this vision as an image of Israel's future.

Centuries earlier Ezekiel had imagined God's planting a noble cedar upon a high mountain. "In the shade of its branches birds of every sort will nest." (Ezekiel 17:22-23) The national identity of Israel includes the dream of being the highest and greatest tree -- a mighty cedar which will shelter and shade.

But Jesus says, "The kingdom of heaven is like... ...a mustard weed!" So much for your delusions of grandeur. Cedars don't even grow in Israel. But look again at this modest mustard weed, from a seed so small you can barely see it. The effects are just the same. The birds of the air come and make nests in its branches. You don't have to become a big cedar; a weedy mustard plant is enough for the Kingdom of God.


"The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened."

Yeast is always a negative symbol in the scriptures. "Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees," Jesus says. Yeast is a metaphor for corruption. A tiny measure of yeast will affect a volume of flour fifty to one-hundred times it's measure, causing it to expand to two or three times its size. Yeast is a powerful image for the corrupting potential of even the smallest sin.

But this is a bad translation. It's not yeast. It's worse than yeast. It's leaven. The better translation is, "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven..." Leaven is a chuck of bread that has been stored in a dark place until it molds. It is rotten. A little leaven spoils the whole batch. Every Jewish household must be purged of leaven for the Passover, and no leaven is allowed in the holy environs of the Temple.

And speaking of the Temple, what is this woman doing? Three measures of flour is an ephah of flower -- fifty or sixty pounds of flour. That's the recipe for Temple Bread. This woman in her little kitchen with her little clay oven is using the Temple Bread formula. Women can't do that! And she's hiding nasty leaven in it. Leviticus says that God hates the smell of leaven. It is always Biblical symbol of evil. "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and mixed in with fifty pounds of flour until all of it was leavened." How bizarre. Surreal.


"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys the field."

The buyer is probably a laborer, a peasant. He would have had to sell everything in order to buy the field. In a little village like those where Jesus taught, that selling and buying would have been very public. It would have prompted much gossip and speculation. This peasant is willing to part with the very substance and security of his life to buy a field.

But, we think we know why. He's found the treasure, right? But what Jesus' listeners knew that we don't necessarily know, is that if this peasant began to spend the treasure, and it was discovered that he knew the treasure was there but didn't tell the former owner, that would be tantamount to fraud. The former owner would sue and would likely reclaim the field and its treasure.

So here is the peasant. He owns a great treasure hidden in his field, but he can't take possession of it for himself. The kingdom of God is like a man with a possessionless treasure.


The kingdom of God is like a mustard weed? ...or a truckload of nasty bread? ...or a treasure you own but cannot possess? What is this stuff about?

Your guess is as good as mine. But you can bet Jesus was shaking up the common notions of his time. These are naughty stories. Like a comic satirist, Jesus made fun of the pretensions of nationalism and religion and purity and wealth and power.

The preacher/teacher doing stand-up.

Nation, you are like a mustard weed. Let the birds be glad!

An unclean woman bakes Temple Bread in her home oven. Let the multitudes eat!

There's infinite treasure worth risking your substance and security for, but you can't posses it. Let everyone be joyful!

The peasants loved this stuff.

Proud religious folks like me hated it.

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Thanks to Pheme Perkins, Hearing the Parable of Jesus, for insight into the seed and treasure; and to David Buttrick for the leaven.