From: mmcgreg@uswnvg.com (Mark McGregor)
Newsgroups: talk.religion.misc
Subject: Re: Rich men and Heaven
Date: 7 Oct 92 16:49:22 GMT
Organization: U S WEST NewVector Group, Inc.
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>    Luke 19:11   While they were listening to this, HE WENT ON TO TELL THEM A
>      PARABLE, BECAUSE HE WAS NEAR JERUSALEM AND THE PEOPLE THOUGHT THAT THE
>      KINGDOM OF GOD WAS GOING TO APPEAR AT ONCE.
>    Luke 19:12   He said: "A man of noble birth went to a distant country to
>      have himself appointed king and then to return.
>    Luke 19:13   So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas.
>      'Put this money to work,' he said, 'UNTIL I COME BACK.'
>    ....

There has been some discussion as to whether the "man of noble birth"
refers to Jesus, the future return of Jesus, etc.

Some thoughts on parables:

1.  Brief definition of parable:  a story which points beyond itself to some
    spiritual and/or practical truth or example.

2.  In many parables there are "God images" -- i.e. symbols which the
    Jewish people of the day would associate with God.  Examples of these
    images are:  the king, the father, the vineyard owner, the shepherd, 
    etc.  In this case, it is not unreasonable, or in my opinion stretching
    the context, to see Jesus/God as the king in the parable.

3.  The parables where given in a specific cultural context.

Based on my understanding of the Jewish context of this parable, I think
that the following interpretation is not an unreasonable interpretation --
i.e it does not go beyond the context of the parable, the societal context,
or the symbolic context.

Symbols:        Jesus/God is the King.
                Mankind is the servants.

                (These symbolic interpretations are based on Jewish
                 thought as reflected in the OT, the rabbinic writings,
                 and other parables.)

Central theme:  God will "judge" what mankind does with what mankind was
                given.  Those who act on what they are given will enter
                in to the Kingdom.  Those who choose not to act will not
                enter into the Kingdom.

                (The key point is not when or why the master returns,
                 but rather what happens to the servants.)

The "shocker" for the religious leaders of the day (and what made the parable
most interesting to them), was what happened to the person who did nothing
with what he was given.  They figured they would be welcomed into the
Kingdom of God just because they were Jews.  Jesus gives them a big WRONG
on this idea.  Entering the Kingdom is not based on race, color, creed, or
religion.  It is based on acting on what God has given you.  This clashed to
a great extent with the Jewish belief of the Kingdom of God.  They felt that
the kingdom would be a)physical; b)remove the Roman oppression from
the state; and c)"re-establish" Israel as the chosen race, based solely on
the fact that they were Jews.  There seems to have been little anticipation
of a Kingdom which calls the people to be accountable for what they were
given.  In my opinion, the nature of the return is not important.  In the
parable, the return of the King is given (UNTIL I COME BACK).  The
importance is the redefinition of the Kingdom.  It is not a kingdom focused
on Jewish beliefs (19:11), but rather a Kingdom which calls mankind to 
act on what God has given them, and which holds mankind accountable for
what God has given them.  The parable is a call to reflection and action,
so that one's actions follow those of the wise servants instead of the
actions of the foolish servants.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mark McGregor -- mmcgreg@uswnvg.com

Newsgroups: talk.religion.misc