Gulf Pine Catholic
•
February 27, 2015
9
Jesus’ parables sow seeds of
the kingdom
Las parábolas de Jesús
siembran las semillas del
Reino
This is the first column in a 12-part series.
BY CLIFFORD YEARY
Associate Director, Little Rock Scripture Study
All four of our canonical Gospels consistently
present Jesus as a teacher to whom large crowds lis-
tened intently. But it is in Matthew, Mark and Luke
(these are the Synoptic Gospels, so-called because of
their many similarities) that we encounter Jesus as a
storyteller extraordinaire. People flocked to hear him
describe God’s exceeding generosity toward sinners
of all stripes through stories in the form of parables.
Jesus’ parables are a special type of story-telling. They employ readily
available images from local daily life, but in the briefest manner possible
they also upset commonly held understandings of how God relates to the
world and the people God calls his own.
The parable of
“The Sower and the Seed”
introduces Jesus’ use of parables in
each of the Synoptic Gospels. Though they each explain the parable in slightly dif-
ferent ways, the interpretation each evangelist gives it does not set precise limits on
how the parable is to be interpreted. Parables, by their very nature, are meant to
provoke an internal dialog with anyone who hears one.
There is an intriguing, dynamic power in each of Jesus’ parables. Because Jesus
doesn’t tell the crowds how to interpret his parables, we know that their special
power lay in the way they would draw those who heard them to ponder the many
possibilities for understanding them. The many possibilities might each, in their own
way, lead listeners, past and present, closer to welcoming the Kingdom of God they
were intended to proclaim.
The classical definition of a parable was provided by C.H. Dodd, a prominent
biblical scholar from the last century. A parable is a “metaphor or simile drawn from
nature or common life, arresting the hearer by its strangeness and leaving the mind
in sufficient doubt about its precise application to tease it into active thought.” Or, to
paraphrase MaryAnn Getty Sullivan, a parable describes something new or unknown
by comparing it to something familiar, but adding a special twist that is intended to
draw an active response from the hearer once they grasp the parable’s possibilities.
In the parable of the sower and the seed (see Mark 4:1-20), the familiar image (at
the time) of a farmer casting seeds on ground in hopes of an eventual harvest pro-
vokes the interest of those who hear it through several vivid images. First, the sower
casts his seeds on all types of ground, rocky, weed infested, even on a path, as well
as on fertile soil. Barbara Reid, another noted parable scholar, says this probably
wasn’t the way things were done by a knowledgeable farmer, even 2,000 years ago.
A farmer would know that it was a waste of precious seed to throw it on a path, or
rocky, shallow soil or among growth-choking weeds.
The parable’s account of so much of the misplaced seed never reaching maturity
would not have surprised Jesus’ crowds. But that some of the seed would produce
grain 30, 60 or even a hundredfold, would have been almost unimaginable. Reid says
that the most farmers of the time and place could hope for was a tenfold harvest.
In each Gospel in which this parable occurs (Matthew 13:1-23; Mark 4:1-20;
Luke 8:4-15) the disciples ask Jesus why he teaches in parables, and his answer
seems to say that it is so the crowds won’t understand him. But probing Jesus’
response more deeply, we can see that Jesus is saying that by using parables, those
who don’t take them to heart can have their excuse by claiming not to understand it.
They are like the unproductive places in which the seed is sometimes cast.
The parable itself, however, belies any notion that Jesus didn’t want them to
understand his teaching. If we are to take Jesus as the sower in the parable and his
teaching as the seeds he sows, then, unlike farmers of the day, Jesus freely offers his
teaching to everyone, whether or not they attempt to take it to heart. But if they do,
the results will be nothing short of miraculous.
SEE PARABLES ENGLISH, PAGE 14
Yeary
Este es el primer artículo de una serie de doce.
POR CLIFFORD YEARY
Director Asociado, Estudio Bíblico de Little Rock
Nuestros cuatro evangelios canónicos presentan a Jesús como maestro
a quienes escuchan atentamente grandes multitudes. Pero es en Mateo,
Marco y Lucas (los evangelios sinópticos así llamados por sus muchos
parecidos) donde encontramos a Jesús como extraordinario narrador. La
gente se agolpaba para escucharle describir la inmensa generosidad de Dios
hacia pecadores de todo tipo a través de historias en forma de parábola.
Las parábolas de Jesús son un modo especial de narración. Emplean
imágenes disponibles de la vida cotidiana local, pero, de la manera más
breve posible, también ayudan a desbancar comprensiones comunes de cómo Dios
se relaciona con el mundo y con el pueblo al que considera suyo.
La parábola del sembrador y la simiente introduce el uso de
las parábolas de Jesús en cada uno de los evangelios sinópti-
cos. Aunque cada uno explica la parábola de una forma ligera-
mente distinta, la interpretación que da cada evangelista no
sitúa límites precisos sobre cómo ha de interpretarse cada
parábola. Por su propia naturaleza, las parábolas están dirigi-
das a provocar un diálogo interno en quienes las escuchan.
Hay una fuerza dinámica e intrigante en cada una de las
parábolas de Jesús. Ya que Jesús no les dice a las multitudes
cómo interpretar las parábolas, sabemos que su fuerza especial
reside en el modo en que acerquen a quienes las escuchan a
considerar las muchas posibilidades de entenderlas. Las
muchas posibilidades podrían, cada una a su manera, dirigir a
los oyentes, del pasado y del presente, a acercarse más a acoger el Reino de Dios que
proclaman las parábolas.
C.H. Dodd, un importante biblista del siglo pasado, propuso la definición clásica
de parábola. Una parábola es “una metáfora o símil sacado de la naturaleza o de la
vida cotidiana, que sorprende por su rareza al que escucha, y deja la mente con la
suficiente duda sobre su aplicación precisa como para provocarla a un pensamiento
activo.” O, parafraseando a Mary Ann Getty Sullivan, una parábola describe algo
nuevo o desconocido comparándola a algo familiar, pero añadiendo un giro especial
dirigido a conseguir una respuesta activa del que escucha una vez que comprende las
posibilidades de la parábola.
En la parábola del sembrador y la simiente (Ver Marcos 4,1-20), la imagen famil-
iar (en aquel momento) de un sembrador que arroja semillas en la tierra con la espe-
ranza de una cosecha final suscita el interés de quienes lo escuchan a través de varias
imágenes vívidas. En primer lugar, el sembrador arroja la semilla en todo tipo de
suelo: rocoso, infestado de maleza, e incluso en un camino, así como en terreno
fértil.
Barbara Reid, otra famosa experta en parábolas, dice que probablemente ésta no
fuera la manera en que un buen granjero lo hubiera hecho, ni siquiera hace dos mil
años. El granjero sabría que arrojarlas en un camino, en suelo rocoso o poco pro-
fundo, o entre malezas que la ahogaran era una pérdida de semillas valiosas.
El relato de una parábola de tanta semilla mal colocada que nunca llegaría a la
madurez no sorprendería a las multitudes que seguían a Jesús. Pero, que alguna
semilla produjera grano de treinta, sesenta o incluso cien veces, sería casi inimag-
inable. Reid dice que lo más que podían esperar la mayoría de los campesinos de
aquel tiempo y lugar era una cosecha de diez veces más.
En cada uno de los evangelios en los que tiene lugar esta parabola (Mateo 13,1-
23; Marcos 4,1-20; Lucas 8,4-15), los discípulos le preguntan a Jesús por qué enseña
VER PARÁBOLAS INGLÉS, PÁGINA 14
